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May 19-23, 2025
This course is a truly intensive week of figure and portrait study, with six hours a day working from a model! Mornings will feature life/nude models, and afternoons will focus on clothed subjects, allowing students to expand their notions of figure vs. portrait drawing to a method of depiction that combines the gesture and posture of the whole body with the individual character of the face. Work with a range of graphite and crayon dry materials, as well as ink, using both a brush and a bamboo pen – an exciting and freeing approach to translating the human form. Knowledgeable instruction will guide students through observation-based drawing techniques while exploring figure and facial topics of gesture, proportions, anatomy, and expression.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
Cost: $515
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Tuesdays, May 20 - June 24, 2025
This course will be dedicated to three- and six-hour poses focusing on the structural and aesthetic characteristics of drawing from the model. Classes will begin with brief lectures covering spatial organization, volume, proportional relationships, and anatomy. The rest of each session will focus on drawing the life model in a variety of standing, seated, and reclining poses, with attention to measuring techniques and rendering the figure through light and shade. Examples of drawings from the Old Masters, and discussions about their approaches, will supplement instruction. Students of all levels are welcome; those with less experience can make several studies during a long pose while experienced students can develop a single drawing. Tuition includes a $35 models fee.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: John Horn
Cost: $330
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Fridays, May 23 - June 27, 2025
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

May 24, 2025
Create your own collage from painted paper! Learn how to plan and complete an original work of art from pencil sketch to finished collage. This workshop covers processes for generating ideas, spatial drawing techniques, basic color theory and collage techniques.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Katie Knoeringer
Cost: $75
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Saturdays, May 31, June 21 & July 26
Looking at our paintings for a second or third time in relation to each other, with other people, talking about them outside of our studio, and then examining through making another work how we might remake their theme or revise the relationships of their elements is the focus of this studio seminar. We will begin each session by discussing the dialogues, thoughts, and emotions that occur in response to the works. The second half of the class will allow each person time to make a work concentrating on or expanding on the theme and focus of one of their works.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Tom Csaszar
Cost: $95 each class or $256.50 for all three
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

June 14 & 15, 2025
Capture the vitality and gesture of the life model under the guidance of Bruce Samuelson, master draftsman and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) professor Bruce Samuelson. Samuelson's work combines a virtuosity of Old Masters-influenced draftsmanship with elegant abstraction. Hone your own approach to the figure, whether academic or expressive, through Samuelson's individually tailored instruction. Foundational principles of structure, anatomy, form and gesture will be presented through critique, and discussion of master drawings, past and present. Work in the media of your choice including graphite, charcoal, pastel and paint.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Bruce Samuelson
Cost: $395
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

June 21, 2025
Celebrate the first day of summer painting on location at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education! The Schuylkill Center is one of first environmental education centers in the country, with 365 acres of fields, forests, ponds and streams, as well as Philadelphia's only wildlife clinic - and amazing location for painters! Instructor Keith Leitner will demonstrate watercolor and pastel techniques, reference art historical examples, cover the ins-and-outs of working outdoors and encourage personal expression. Instruction will be geared towards watercolor, but you are free to the materials of your choice including gouache, oil, acrylic and drawing media. The workshop will include a welcome and orientation by Schuylkill Center staff. Restrooms and free parking available. Don’t’ miss this great opportunity!
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Keith Leitner
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Mondays, June 23 - August 11, 2025
Work independently in the drawing medium of your choice! This monitored studio is designed to give students the opportunity to work from live nude models without instruction, allowing you time to explore and experiment. Just as any life drawing session the poses will range from short gestures gradually building to longer poses at the end. This is an extraordinary opportunity for you to develop and extend your drawing skills.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Leslie Bowen, Monitor
Cost: $270
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

