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Tuesdays, January 21 - April 1, 2025
Expand the boundaries of traditional watercolor painting! Explore the wonderful range of effects that may be achieved by incorporating compatible water-soluble materials such as ink, watercolor pencils, and opaque pigments, as well as toned surfaces. Demonstrations and examples of masterworks will illustrate traditional and contemporary techniques, with a wealth of practical and technical advice provided. Observational study in PAFA’s still life studio may be supplemented by options to work from personal sketches, photo sources, recognized artworks, and memory or imagination. Students will be encouraged to experiment, explore, and develop their personal expression with water-media.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Jill A. Rupinski
Cost: $450
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
Tuesdays, January 21 - March 25, 2025
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 to create more complex compositions. This is a 10-week class on Tuesdays after school.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Candy Stringer
Cost: $265
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553
Tuesdays, January 21 - March 25, 2025
Come and learn how to draw and paint realistic animals as well as your favorite characters from Pixar, Disney and Dreamworks movies. Explore drawing and painting using many different mediums and techniques. You decide the subjects and how to color them. Come join the fun as we "go to the movies!" This is a 10-week, 1.5 hour class, held on Tuesdays.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mark Gruener
Cost: $265
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553
Wednesdays, January 22 - March 26, 2025
Enrich your knowledge of painting with an in-depth look at watercolor. Thoroughly investigate a wide range of watercolor materials and techniques from your choice of landscape, still life, portrait, and figure subjects. The course is designed to equip each participant with the knowledge and skills necessary to make accomplished, personally rewarding watercolor paintings. Open to watercolorists of all levels and to acrylic/oil painters looking to broaden their skills.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $675
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
Thursdays, January 23 - April 24, 2025
Taking the leap to start or cultivate an art-making practice in a private studio space can be both exciting and daunting. Learn how to create work and stay motivated on your own terms in this new and unique combination studio-rental and classroom course! Tuition for this fifteen-week/full-semester program will confer an individual studio space in PAFA’s Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, as well as weekly meetings for critique and instruction on a variety of artist’s concerns led by artist-instructor/critic Roger Chavez. Weekly meetings will feature both one-on-one critiques/discussions as well as group instruction on art topics designed to motivate and assist you in your work, including drawing sessions from models, assignment prompts, materials and techniques demonstrations, museum visits, and critiques from guest critics.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Cost: $2,275
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
Fridays, January 24 - March 28, 2025
Enrich your knowledge of painting with an in-depth look at watercolor. Thoroughly investigate a wide range of watercolor materials and techniques from your choice of landscape, still life, portrait, and figure subjects. The course is designed to equip each participant with the knowledge and skills necessary to make accomplished, personally rewarding watercolor paintings. Open to watercolorists of all levels and to acrylic/oil painters looking to broaden their skills.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $675
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
Saturdays, January 25 - April 5, 2025
Come and learn how to draw and paint realistic animals as well as your favorite characters from Pixar, Disney and Dreamworks movies. Explore drawing and painting using many different mediums and techniques. You decide the subjects and how to color them. Come join the fun as we "go to the movies!" This is a 10-week, 1.5 hour class, held on Saturdays.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mark Gruener
Cost: $265
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553
Saturdays, January 25 - April 5, 2025
Whether you are a beginner or looking to round out your college portfolio, this student-centered class will help build essential drawing and painting skills using a variety of mediums, including pencil, charcoal, chalk pastel, watercolor, and acrylic paints. Students will explore different approaches to art, working from life by arranging unique still-life setups and observing nature in the garden. Photo references, based on personal experiences, photographs taken in class, or other sources will also be used. This class encourages students to draw from their imagination and emotions, creating artwork that is personal and expressive. This is a 10-week, 2 hr. class.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mary Kate Doherty
Cost: $355
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553
Fridays, January 31 - April 4, 2025
Beginning with Caravaggio’s 1599 Basket of Fruit, still-life has a long history as a vehicle for transforming the commonplace into powerful statements. Take part in this intriguing tradition by exploring the symbolic and narrative potential of the unique object arrangements in PAFA’s dedicated still-life studio. This course is also ideal for gaining or advancing essential painting skills as you expand your understanding of color, composition, application and layering techniques, and painting materials. Instruction will focus on oil and acrylic paints, but gouache is also permitted. Previous drawing experience strongly recommended. Painting experience helpful but not required.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Cost: $450
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
Wednesdays, February 5 - March 26, 2025
Photoshop is a wonderful, versatile program that can help you bring out the best in your photographs. Students will get to know Photoshop's most important tools and learn about the features used most. Basic computer skills needed for this course. Students should have a laptop computer to bring to each class and have Photoshop installed on the laptop computer. Photoshop Elements is acceptable, Photoshop is preferred. Creative Cloud Photoshop is available from Adobe or Amazon websites.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Laura Ducceschi
Cost: $315
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553
Tuesdays, February 18 - March 25, 2025
This class with instruction by Alice Meyer Wallace will focus on classic watercolor techniques-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: $285
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553
Fridays, February 21 - March 28, 2025
In this fast paced and fun workshop, we will learn how to use cast shadows to enhance the feeling of light in our compositions and dramatically improve our work.
