This painting-essentials course presents an in-depth and practical examination of the role of color in oil and acrylic painting. Instruction will explore mixing strategies and the effects of color choices and relationships upon depth, atmosphere, and luminosity. A variety of painting methods will be addressed, with a focus on how to exploit glazing, scumbling, and velatura layering techniques to achieve richer and more lively color. The still-life subject matter is appropriate for painters of all experience levels, although those with prior experience will benefit most from the color-emphasis in content.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Cost: $450
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Working from the nude model in poses of varying lengths, 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, if they wish.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: David Wilson
Cost: $330
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.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Cost: $315
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

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 and other sites along the Schuylkill River. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Cost: $315
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Learn to explore new possibilities and paint more intuitively under the guidance of artist/critic/mentor Kassem Amoudi. Work from personal subject matter (objects, images, emotions, or ideas) to find your own visual language, informed by examples from contemporary and modern art. Examine how to use concepts of color, harmony, focal point, space, and mark-making as powerful tools of personal expression. Instruction is geared toward open painting time supported by critiques and advice from the instructor as he works one-on-one with students to guide them in their personal style and goals. This course is excellent for students pursuing abstract or nonobjective imagery, seeking knowledgeable feedback and a focused community painting environment. Painting experience recommended.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Cost: $450
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

My paintings begin with observation but evolve through an open, responsive process, allowing composition to emerge by emphasizing the rhythms and elements that feel essential. Color and brushwork move beyond description—pushed and varied to create expressive relationships that carry light, atmosphere, and energy across the surface. The goal is a dynamic composition that distills the subject into its felt presence, revealing what compels me to look and to paint.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Fred Jackson
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This extended course explores landscape drawing and painting in the studio using reference photos and sketches. Students will learn how to create effective reference materials through photography, sketching, and observation, and how to translate these references into compelling compositions. Instruction will focus on principles of design, including balance, value structure, and spatial organization, alongside an in-depth exploration of color relationships, atmosphere, and light. Through a series of projects and critiques, students will develop technical skills and a personal approach to interpreting the landscape.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $450
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Come see how Beth creates her distinctive painting technique using tools such as squeegees, cotton swabs and brushes as she carves into the paint to create the image. She is a bit different from other oil painters… come see her secrets.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Beth Bathe
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Capture the active life of the city and its rich architecture. This is an excellent workshop for anyone who wants to learn to sketch on the bus or train, in cafés and public parks, or while traveling abroad. Topics include perspective, gauging proportions by eye, gesture figure drawing, and methods for simplifying form. All levels welcome.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Cost: $115
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

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

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 and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Join Caleb in the garden as he paints the flowers in bloom. He will walk you through his approach to building a picture, beginning with drawing in larger shapes and building up layers until he has a crisp, detailed interpretation of the subject. If weather is unpleasant, we will meet inside.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Caleb Stoltzfus
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Watercolor is a wonderful painting medium due to its vibrant and translucent nature, quick drying time, and easy set-up and clean-up. Explore this versatile medium a supportive and immersive environment! Focus will be color theory and brush work demonstrations as we explore the basics of color mixing, layering washes and a sense of touch. Learn to incorporate dry media into your painting including color pencil, watercolor pencil, and pastel! Painting from natural subject matter including still life, botanical studies and landscape. Drawing experience is helpful but not required.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan
Cost: $250 or $60 per session
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Enjoy open-air painting in beautiful Valley Forge National Historic Park on the National Historic Register. The church site of George Washington’s Continental Army in 1777-1778 and now home to lush scenery and historic architecture! Located in Montgomery County, 35 minutes northwest of Center City Philadelphia, with ample parking and access to restrooms. Working from diverse landscape subject matter, students will learn essential plein air approaches, including color mixing to achieve a sense of light and air, capturing time of day, compositional fundamentals, and sound drawing and painting practices. Instruction is geared toward oil/acrylic painting and pastel drawing/painting. Meeting at the Washington Memorial Chapel parking lot.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Joseph Sweeney
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

Stewart will show how to take advantage of the transparency of watercolor and the power of light on the paper.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stewart White
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This course will introduce students to the basics of oil painting. Students will learn how to handle materials, mix colors, and build a painting from start to finish. The tools and processes covered are adaptable for use in a home studio setup. Techniques will include color mixing, brushwork, layering, and basic surface preparation. Students will work from simple observation and/or reference while developing an understanding of value and composition.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

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). Students are encouraged to use water mixable (soluble) oils to get the most out of the workshop. Beth will have paint for her students to try as well as one of her prepared painting panels, brushes and other supplies for you to use during the workshop. This workshop is for all level of painters - from beginners to returnees.
 
