The oil sketch is a traditional way for painters to execute preparatory ideas and quickly capture initial impressions – perfect for plein air painting! Learn useful techniques for rapidly encapsulating color and form while working directly from observation. Locations with shade and restrooms include Bartram’s Garden along the Schuylkill River and the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, near Philadelphia International Airport. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Cost: $375
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

This two-day workshop will focus on the use of the palette knife, the freedom it affords and the emphasis of color in your paintings. While the palette knife can be used to enhance brush paintings, it is a perfect tool for impressionistic as well as abstracted images rich in color. I will introduce the differences between brush painting and knife painting by executing 2 small paintings of the same subject with the different tools as I briefly review issues of composition, value, and color mixing. As you work on your own paintings in oil or acrylic, I will assist you in color relationships, values, use of the knife, edges, etc.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Cynthia Rosen
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Capture the small-town beauty Manayunk's hilly streets, rowhomes, and storefronts. Learn to create a convincing sense of space, light and time of day while depicting streetscapes, trees, water and sky. Color mixing and painting techniques for oils will be demonstrated, but all drawing/painting media are welcome. Located just 15 minutes outside of Philadelphia, Manayunk offers engaging urban and riverside neighborhood subjects with parking, shade, provisions and facilities available. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Larry Francis
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Join our faculty for this still life workshop working in oils, alla prima style; wet on wet. Students will learn to build paintings with luminous color starting with transparent colors and building towards opaques. Students are encouraged to paint what they love, bringing objects from home to build their own still life arrangements. A personal excitement or connection to an item whether it be a color, subject or personal story, helps the artist create a work that is truly their own. Instructor will provide some items as well for students to work with. Students will be working from life, no photos for this class.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Fred Jackson
Cost: $240
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class focuses on accessing personal expression in abstraction and understanding how to use visual language to create work that expresses your unique voice. You'll be introduced to starting a painting in “Reckless Abandon” and gain clarity about your abstract voice through demonstrations and discussions emphasizing the interrelationship between emotional expression, composition, and painting technique. Oil paint will be used for demos and technical discussions. Other paint mediums welcome.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Marianne Mitchell
Cost: $240
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class offers a combination of instruction and open studio practice allowing students to explore, take chances, develop critical thinking, and cultivate their artistic voices. Participants investigate basic color theory, learn how to create strong compositions, and develop technical skills. The choice of medium is up to each individual. Supportive individual and group critiques, specific assignments and demonstrations will encourage students to pursue their personal styles and growth.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Val Rossman
Cost: $335
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Working from still life set-ups, learn the various techniques of aqueous media used for creating light, structure, texture, transparency and opacity. While the focus of the class is water-based acrylics, students are welcome to work in pastels or oil if they prefer. Instructor demonstrations and group discussion, as well as individual attention, provided during each class session.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Joseph Sweeney
Cost: $285
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This course will focus on issues of, composition, color, texture, measure, likeness, proportion, with special attention given to technical painting issues, like, how to translate skin’s complex surface characteristics in paint. Demonstrations of a layered painting technique to bring out the full depth and richness of color in our portraits will be presented and discussed. Portraits often reveal a variety of qualities of the sitter, like social class, age, beauty, occupation, etc. The class will include demonstrations, discussions of masterworks, both traditional and contemporary, and thoughtful feedback on work. This course is open to all skill levels, from beginners to advanced, encouraging all participants to deepen their knowledge of portraiture through the process of painting.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ernie Norcia
Cost: $340
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Students learn basic techniques and mechanics of oil painting to help guide them from inspiration to expression. Working from still-life set-ups, students build paintings as they consider the relationship of objects within a composition, as well as the overall picture including color, hue, and intensity.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michael Doyle
Cost: $285
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Take your work to the next level under the mentoring guidance of artist/critic Kassem Amoudi. In this live focused open studio environment, all levels of students will discover how to enhance their own visual language and interests exploring new ways of painting. Expert instruction and advice from the instructor will push students to explore new possibilities and work more intuitively, allowing unplanned marks and passages to become artistic breakthroughs. Examples from contemporary and modern art will be examined to promote a broader understanding of the abstract qualities of space, line and color. Advance beyond confined lines and hard edges to a more liberated way of painting. It does not matter What you paint. It is the How you paint it.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Bring in your troubled paintings, half-starts, and anything that never really got off the ground! In this class, we will work to find solutions for old paintings or works in progress that are having trouble finding their shine. We will examine composition, form, rhythm, and color, and discuss ways that each painting or drawing can be given new life. We will work in class to try out some of these solutions or make alternate works using the original as a reference. From new painters to experts, paintings and drawings that don't quite sing are inevitable. But we can use them to our advantage and learn new ways of looking to bring the next one to a more satisfying place.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Nicole Michaud
