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

Late September is the year's most generous moment for the sketchbook artist. Leaves are at the height of their color, seed heads are heavy and ripe, berries glow against darkening stems, and the first hints of bare branch architecture are just beginning to show. The landscape is abundant, specific, and fleeting — exactly the conditions a field journal was made for. In this hands-on workshop, you will build a field journal page dedicated to autumn's peak, working in graphite, Micron pen, and watercolor. Learn to observe the colors, textures, and forms of the season with fresh attention, and develop techniques for recording botanical subjects at their most expressive moment. All skill levels welcome.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Margaret Saylor
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

In this full-day workshop, you will build a richly annotated sketchbook spread dedicated to the fungi and flora of the autumn woodland, working in graphite, Micron pen, and watercolor. In the days before class, forage your neighborhood, yard, or a local park for anything that catches your eye — mushrooms, seed pods, leaves, lichen, whatever the season offers — and bring your finds to work from directly. A variety of specimens will also be provided. Learn to observe the distinctive shapes, textures, and tones of mushrooms and their habitat with an artist's eye, and develop techniques for capturing everything from the velvet surface of a cap to the delicate architecture of gills, pores, and stems. All skill levels welcome.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Margaret Saylor
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Learn how to create a realistic and character-descriptive portrait of your beloved pet or favorite animal in this workshop and have fun at the same time! The instructor will guide through a step-by-step drawing process that includes: How to create the facial structure of your pet How to render beautiful and sparkling eyes How to build nose and mouth shapes How to create light and dark fur How to choose the right background for your portrait Join us for a happy pet drawing day!
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Alicia Mino Gonzalez
Cost: $115
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Learn everything you need to know about the medium of pastels. Apply basic and advanced techniques in rendering the still-life, portraits and cityscape views. Topics include the use of light and color, types of pastel available, use of different papers, fixing and transporting finished drawings, and safety issues.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Joseph Sweeney
Cost: $195
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Don't miss this opportunity to draw the figure model with guidance from noted figurative artist Carolyn Pyfrom in this all-day intensive workshop! Learn representational life drawing strategies to marry gestural drawing approaches of rhythm, continuity and volume to "analytical" ones, highlighting the ways in which good gesture and good proportions support each other. The mornings will focus on short-pose gesture drawing with poses gradually extending to 20 minutes long. The afternoon sessions will feature one long pose allowing for the development of values and forms. Ideal for artists at any level of practice.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Carolyn Pyfrom
Cost: $395
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647