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

Learn everything you need to know about the medium of soft 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: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

In this fast paced and fun weekend workshop we discuss the importance of composition and design in our work and then apply what we’ve learned to a variety of subjects in the process exploring the magical qualities of watercolor.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mick McAndrews
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This six-week on-campus studio-rental program is designed for experienced visual artists who desire constructive feedback on their artwork, as well as the support and interaction of an artistic community. Stimulate your personal artistic growth in your own private PAFA studio through individual weekly critiques from a stellar ensemble of notable artists, including members of PAFA’s acclaimed faculty, as well as discussion, group critiques, and artist studio visits. Tuition covers a personal studio in PAFA's Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, weekly critiques (one-on-one; one group critique), and additional group discussions and outings to museums and commercial galleries (scheduled per students' interests). This is an uninstructed program; as such, prior art-making experience and the ability to work independently are required.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cost: $1,350
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Explore the art of portrait painting through an in-depth approach from Al Gury, noted PAFA instructor and author of Alla Prima: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Direct Painting and Color for Painters: A Guide to Traditions and Practice. Investigate the structure and basic anatomy of the human head through drawings and painted studies. Progress to finished paintings and address issues of likeness, composition, space and texture. Instruction will focus on alla prima (direct) painting techniques, practical use of materials, and color palettes for effective portrait painting. Learn to better see and understand color to mix it more successfully – a useful skill for painting any subject matter. All levels welcome. Note: Course tuition includes a $65 model fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Al Gury
Cost: $515
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

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 other subjects, 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

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. Note: Tuition includes a $35 models fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: David Wilson
Cost: $330
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

In this fast paced and fun weekend workshop we discuss the importance of composition and design in our work and then apply what we’ve learned to a variety of subjects to create works of sophisticated simplicity.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mick McAndrews
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This workshop will introduce students to the fundamental principles of design and composition. Using simple materials and guided exercises, students will learn how to organize visual elements to create clear, engaging images. Concepts covered will include balance, contrast, movement, focal point, and value structure. These ideas will be applied through quick studies and practical examples that can translate across drawing, painting, and printmaking.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Too much of the same green? Discover the importance of using a range of greens to make your landscapes more impactful. Begin with creating a variety of color swatches of your chosen landscape, pushing some warmer or cooler or lighter or darker. Work on balancing these with other colors in your piece to create a harmonious and balanced composition. Various examples of paintings will be shared a short demo as well in color mixing from a limited palette of color. You can choose to work on smaller landscape studies or a larger finished piece.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Abby Ober
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Explore the possibilities of palette knife painting in this six-week course led by artist Shushana Rucker. Designed for painters of all levels, the course introduces students to a range of knife techniques for applying oil paint. Through demonstrations, guided exercises, and individual feedback, students will learn how to mix bold color and use texture to heighten expression and atmosphere. Working from observation and reference imagery, participants will complete several finished paintings and develop a personal approach to working with the knife. No prior palette knife experience required.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of relief printmaking without a press. Students will learn linocut and woodcut carving and hand printing techniques. The tools and techniques covered are accessible and can be continued at home with minimal equipment. Upon completion, students should feel confident creating and printing their own relief designs independently.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $150
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

This five-week course focuses on the specific skills needed to successfully create small and miniature oil paintings. Students will learn how to adjust composition, simplify forms, and control detail so that images read clearly at a smaller size. Students will learn painting strategies which will make working at a smaller scale more approachable. Working from observation and/or reference, students will also explore how value, edges, and color relationships function differently in a compact format. Through demonstrations, exercises, and critique, participants will build confidence in making clear, deliberate decisions that suit the demands of painting small.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $245
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

