Abstraction meets representation in this creative take on still life painting. Students will assemble their own still-life set-ups from folded and cut colored paper and then translate these arrangements through observational oil painting on paper. Working from colored planar structures allows the opportunity to explore all the essential aspects of representational still life painting – form, space, value, color relationships, and composition – while experiencing the inherent abstraction of simple shapes and planes of color. Printed papers may additionally allow the introduction of compositional concepts of harmony, pattern, and repetition. This class serves both as an engaging exercise in color and abstraction to inspire one’s painting practice and as an excellent introduction to painting concepts through humble, easy-to-draw subject matter.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Meghan Cox
Cost: $195
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

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 $10 materials fee for floral subjects, provided.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Linda Gist
Cost: $460
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Without question, every oil painter benefits from color mixing instruction: Understanding how to accurately see, mix, and adjust color not only allows you to achieve the results you want in your work but also enables you to avoid the pitfalls of wasting paint though inaccurate and poorly understood pigment mixing. Explore key methods and principles for effective color mixing, using a limited palette to create prismatic hues and earth tone colors. Instruction will address the role of light in the visual perception of color, as well as subtractive and additive color systems. Work from varied still life arrangements to put your color comprehension into practice, and advance your painting skills for all subject matter.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Cost: $295
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. Tuition includes a $10 models fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Cost: $305
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

This complete acrylic painting course covers basics to advanced methods. Learn to use quick-drying acrylics expertly in thin, transparent layers as well as thicker, more opaque applications that produce textural and impasto effects. Materials like fluid mediums, gels, and pastes will be demonstrated, along with both brush and palette knife techniques. Several different color palettes will be introduced as students paint a variety of subject matter, including still life arrangements and the life model. This course is ideal for students looking for a non-toxic, flexible painting medium, as well as anyone seeking to explore acrylics’ excellent potential for representational and abstract work. Drawing experience is recommended. This course includes a $10 models fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Cost: $550
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Color is perhaps the most misunderstood and confusing element of painting for people. This workshop will focus on color’s theoretical underpinnings —how it works and why it works— and how to apply these principles when faced with the reality of painting with artist's pigments. Participants will work to develop their own vocabulary of color through making color studies and scales, and paint from a still life to practice seeing, relating and mixing colors. Designed for beginning through intermediate painters who are looking to gain a greater understanding of color and the color mixing process.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Bruce Garrity
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery & Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Paint from a life model in a single pose for the entire course. Extended time with a single subject allows students to work with the instructor to tailor exercises that address their individual interests, including the development of one large image or several smaller studies. The first session will include time for gestural and thumbnail drawings in preparation for the model’s final placement. 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. 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

When it's hot outside, bring the outdoors in to appreciate the color and intricacy of nature through drawing in color media. Working in colored pencil from gathered flora specimens such as leaves, flowering plants, fruit, and vegetables, explore line, form, value, and texture, as well as color principles and layering/mixing techniques. This course is excellent for students with an interest in natural history illustration or a love of nature, as well as for anyone seeking a straight-forward drawing or color course from still life subjects.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Enjoy open-air painting in beautiful Valley Forge National Historical Park, the encampment site of George Washington’s Continental Army and now home to a painter’s delight of lush scenery and historic architecture! Located 35 minutes northwest of Center City Philadelphia, the park features great views of the Schuylkill River, Valley Creek, the Valley Forge Farm, Mt. Joy, Mt. Misery, and many valleys, cabins, and colonial houses, 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. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation.
 
Location: Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Joseph Sweeney
Cost: $375
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Paint portraits from a variety of models using the direct painting method. Examine the proportions and volumes of the head, as well as the placement, structure, and characteristics of the facial features, through preliminary drawings and demonstrations. Develop color using a limited palette to understand how to use chroma, temperature, value, tint, and tone. Instruction will address materials, composition, paint handling, and color mixing, blending, and theory. Homework assignments working from photos, Masterworks, or oneself/others will encourage students to learn to make personal aesthetic and technical choices and to practice concepts addressed in class. Open to all levels, this course is excellent for beginners as well as experienced students who want to review fundamental techniques or who simply enjoy painting portraits from life.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Roberto Osti
Cost: $590
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Experience still life painting as a means of exploring vibrant color and abstraction. Day 1 of this workshop will focus on understanding and mixing color: examining basic color theory and relationships, using a limited palette of primary pigments to achieve an array of colors, learning how to identify and adjust value and temperature. Day 2 will take this color expertise from describing objective objects to promoting personal and aesthetic effects through abstraction: composing form and space expressively, and using color for personal or formal effects. Instruction will be geared toward acrylic painting, addressing materials and brush/palette knife techniques, but students may use oils if they prefer. All levels welcome.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Doah Lee
Cost: $195
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632