Capture Philadelphia’s picturesque historic and commercial architecture, using fundamental observational drawing techniques. Learn simple methods for applying the principles of linear and atmospheric perspective to your drawings, giving them dimension and depth. Students at all experience levels are welcome, with instruction designed to appeal both to those who enjoy portraying landscape subjects in the open air and to students seeking to hone their basic drawing skills. This course takes place in easy-to-access Central Philadelphia and University City locations. Restrooms are available near all sites. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to drawing locations.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Painting the human form from observation is one of the cornerstones of PAFA's long tradition of rigorous instruction. Working from the nude model, investigate color mixing, proportion, and composition using oil paint as a medium. Focusing on alla prima painting techniques and a limited flesh-tone palette, learn to model the human form through gesture, shape, volume, and temperature – excellent for painted sketches and preparatory studies, foundations for extended work, or an introduction/refresher to figure painting. Intended for all skill levels, this course also offers the valuable opportunity for more advanced students to continue to hone their skills to deepen their understanding of the language of painting. Instruction will be geared toward oil, but students may draw-only, or use other appropriate media.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: David Wilson
Cost: $330
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

A private docent tour will be led by Susan Wolf. Susan is an extensively trained guide at PMA, The Barnes Foundation and Rodin Museum. A celebrated member of the French Impressionists, Pennsylvania-born Mary Cassatt challenged the conventional expectations of Philadelphia’s elite. In Paris, Cassatt committed herself to a career as a professional artist and made the social, intellectual, and working lives of modern women a core subject of her prints, paintings and pastels. Though recognized in her lifetime for her intimate depictions of women and children, Cassatt has yet to be appreciated for her serious engagement with the realities of gender and labor in her portrayal of other traditionally feminine activities, such as embroidery, reading, or making social appearances.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Susan Wolf, guide
Cost: $135
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Bring your paintings to life! Whether it is portrait, still life, landscape or abstracts, the presence of light against shadow gives the subject form and dimension. Bring your own inspiration to class and with this principle in mind, watch your paintings come to life! Composition and color mixing will be a focus in this class. All mediums and skill levels are welcome!
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $375
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

For both the novice and experienced artist, copying the work of the old masters is a time-honored tradition. This methodology has been used by the likes of Da Vinci, Degas, and Sargent. In this class, students will have the opportunity to render drawings and paintings from masterworks of their choosing. Materials will depend on the type of work being pursued, which will be discussed on the first day. Students should look forward to increased knowledge of art history, color theory, composition, and perspective.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Sasha Diehl
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Using an expanded palette of oil paint, emphasis will be on capturing the immediate impact of light on simple, basic shapes in order to better understand color relationships. Students will explore simple relationships of color using still life objects using the vocabulary of color theory. Once the ability to calibrate fundamental overall color relationships is developed, larger relationships will be broken down into smaller ones. Experimentation with paint and loose, energetic paint handling is encouraged! Level: Intermediate to Advanced, an expanded color palette is required.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Sharon Henderson
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Using simple everyday objects in thoughtful well-lit compositions, students create fresh and dynamic paintings. Through instruction, demos, and examining the work of master and contemporary painters, students begin with a direct painting approach and proceed in clear stages. The course covers the key ingredients of great painting, including composition, paint handling, edges, value and color relationships, and modeling form. Students will develop a solid and dependable approach to painting, providing a strong foundation to build upon. Appropriate for beginner and intermediate painters. The returning student is free to work on independent projects whether still life, landscape, or the figure.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Sasha Diehl
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Students explore all aspects of working with oils, with a strong emphasis on composition, color mixing and various painting techniques. Individual instruction provided in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Ideal for beginners as well as more experienced artists.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $420
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

The ability for artists to paint outside, directly from nature, transformed the practice of landscape painting. Beginning in the 1830's, painters began to move from the studio out-of-doors and their paintings increasingly captured the ever-shifting effects of time of day, season, and atmosphere. Come explore this fascinating history with William Perthes and enjoy its ongoing impact in the Wayne Art Center's 16th Annual Plein Air Festival. William M. Perthes is the Bernard C. Watson Director of Adult Education at the Barnes Foundation.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: William Perthes
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class will explore the essential relationships of shape, proportion, and value within the condition of light bathing subject matter. The painterly medium of charcoal contributes significantly to understanding the practice of building a painting. Drawing in line and moving to masses, students strive to draw fluidly with concentration on value and proportion, identifying a process that is particularly suited for training painters. The course begins with shorter exercises, as detail-oriented seeing emerges in still life drawing after students learn to prioritize the order of the masses.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Sharon Henderson
Cost: $310
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