Cost: $285
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This 6-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: $240
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Working from both cast studies and life models, this class emphasizes the rhythm, form, and structure of the human figure. Some attention is given to introductory anatomy. Students may elect to draw or paint, using a variety of mediums. Open to all levels, from beginner to experienced.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michael Doyle
Cost: $385
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

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: $335
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

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: $335
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Acquaint or re-acquaint yourself with the pleasure of oil painting. Learn about the materials and techniques that form the basis of the medium. Students will use still life, simple and complex, as subject matter. All levels are welcome.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Karen Fogarty
Cost: $335
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Students create fresh and dynamic paintings using simple everyday objects in thoughtful, well-lit compositions. Through hands-on instruction, demos, and examining the work of master and contemporary painters, students begin with an indirect 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 upon which to build. Students are encouraged to bring meaningful objects or subject matter that inspires, excites, or tells a story. This class will benefit students of all levels.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Sharon Henderson
Cost: $240
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class is designed to help you approach floral painting with more confidence and sensitivity. We’ll work from life or photo references to simplify complex forms, understand the structure of flowers, and create a clear, strong painting. Starting with small exploratory studies of simple floral set-ups, we'll gradually move toward more complex flowers and dense arrangements. Each week students will bring a small simple floral arrangement of their choice. This can be fresh or silk flowers. Level: Intermediate to Advanced.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Claudia Rilling
Cost: $335
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: $285
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class is designed for painters looking to further develop their skills and elevate their work. Whether you focus on still life, figure, landscape, or other subject matter, all are welcome. The class offers a supportive and relaxed environment where the instructor provides personalized, one-on-one guidance to help you refine your unique style and approach. Bring your preferred materials and any current work-in-progress to the first session. Students will work from their own reference material and/or still-life set ups.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Claudia Rilling
Cost: $240
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Working from your own reference material, we will spend each week focusing on a particular aspect of landscape painting. Individual techniques will be held each session in a supportive atmosphere. Syllabus will be provided. Please bring painting materials to the first class. All mediums welcomed.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Bonnie Mettler
Cost: $445
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Working in oil or pastel from photographic reference, this class is about translating the photographic image onto either canvas or paper. Focusing on color, value and mark making as essential tools, students are encouraged to move a step beyond the restraints of a camera to create a successful and personal work. Discussion will include working with painting mediums and exploring different techniques.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Anne Graham
Cost: $240
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class is designed to help the student capture the likeness and personality of their chosen animal by using a variety of techniques and paint application, be it the fluid motion of watercolor or the layering process of pastels and oils. Any medium and skill level is welcome. Students provide their own photographs.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $335
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Uncovering the connection between your identity and your artwork can be both liberating and inspiring. In this class, we will explore methods designed to help you discover and develop your unique aesthetic and artistic voice. Our focus will be on paint handling, color selection, and composition. You will learn to manage your palette, make intentional color choices, and understand their impact on your work. Play will be encouraged! Music will serve as our muse, providing inspiration as you select your subject matter with guided support. This journey encourages mindfulness and self-discovery, and connects us more deeply with the world around us and ourselves. All skill levels are welcome and valued in this class.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Heidi Techner
Cost: $335
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This course is designed to create paintings that we will build from a loose, underpainting and refine as we go along. This class is ideal for those painters who want to break out of the habit of focusing in on details and let the paint create a more expressive piece. Attention will be paid to composition, color mixing, paint application and technique. All skill levels welcome in a fun and relaxing atmosphere!
