Amateur artist retreats

You quit drawingwhen you were twelve.

Five days, a sketchbook, and a city worth drawing. No instruction, no skill required, nobody grading you.

4–24 per group Materials included
Book a spot → Three trips open. $99 holds your place and is fully refundable for 30 days.
How it works

You make things. That is the whole trip.

Anyone can sign up, from any city. Groups run 4 to 24 people, small enough that everyone knows everyone by day two and big enough that the trip actually goes.

1

Book a spot

No network to join, no application, nobody you need to know first. Pick a trip and put down $99 to hold your place. Fully refundable for 30 days.

2

You make something every day

Materials are included and there is nobody teaching. The itinerary puts something worth drawing in front of you and then leaves you alone to draw it.

3

The group chat outlives the trip

You come home with a stack of work and a group of people who watched you make every piece of it. That outlasts the kind of friendship that ends at baggage claim.

Who's behind this

We've been doing this our whole lives.

Europe. Asia. Africa. Thirty-something countries with a sketchbook in the bag every time. Back home we run free urban sketch meetups around Chicago, and strangers keep turning up to draw beside people they have never met.

🇮🇪 Ireland
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇯🇵 Japan
🇯🇵 Japan
Upcoming trips

Paris, Michigan, then Mexico City.

Same format, three places. Two you fly to, one you can reach on a bus for thirty dollars.

Amateur Artist Retreat

Paint Paris

Thu Oct 1 → Tue Oct 6, 2026 · 5 nights · $1,699

Five days making art in the prettiest city on earth. Sketching in the parks, painting by the Seine, chasing color around the city. No instruction, no skill required. Just show up and make something.

See details →
Amateur Artist Retreat

Paint Michigan

Fri Oct 23 → Mon Oct 26, 2026 · 3 nights · $1,195

A long weekend on the Lake Michigan shore at peak fall color. Oils on an empty October beach, a hike out to a stretch of dune nobody else walks to, and sun prints made from what you pick up on the way. Three hours from Chicago, no flight, no passport.

See details →
Amateur Artist Retreat

Paint Mexico City

Thu Nov 5 → Tue Nov 10, 2026 · 5 nights · $1,449

Same idea, louder city. Figure painting in Chapultepec, a color hunt through Coyoacán, sketchbooks out on a trajinera, and lucha libre at Arena México.

See details →
Why Co-Signed

Most trips ask you to look at things.

Group travel already works. Nobody sells the version where you spend the week making something and fly home with it.

EF Ultimate Break Co-Signed
Every day built around making something
Small group, 4 to 24 travelers
Materials provided, nothing to pack
Life model booked for figure drawing
Trip photographer included
Personalized video recap after the trip
EF traveler offer

You've already proven you're that kind of person.

EF proved group travel is worth it. Co-Signed changes one thing: you spend the week making things instead of photographing them.

How to claim: Email us a photo of your EF trip confirmation or boarding pass. We'll apply $250 off your first Co-Signed trip, no questions asked.

Claim my $250 →

Two tripsopen now.

Two trips, both open. $99 holds your spot and it's fully refundable for 30 days.

See the trips →