Unlocking Composition is a two-day immersive workshop that helps artists create stronger, more visually engaging paintings by putting theory into practice. Working from their own photos, participants will learn to break down complex scenes into simplified shapes and values. They’ll learn how to make and use focal areas that guide the viewer’s eye. On the second day, we’ll delve into understanding balance and unity to create harmony in a painting. Through lectures, demonstrations, and one-on-one- instruction, artists will learn the tools Mark uses to analyze and design a painting. By the end, artists will have practical tools and strategies to approach composition confidently and apply key principles to their own work, helping their paintings feel more cohesive and engaging.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mark Vander Vinne
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Geometry has been a source of interest, beauty and creative inspiration for the artist through the ages. Geometric forms, lines and shapes are all around us and can be seen in everything from architecture to plant life to seashells. Learn non-mathematical strategies inspired by geometry designed to enhance your ongoing body of work or be the starting point for a new one with focus on simplifying subject matter, building a unified composition and creating or enhancing a color palette. Work in the medium of your choice: acrylic, gouache or watercolor while working from your own reference photographs, drawings, books or digital imagery. Designed for both beginners and experienced art makers.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michael Smith
Cost: $175
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery & Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Unity ties a painting together—think matching colors, similar brushstrokes, and overall vibe. Rhythm keeps things lively by guiding your eye with repeated shapes, lines, and energetic brushstrokes and marks. When both qualities interact, something remarkable happens: the painting becomes a seamless blend of order and vitality and true beauty emerges. This workshop is all about Unity and Rhythm, and we'll keep things hands-on with some basic techniques you can actually use. Students are encouraged to paint what they love. You can bring objects from home to build your own still life arrangements or bring photo references you like. I will provide a still life arrangement. All skill levels welcome. Work in oil, acrylic, or gouache.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Fred Jackson
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Have you been using a palette knife just to mix paint, but not sure how to use it on the canvas? In this one-day workshop, discover how to paint confidently with a knife to achieve bold texture, crisp edges, and expressive detail. Through demonstrations and hands-on practice, you’ll explore techniques for painting architecture and landscapes with depth and energy. Learn to create vibrant color, dynamic texture, and a more painterly approach in this fun, fast-paced class.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery & Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

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: $300
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Watercolor is a versatile medium, which can be both transparent and opaque. Using a variety of subject matter, some techniques explored will be drawing for watercolor, painting without drawing, wet-in-wet watercolor, glazing with watercolor washes, the use of gouache and other aqueous media with watercolor. The instructor will start each class with a demonstration or an explanation of the technique for the day. Students will be encouraged to work in their own personal style. Each class will end with a group critique with the emphasis on constructive criticism.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Wendy Scheirer
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This workshop will provide an opportunity for those interested in the palette knife and other alternative painting tools to broaden horizons and creative skills. While all mediums are invited, the workshop is particularly geared to those working in oils or acrylics. The format, while reinforcing the basic skills needed for the creation of well-balanced colorful images, is individualized to accommodate a wide variety of experience levels as well as styles of painting; and from those interested in representational to abstract imagery. This is the perfect workshop for those wishing to introduce new tools to their repertoire, better master color usage, and gain a range of techniques for applying paint.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Cynthia Rosen
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class with instruction by Alice Meyer Wallace will focus on classic watercolor techniques used by Sargeant, Homer, Rodin, Nolde, and particularly Charles Demuth, from Lancaster, PA. Come enjoy this fun and relaxed class! The class will work predominantly from still life but on occasion, the instructor will lead the class in painting from the model (2 times) and there will be an option of experimenting with watercolor and collage.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Alice Meyer-Wallace
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This 12-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 Gardner
Cost: $210
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class with instruction by Alice Meyer Wallace will focus on classic watercolor techniques used by Sargeant, Homer, Rodin, Nolde, and particularly Charles Demuth, from Lancaster, PA. Come enjoy this fun and relaxed class! The class will work predominantly from still life but on occasion, the instructor will lead the class in painting from the model (2 times) and there will be an option of experimenting with watercolor and collage.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Alice Meyer-Wallace
Cost: $165
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This workshop is for those who are new to oil painting or have limited experience. Through discussion and demonstration, it covers all the basics such as what painting medium is for and how much to use, what different type brushes are about, and strategies for putting paint on canvas. Learn how to how to mix and use color to get the results you want. Drawing experience is recommended.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederick Kaplan
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery & Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Students will paint directly from life using simple subjects—fruit or flowers—with an emphasis on learning to slow down, truly look, and respond to what is actually there rather than relying on assumptions, imagination, or formulas. Alla prima will be approached as decision-making, not as “speeding up.” We will emphasize decisive strokes over excessive correction, and brushwork that describes form rather than outline or polish. The goal is to let early marks carry authority—and then build a painting through the accumulation of clear, purposeful strokes. Historical examples and painterly studies will be referenced throughout the course. This workshop is ideal for painters who want their work to feel more confident, cohesive, and alive.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Georganna Lenssen
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Learn how to draw almost anything by learning how to really look! Using simple shapes and lines, young artists can learn how to create amazing drawings step-by-step. We will have fun using pencils, markers, oil pastels and watercolors to draw all sorts of creatures and critters that live on the land, swim in the sea, and fly in the sky! “Step-by-Step” drawing techniques can help young artists gain confidence and encourage them create more complex compositions. This is a 5-week class on Mondays after school.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Candy Stringer
Cost: $140
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. The class will include demonstrations, discussions of masterworks, both traditional and contemporary, and thoughtful feedback on work. The drawing course will be a valuable resource for participants of any age and skill level. 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: $300
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