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $335
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This course is designed to help you develop the skills needed to paint a portrait and achieve a likeness of your subject, working either in a traditional or contemporary style. Focus will be on observation, composition, and color with an emphasis on skin tones as well as learning to translate the various planes of color and light that are so important in painting the figure. Students may work in Pastel or Oil.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Anne Graham
Cost: $340
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Students will have the opportunity to work on a dramatically lit model with period costume and props in a five-hour long pose. Work independently in the drawing/painting medium of your choice! This workshop is designed to give students the opportunity to work from a live model, allowing you time to explore and experiment. Beth uses water mixable oils in a limited palette and has a technique where she uses squeegees and paper towels along with her brushes in a reductive technique to create her painting. Beth will paint along for the first part of the day as a demo and students are welcome to watch and interact or artists may paint/draw for the whole session.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Beth Bathe
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This workshop will focus on understanding color temperature, its ability to bring vitality to the painted surface as well as its use as a powerful tool in identifying and controlling color in your work. Students can work from still life or photo references and in any medium, however, oil painting will be the primary focus. Daily demos will be followed by individual instruction and general discussion.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Jon Redmond
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This 6-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: $280
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Paint on location on the grounds of beautiful Ridgeland Mansion, the historic 18th century Federal-style house located in west Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Landscape painting topics will include color mixing to achieve a sense of light and air, capturing time of day, compositional fundamentals, and sound painting practices for oil, acrylic, or pastel painting. Students are responsible for their own transportation.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Joseph Sweeney
Cost: $115
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Led by master artist Michael Doyle, students consider the composition of a figure within an interior setting. Students may elect to draw or paint, using a variety of materials.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michael Doyle
Cost: $340
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Successfully producing expressive, painterly paintings from photographs requires a knowledge of both the advantages and potential pitfalls of photographic sources. While providing useful visual information, photos often mislead - distorting subjects and flattening the picture plane. In this workshop students will use photographs as a point of departure, a reference point from which information will selectively and intelligently be drawn. Students will be encouraged to develop a more defined understanding of their connection to their selected subjects. Developing an enhanced visual awareness of compositional design, the importance of shapes, color harmony and paint application is critically important. This workshop will help students learn to “see” as painters. They will be challenged to take chances, be bold, expressive and spontaneous.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Georganna Lenssen
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class covers the fundamental tenets of design in art. You get to decide the level of abstraction you wish to explore. It is more a learn-how-to-think class where you learn a process that you can use to explore new ideas. It’s a crash course on finding authenticity in your work. This class covers the seven principles of creative expression and the language of art. Larry’s intent is to help each artist find a way that works that is unique to them, whether they wish to interpret from life, push their process, or go fully abstract. This is not a class for beginners, participants need to have some experience with drawing, color and painting.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Larry Moore
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Qiang’s approach to still life painting will be demonstrated with particular focus on creating dramatic set ups by observing the light distribution, and using bold and loose strokes to create a powerful and accurate representation on canvas. Using demonstrations and individual assistance, Qiang will explain his process of creating energetic paintings by manipulating values, colors, edges, and brushwork. Personal attention will be given to each student according to his or her current skill level and personal goals in art. The workshop is designed for indoor practice with live settings. Qiang has developed computer tools to help artists to see color more accurately and simplify the painting process. He will share his color study and introduce the tools in this workshop.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Qiang Huang
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Wondering what Water Mixable 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 and show how she uses photography and simple apps on her phone to simplify forms enhance value and emphasize composition. In the afternoon students will work from photos (either bring your own on your phone/iPad, or Beth will have prints to share).
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Beth Bathe
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553