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mick McAndrews
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553
February 22-23, 2025
Interested in learning or improving your watercolor skills? All materials and techniques will be discussed, including the selection of papers, brushes, and pigments, as well as transparent and opaque painting methods. Students will work from still-life subjects and/or their own source material. All levels welcome.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $225
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
Fridays, February 28 - April 4, 2025
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: $240
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553
Mondays, March 10 - April 14, 2025
Explore the painting techniques of the masters who pioneered the 19th and 20th century American watercolor movement, including Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper, and Charles Demuth. Characterized by bright color and bold handling that includes accents of opaque watercolor and loose washes, work in this tradition captures subject matter with dazzling light-filled effects. Practice these classic methods and learn to incorporate them into your own artwork to achieve a greater freedom of expression as well as adaptability and control in the way that you paint. Demonstrations and art historical discussions will be combined with short and more extensive still life and self-portrait exercises. This course is appropriate for beginning and intermediate levels.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Richard Estell
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
March 22, 2025
Learn to paint beyond basic representation with watercolor in this one-day intensive workshop! Artist and educator Lou Schellenberg will guide you through the process of simplifying observed forms for effective painting, using the still life and/or your photographs as subject matter. Basic watercolor techniques will be explained and demonstrated. Open to all levels.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Lou Schellenberg
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647
March 22-23, 2025
Embody the spirit of spring with fresh and immediate painting! Learn to capture the essence of a living, botanical subject quickly and spontaneously in pencil and watercolor. This alla prima method can be used for preparatory studies for sustained paintings, compiling a field sketchbook, or as an end in itself. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $10 materials fee to cover floral subjects.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Linda Gist
Cost: $205
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
Tuesdays, April 1 - May 6, 2025
Gouache (opaque watercolor) is the perfect medium for landscape painting in the open air! Painters of all levels will fall in love with this portable, fast-drying, and easy-to-clean-up alternative to oils. Explore the medium’s vibrant color and versatile application and layering methods as you portray the beauty of springtime gardens in Philadelphia’s parks in your own personal style. Learn techniques for choosing a composition and working efficiently outdoors as you complete a series of rapid sketches and at least one sustained painting. Topics will include color, paint materiality/texture, transparent and opaque layering techniques, color mixing and historical palettes, pigments, and paper choices. Open to all levels. Painting locations featuring shade, restrooms, and other amenities.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan
Cost: $375
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
Sundays, April 6 - May 18, 2025
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
April 12-13, 2025
Learn to paint the portrait in watercolor! Instruction will cover drawing the head structure and features, mixing flesh tones, various application techniques will be discussed. Materials and techniques will be discussed, including the selection of papers, brushes, and pigments, as well as transparent and opaque painting methods. Students will have the option to work from portrait models or their own photo source material. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $35 models fee. All levels welcome.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $260
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632
See also:
Art Books for Watercolor & Gouache |
Tutorials for Watercolor & Gouache