June 23-27, 2025
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

Tuesdays, June 24 - August 12, 2025
Designed for artists ready to challenge themselves and take their work to the next level, this class is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of the artist's own creative process and sensibility. A variety of subject matter will be explored. Level: Previous drawing and painting experience is recommended.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Karen Fogarty
Cost: $380
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Tuesdays, June 24 - August 12, 2025
This 8-week course is for beginners who want to explore drawing and oil painting, and for more experienced artists who want to improve their artistic skills. Using still-life compositions, students will learn about form, space, design, value, and color through working observationally. In addition, the instructor will introduce a variety of artists who are representative of the lessons provided and conduct in-process and final critiques for a helpful synopsis of the student’s progress and ideas. The class will be broken up into two weeks of drawing and four weeks of painting, but the student is open to work in any medium if they prefer.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Annie Thompson
Cost: $320
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Tuesdays, June 24 - August 12, 2025
In this class, our main focus will be on the study of form in a spatial context, and, we will use observational approaches in the construction of our images. Our drawing tools will be charcoal and white chalk. We will explore physical viewpoint, effective composition and effective rendering of light and shadow to shape our expression and create a unified pictorial image. The goal is to encourage a sensitive approach to handling a wide range of values, in tandem with a variety of lines and edges to build a drawing vocabulary that communicates a class member’s visual ideas and ideals. The class will include demonstrations, discussions of masterworks, both traditional and contemporary, and thoughtful feedback on work.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ernie Norcia
Cost: $360
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Wednesdays, June 25 - August 13, 2025
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: $320
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Wednesdays, June 25 - August 13, 2025
Working primarily from direct observation of still life, this class will focus on the fundamentals of drawing such as sight measurement, perspective theory, light/shadow structure, and form. The end goal is that students will be able to better understand and conceptualize the shapes in front of them and approach drawing without intimidation.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Nathan Durnin
Cost: $320
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Tuesdays, July 8 - August 12, 2025
Strengthen and hone your foundational drawing skills through a series of one- and two-day projects. Topics of concern will be design, structure of space, perspective, and light and shade. Subjects will include interior space, single objects and still life arrangements, and the life model. All levels from beginner to advanced are welcome. Tuition includes a $15 models fee.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: John Horn
Cost: $310
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Wednesdays, July 9 - August 13, 2025
The simple pencil is an economical medium readily accessible to students at all levels, including beginners. It can produce drawings that range from poetic delicacy to energetic and bold expressiveness. Working from still life arrangements, interiors, window views, and PAFA’s cast collection, students will explore a variety of approaches for using pencil to shade and model form convincingly and with beauty. Instruction will review basic drawing principles and observational skills such as evaluating shape, gauging proportions, and employing perspective effects like foreshortening. Previous drawing experience is recommended but not required.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Thursdays, July 10 - August 14, 2025
For anyone seeking to advance their portrait drawing skills, this course takes a deep look at the functional and expressive anatomy of the human head including the face, neck, and shoulders. Explore head variations and how the face changes over time. Experiment with creative questions such as handling light and composition. Content includes drawing from life and working in larger formats with a wider range of media. Instruction will lay the groundwork for creative explorations that lead to professional quality work. Note: This course is Part 2 of an optional two-part course. See Portrait Drawing: Structure and Features for foundational or alternative study. Students need not enroll in both sections, and Structure and Features is not required for Expression and Likeness.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: RA Friedman
Cost: $320
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Saturdays, July 12 - August 16, 2025
Paint from a life model in a multi-week-pose format to develop and refine your figure painting compositions. Extended poses will allow students to adjust and resolve issues of surface, color, and composition. Instruction will cover a variety of topics including glazing, broken color, surface texture, composition and design, the relationship of the figure to the environment, the creation of atmosphere and color harmony, disrupted realism, and open- versus closed-form painting. All levels welcome. Instruction will be geared toward oil, but students are welcome to draw-only, or use other appropriate media, if they wish. For preparatory or alternative study, see also Figure Painting: Alla Prima and the Limited Palette. Note: It is not a required prerequisite for The Extended Pose.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: David Wilson
Cost: $330
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
See also:
Art Books for Drawing |
Tutorials for Drawing