The convincing depiction of form in three-dimensional space is one of the great conceptual breakthroughs in Western art initiated during the Renaissance. This class will begin by drawing still life items on toned paper. How do you begin a drawing, and when do you stop? We will explore physical viewpoint, composition and the rendering of light and shadow to create mood and feeling. Recreate what you see with power and fresh vision. The goal is to build a drawing vocabulary that communicates your thoughts and feelings. The class will include demonstrations, discussions of masterworks and thoughtful feedback on class work. The drawing participants will discover this to be a valuable resource for more advanced work in drawing and painting.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ernie Norcia
Cost: $300
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

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: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This 12-week course invites students into the exciting world of abstract mixed media art. Guided by artist and educator Birgit Raders-Eichinger, students will explore a wide range of materials, techniques, tools and compositional strategies to create richly layered artwork. Topics include mark-making, texture, layering, contrast, intuitive composition, adding and subtracting, similar but different, balance, and focal points. The course encourages experimentation with tools like brushes, palette knives, color shapers, and unconventional materials. Participants will develop and refine at least one (or more) large cohesive abstract collage artwork, while also creating smaller exploratory pieces throughout the course as part of learning new techniques and materials. Students will be encouraged to take risks, trust their intuition, and enjoy the process of discovery.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Birgit Raders-Eichinger
Cost: $350
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: $300
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

