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

Don't miss this opportunity to work with renowned figurative sculptor Laura Frazure! Working from a life model, students will create a reclining figure in water clay. Instruction will focus on body proportions, anatomical structure, gesture, modeling techniques and sculptural form making. No previous experience is necessary.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Laura Frazure
Cost: $425
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Unleash your imagination in this playful one-day workshop where mythology meets nature! Instructor Samantha Dwornikoski will guide you through the art of fantasy illustration as you mix and match an exciting assortment of mythological creatures with animals and natural elements to create your own unique fantastical being. Whether you randomly select your references or carefully choose your favorites, you'll be encouraged to tap into your creative thinking and let your imagination run wild. Work in the medium of your choice or try the underdrawings and layering method that will be demonstrated during class. Perfect for artists who love to experiment and think outside the box—no prior fantasy drawing experience needed, just bring your sense of adventure!
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Samantha Dwornikoski
Cost: $100
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

Step into the enchanting world of fantasy art and discover how to create illustrations that tell powerful visual stories! In this immersive workshop, instructor Samantha Dwornikoski will guide you through the rich history of fantasy art, exploring its enduring importance and how it continues to shape the media we love today. You'll dive deep into the essential elements of fantasy illustration—learning about motifs, visual language, style, and tone—while reviewing key fundamentals including anatomy, shape, lighting, and rendering techniques. You'll learn Samantha's signature underdrawing and color wash layering method to build a complete, polished illustration from start to finish. But the biggest emphasis? Creativity. This course is designed to push your imaginative boundaries and help you develop your unique artistic voice.
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Samantha Dwornikoski
Cost: $100
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

Our interest is whether two distinct pictorial genres, the portrait and the nude figure, can challenge each other and make each more interesting. The expressive overlap in portraiture and figure painting has been a central concern in my work for over forty years. To explore this experience the workshop will consist of two all day poses. Participants may use any painting medium (oil, acrylic, pastel, opaque watercolor), but the emphasis will be in pushing the participants’ efforts through changes and revision which may include the model’s change of state from nude to clothed or vice versa. My interest is in “likeness” which is as much involved with gesture, proportion, and spatial context as the disposition of features, complexion, and light.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Scott Noel
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This will be a two-day long pose oil painting workshop with a live model. To start off, students will learn how to get better structure and likeness through the practice of abstract angle relationships as our drawing foundation. Students will then build upon this by modeling the surface of the face with a basic flesh tone value range. This is the basic method upon which more elaborate portraits can be developed. Also discussed will be adding color to our flesh tones, how to start this process and how to think about it based upon classical formulas and also pure abstract color perception. We will end the class with developing the features further to create a focal point for the portrait.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Kerry Dunn
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

Explore a fresh, expressive approach to painting portraits and figures in watercolor with Janet Rogers. Through engaging demonstrations, creative exercises, and individualized instruction, students will learn to create luminous flesh tones, expressive facial features, dynamic shadow shapes, and convincing three-dimensional form. Work from your own photographs or Janet's reference collection while developing confidence in seeing and interpreting your subject with greater spontaneity and energy. Drawing aids are available for beginners, making this workshop welcoming to artists of every experience level. Discover how to paint people with personality, authenticity, and confidence—no fear, just paint!
 
Location: Jupiter, Florida
Instructor: Janet Rogers
Cost: $475
Sponsor: The New Studio For The Visual Arts
Website, email, 561-295-5712

Join renowned watercolor artist Jeannie Vodden in the magical art world of Santa Fe. Students will enjoy an in-studio experience each day painting a portrait of their choice, or following along as Jeannie demonstrates… and then will explore a wonderful area of Santa Fe each afternoon. Jeannie’s watercolors are marked by the use of a limited palette of staining transparent primary colors. She works from large gentle washes of color to more specific detail (large to small/general to specific, a technique known as indirect painting). Her use of glazing layer over layer gives a translucent lifelike feeling to her paintings, while her interest in luminescence guides her choice of subject matter and the quality of light in her work.
 
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Instructor: Jeannie Vodden
Cost: $1,690
Sponsor: French Escapade
Website, email, 510-584-6919

Michael is often called a “sunny watercolorist” – his airy, transparent artworks look as though they emit the sunlight. One of the most difficult and interesting tasks in watercolour is transferring moving figures onto paper. Using a combination of different techniques, we will learn to convey not only the movement, but also the emotional component of the dance. Even when working in several layers, we will keep the freshness and transparency of the watercolour.
 
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Instructor: Michael Solovyev
Cost: $1,596
Sponsor: Artists Rising Creativity Retreats
Website, email, 860-781-4389