This workshop explores the evocative world of nocturne painting through the delicate and expressive medium of watercolor. Focusing on landscape scenes at the edge of day—sunset, twilight, and night—students will learn to capture the silvery light and subtle atmospheric effects that define these transitional hours. Learn how to work with restrained hues and layered washes to create a sense of depth and unity, to suggest rather than describe subject matter. Instruction will emphasize tonalist concerns of working with muted color palettes, gentle value shifts, and harmonious compositions. Through individualized guidance, participants will hone their sensitivity to tonal relationships and the expressive potential of nocturne painting.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $225
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Learn how to paint beautiful landscapes on location! In this class, we will discuss the fundamentals of painting en plein air as well as more advanced topics like drawing, composition, and color theory. The first day will begin with a 30-minute lecture and discussion on the core concepts of plein air painting. This will be followed by a 2.5-hour painting demonstration. After a 1-hour lunch break, students will begin work on their own paintings while Marc gives individualized instruction. Class will end at 4pm, but students may continue to paint if they wish. Days 2 and 3 will follow a similar format. The class will end with a group critique and discussion.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Marc Anderson
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Discover a deeply intuitive, painterly approach to drawing. In this workshop, you will learn the art of subtractive charcoal drawing, covering your paper in dark tones and using erasers to literally sculpt the light. Working from photographs, we will demystify the landscape, exploring how to simplify dense foliage, sculpt tree trunks, and create atmospheric perspective using value rather than outline. This class will be fun and a bit messy. Ideal for painters looking to strengthen their tonal compositions and illustrators looking for a more initiative drawing style.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Claire Haik
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This two-day workshop explores how artists can use limited palettes, dominant color relationships, and value structure to create landscape paintings with greater mood, atmosphere, and emotional impact. Through demonstrations, discussion, and hands-on painting exercises, students will learn how simplifying color choices can create stronger design, clearer visual statements, and more expressive paintings. Student Level: Open to painters with prior experience (beginner through advanced). This workshop is not intended for absolute beginners with no painting experience. Medium: Oil is preferred; however, painters working in other media are welcome provided they have prior experience in their chosen medium.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mark Vander Vinne
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Every strong painting begins with a thoughtful foundation. In this one-day workshop, students will first explore applying transparent patches of vibrant color to the painting surface, creating an energetic underpainting that adds excitement and provides color relationships to build upon throughout the process. From there, we'll establish transparent darks to define the value structure, composition, and overall color harmony. You'll learn to mix a variety of rich, colorful darks while connecting dark shapes to dark shapes and light shapes to light shapes, creating visual pathways that guide the viewer's eye through the painting. Once the design is established, we'll transition to thicker, opaque light passages, bringing the painting to life with clarity, unity, and luminous color.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Fred Jackson
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class breaks down the landscape into three essential zones: foreground, middle ground, and background. We will look at how color and value shift in each of the three zones and learn how to use dramatic value contrast and scale shifts to guide the viewer's eye exactly where you want it to go. Together we will design landscapes with strong foreground elements (such as a large tree, dark grasses, or a winding pathway) that lead to a clear middle ground and then back to a deep atmospheric vista. Open to artists at all levels who want to create depth in their paintings and try a structured approach to landscape painting.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Claire Haik
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553