In this 6-week course, children discover new mediums and ideas in art. They begin to identify differences in art such as distinguishing between bright and light, as well as dull and dark colors, find basic shapes within larger objects, and identify types of lines, such as long/short, thick/thin, and straight/curved, then include them in their work. Enrich your child's school-based art program with a more in-depth exploration of art. Employing a wide range of mediums, including drawing and painting, printmaking, ceramics and mixed media, this is an exciting opportunity for children who are looking to take their artistic learning to the next level. This is a 6-week, 1.5 hr. after school class on Wednesdays.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Nicole Lee
Cost: $175
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Bring your current work to develop each week. The instructor will help you strengthen your existing approach and refine your paintings. All subject matter and mediums are welcome (instructor works in oil). We will explore ways to move beyond blending and over-polishing toward a more semi-abstract direction. With a focus on shape, color, and composition, your work can become more powerful as forms are distilled and the underlying painted structure emerges. *Please note this is a semi-abstract class, we will work with representation.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Claudia Rilling
Cost: $260
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Bring your own flowers and a small vase and learn how to set them up for a successful painting. We will explore shapes, lighting, and form, focusing on how they work together in a composition. Through a more gestural approach, you’ll learn how to suggest form and capture the essence of flowers without rendering small details. Medium: All (instructor works in oil).
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Claudia Rilling
Cost: $260
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Learn how to paint harmonious, vibrant watercolor paintings. Unlock the power of color in this 6-week watercolor course focused entirely on color theory and color mixing. Discover how to confidently mix clean, vibrant colors and create harmonious watercolor paintings. Learn the foundations of color theory, temperature, value, and palette design in this step-by-step course designed for beginners and intermediate artists.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Radhika Srinivas
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Few artists are as universally admired as Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669). With a career spanning the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, Rembrandt created intimate and probing self portraits and monumental civic works like 1642s The Night Watch. In his lifetime Rembrandt experienced both great success and devastating failures. This talk will consider the breath of Rembrandt’s work from brash early pictures to contemplative late ones. We’ll also explore the evolution of his painting technique which has been described as a kind of alchemy. The Art of Rembrandt builds on the groundwork of the talk Dutch Golden Age Painting presented on March 12th. William Perthes is an educator, author, and curator.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: William Perthes
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Using your own inspiration e.g., photos, tablets, still life objects etc., you will learn different techniques to give your paintings life and energy. Composition, value, color mixing and technique will be the main focuses of this class. All mediums are welcome! All mediums and skill levels are welcome!
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Discover the joy of painting with the natural world as inspiration. In this gentle, exploratory class, students of all levels are invited to slow down, observe, and draw inspiration from the colors, textures, and rhythms of nature. Using flowers, trees, landscapes, and seasonal changes as starting points, we’ll experiment with playful techniques and creative prompts that spark imagination and personal expression. Rather than striving for perfect results, this course celebrates process over product...finding peace, presence, and delight in the act of painting itself. Along the way, you’ll cultivate a deeper connection to both nature and your own creativity. No prior painting experience is needed—just curiosity, openness, and a willingness to explore.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Heidi Techner
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This 5-week course is for beginners who want to explore drawing, and for more experienced artists who want to improve their artistic skills. Using still-life compositions, students will learn about form, space, design, and value 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.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Annie Gardner
Cost: $210
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.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Anne Graham
Cost: $365
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: Joeseph Sweeney
Cost: $250
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: $200
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Having a well-chosen limited palette is not only incredibly useful but also highly practical for plein air painting and all other studio work. That said, many artists find that a limited palette sometimes falls short—there are always a few colors they need that simply can’t be mixed from the ones they have. Through rigorous investigation, Qiang has examined color performance using a systematic process. His findings are backed by scientific evidence that supports clear reasoning and informed decision-making. He will introduce a new seven-color limited palette that he has found to be effective across nearly all genres, both in the studio and outdoors. To test its versatility, Qiang spent about a year painting exclusively with this palette.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Qiang Huang
Cost: $10
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

Given the priority of authentic light in my work, it is this element that I like to focus on during the three-day workshop. As such, we will focus on value and color temperature relationships above all else. While good drawing is paramount to our effort—since nothing spoils a painting faster than drawing errors—our time is better spent on the more difficult and crucial concepts of value and color temperature. Elements such as appropriate edges, surface texture, composition, and others will also be discussed as needed. We will be painting in oil.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mark Boedges
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Exploring abstracts on a larger scale in the medium of your choosing, this 5-day class will push you into new territory where growth lives… only upsized, because bigger risks equal bigger rewards. You will be shown a system for developing your artistic voice, with a focus on design principles and the language of abstraction. The emphasis is on creative process, exploring new ways to develop and build paintings, create inventive compositions, and build authentic intent in your work. The class is as much a challenge for the experienced as it is for the developing artist, but it’s not for the rank beginner. Bring a sense of humor, a fearless creative spirit, and an open mind.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Larry Moore
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Come discover the surprising history of how landscape painting, once confined to the artist’s studio, moved out into the open air. This talk will consider the work of artists, some forgotten today, responsible for transforming landscape painting from a minor, marginal genre subject to a platform for personal expression. Explore this fascinating story with Bill Perthes and celebrate its ongoing impact in the Wayne Art Center’s 18th Annual Plein Air Festival.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: William Perthes
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553