In this course, we will be painting small, loose paintings of varied subject matter comprised from images that students will submit. Learn how to break down an image to its most important aspects and not get tied up in detail from the start. Composition, color mixing and painting technique will be addressed in a fun and relaxing painting experience! All skill levels welcome.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $375
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Learn the art of capturing light and shadow in your watercolor paintings. Over the course of this class, you will explore various techniques and approaches to infuse your artwork with luminosity and atmospheric depth. Through a series of demonstrations and hands-on exercises, you will learn how to observe and interpret light in different scenes. Emphasis on composition, value structure and use of a limited palette will be covered. Discover the magic of transparent washes, layering, and lifting to create stunning effects that bring your paintings to life.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Radhika Srinivas
Cost: $330
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Are you stuck on a painting and don't know what to do? Bring a problem painting or two to this workshop and artist and educator Tom Csaszar will help you find a solution. The day will begin with a critique and discussion to illuminate the issues in your painting and possible strategies to remedy them. Next you can work on your painting, or an alternative sketch or drawing, in your chosen media. You will work alongside the instructor and the group in this second part of the workshop, with ongoing feedback and discussion. Ideal for painters of all levels in all media including oil, acrylic, watercolor, and gouache.
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Tom Csaszar
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Perspective is at the heart of good drawing. It allows us to transform the 3D world into a believable 2D image, and it need not be difficult to understand. With still life and interiors as subject matter, learn basic principles and simple methods presented in clear language and without the need for special tools or complex geometry. This workshop serves as a good foundation for further study in drawing. A modest amount of previous drawing experience is recommended.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Cost: $195
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Wondering what Water Mixable (Soluble) Oil paints are all about? Known for blurring the line between watercolor and oil paintings, Beth Bathe's unparalleled style evokes feelings of nostalgia, like an old sepia-toned photograph. Beth uses unconventional tools including squeegees and Q-tips, along with her brushes focusing on composition, values, edges, and drawing rather than color. During this one-day intensive workshop, Beth shares her unique technique with students. In the morning Beth will do a demo from a still life setup and show how she uses simple apps on her phone to simplify forms, enhance value and emphasize composition. In the afternoon students will work from similar still life setups. This workshop is for all level of painters.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Beth Bathe
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Explore flowers and other natural forms, beginning with line and value drawing and progressing to full-color rendering in watercolor and mixed media.  Topics will include sighting techniques, line quality, tone and value, creation of depth, composition, texture, and basic color. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $15 materials fee for floral subjects, provided. 
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Linda Gist
Cost: $465
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Without question, every oil painter benefits from color mixing instruction:  Understanding how to accurately see, mix, and adjust color not only allows you to achieve the results you want in your work but also enables you to avoid the pitfalls of wasting paint though inaccurate and poorly understood pigment mixing.  Explore key methods and principles for effective color mixing, using a limited palette to create prismatic hues and earth tone colors. Instruction will address the role of light in the visual perception of color, as well as subtractive and additive color systems. Work from varied still life arrangements to put your color comprehension into practice, and advance your painting skills for all subject matter. 
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Draw what you see competently and with confidence. Drawing is not only the basis for other creative endeavors like painting and sculpting, but also a powerful means of describing the world around you and expressing yourself. Instruction will address fundamental concepts including line, shape, perspective, value, and composition. Draw from still life objects, the life model, and more while learning the proper use of drawing materials, sight-measuring methods to accurately gauge proportions and space, shading techniques to develop three-dimensional form and contrast, and means of developing personal expression. Ideal for beginners and those in need of a refresher. Tuition includes a $10 models fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Cost: $305
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Explore both the versatility of watercolor and the exciting possibilities of color through still life painting. Learn to capture form with the freshness and fluidity of all prima techniques. Promote color in your work through instruction on color properties, mixing, and basic theory, as well as how to use hues in combination to create impactful compositions. Discussions and in-depth demonstrations will enforce all content so that students gain the facility and freedom to use color and painting techniques as means of personal expression.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Keith Leitner
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Many artists can feel frustrated in front of a blank canvas, unsure of how to start and what to paint. This workshop offers a step-by-step technique which will enable you to paint with confidence by tapping into your intuitive process and finding inspiration more easily. Experienced instruction and advice from the instructor will push students to take chances and explore unexpected directions and accidental marks as a means of achieving artistic discoveries. Demonstration of different drawing and painting techniques will enhance your knowledge of the process of painting. Students will utilize line, color and space, as well as the possibilities of editing, to create busy/calm areas and focal points in their paintings. Painting experience recommended.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Cost: $225
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

If you’ve never drawn before, or your skills are a little rusty, then this class is for you. Learn to draw what you see with confidence. Work from still life arrangements, interior spaces, and the human figure to master the drawing elements: shape, contour line, composition, light and shadow, texture and perspective. Instruction will guide students through sight-drawing and measuring techniques, use of materials, shading methods, and ways of defining form and space. This course is excellent as a foundation for future study, including for painting and other disciplines. Note: Tuition includes a $35 models fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
Cost: $485
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

The primary focus of this 3-day in-classroom workshop will be on color. While Cynthia is known as a palette knife painter and will give a knife demo, the aim of the workshop is to help people find their own visual voice. What separates you from your fellow painters, what are your particular skills and strengths from which to grow?
 
Location: Marietta, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Cynthia Rosen
Cost: $450
Sponsor: Susquehanna Art Workshops
Website, email, 717-314-9551