In this intensive weekend course, students will complete two to three small oil paintings while exploring a range of techniques for rendering complex surface qualities. Through focused exercises, participants will develop methods for organizing the flowing structure of draped fabric, capturing the intricate patterns of wood grain, and conveying the reflective sheen of metal. The course will also address the challenges of depicting transparency in glass and the subtle, shifting character of water both on surfaces and within vessels such as glasses or vases. This class presents valuable information for painters of all subject matter. Previous drawing and painting experience is strongly recommended.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Cost: $195
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Before a painting deserves a large canvas, it must survive the study. In this intensive one-day workshop, professional artist Vlad Duchev guides serious painters through the disciplined process that separates hesitation from mastery: structured, intentional studies. In today’s art culture, artists are often encouraged to “just paint.” But strong paintings are not accidents. They are built. A study is not a warm-up. It is not a quick sketch. It is a focused investigation. When you isolate one problem at a time — value, composition, temperature, edge, brushwork — clarity replaces guesswork. Confidence replaces correction. Authority replaces uncertainty.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Vlad Milan Duchev
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This workshop explores the evocative world of nocturne painting through the delicate and expressive medium of watercolor. Focusing on landscape scenes at the edge of day—sunset, twilight, and night—students will learn to capture the silvery light and subtle atmospheric effects that define these transitional hours. Learn how to work with restrained hues and layered washes to create a sense of depth and unity, to suggest rather than describe subject matter. Instruction will emphasize tonalist concerns of working with muted color palettes, gentle value shifts, and harmonious compositions. Through individualized guidance, participants will hone their sensitivity to tonal relationships and the expressive potential of nocturne painting.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
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

This one-day workshop introduces the fundamentals of color temperature and its role in creating depth, light, and mood in a painting. Through demonstrations and hands-on exercises, participants will explore the relationships between warm and cool colors and how temperature shifts can be used to model form, suggest atmosphere, and unify a composition. Working from simple references, students will practice mixing and applying color with intention. This workshop is suitable for all levels and emphasizes both observation and experimentation.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $115
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

During this one-day intensive workshop, Beth shares her unique technique with students. 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. She will also discuss how to pick objects that make an exciting still life set up. Students are encouraged to use water mixable (soluble) oils to get the most out of the workshop. Beth will have paint for her students to try as well as one of her prepared painting panels, brushes and other supplies for you to use during the workshop. This workshop is for all level of painters.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Beth Bathe
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Learn how to paint beautiful landscapes on location! In this class, we will discuss the fundamentals of painting en plein air as well as more advanced topics like drawing, composition, and color theory. The first day will begin with a 30-minute lecture and discussion on the core concepts of plein air painting. This will be followed by a 2.5-hour painting demonstration. After a 1-hour lunch break, students will begin work on their own paintings while Marc gives individualized instruction. Class will end at 4pm, but students may continue to paint if they wish. Days 2 and 3 will follow a similar format. The class will end with a group critique and discussion.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Marc Anderson
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Working from still-life we will develop a vocabulary for clearer color thinking, and skills in seeing and using the subtle color changes in white. Color is a perceptual event: a sensation, not a theory. White, as the brightest and highest value, is the master of all the other colors. How does a painter become a colorist? It is not about using bright colors but about handling nuances and seeing color relationships, especially in the use of whites. Those subtle color changes require heightened sensitivity to all aspects of color; value, harmony and complementary, along with careful observation and response, and understanding how color and light function in both human vision and in paint.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Maggie Siner
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Because drapery captures gravity, weight and movement, it does a great deal of the work in making a convincing dynamic composition. Drapery can be manipulated and altered in ways that bodies can never be and yet define the forms of the body underneath. As it covers it also reveals. Fabric retains the gesture of movement, giving life to static forms. Changes of color on each turning plane are subtle, beautiful, and completely dependent on fabric texture. This gives tactile specificity for the sense of touch. Fabric suggests content, drama. Working from visual perception and studying light relationships we will use both still life and figure to simplify and extract the essentials of form and gesture for a unified and dramatic whole.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Maggie Siner
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553