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Continuing Education at PAFA



All CE Fall 2024 In-Person and Online Courses & Workshops

Ease into Oils Workshop (In-Person)

$225

with Frederic Kaplan

Calendar Next available session starts Oct 26, 2024 at 9 am

Saturday – Sunday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Two-Day Weekend Workshop
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Want to paint but don't know where to begin? This two-day structured workshop makes it painless and easy to ease into oil painting. Begin with a black-and-white painting (just like drawing) to become familiar with painting tools and materials. Be introduced to color with a simple earth-palette painting. Move on to a brighter palette, and then top off the weekend by completing a painting in a full palette of colors. This course will utilize still life subject matter. Drawing experience recommended. 

Register by: October 18 

Materials List 

Fall 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Color Matters (Online)

$250

with Kassem Amoudi

Calendar Next available session starts Oct 29, 2024 at 1 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Tuesdays, 1 - 4 p.m. (Live Zoom Only) 
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi 
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Elevate the role of color and learn how to incorporate it both strategically and intuitively into your paintings under the guidance of artist/critic/mentor Kassem Amoudi.  Examine concepts of temperature, value, saturation, and harmony/contrast through color relationships.  Explore color’s role in creating focal points, suggesting space, influencing mark, and promoting personal expression. Work from personal subject matter (objects, images, emotions, or ideas) to develop your personal style, informed by examples from contemporary and modern art. Zoom sessions feature open painting time, supported by critiques and advice from the instructor as he works one-on-one with each student to guide them toward their goals. This course is excellent for students seeking to promote their use of color in abstract/nonobjective imagery and anyone seeking knowledgeable feedback within a focused community painting environment.  Painting experience recommended. 

Image: Kassem Amoudi.

Register by: October 25 
Materials List
Fall 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Abstract Drawing/Mixed-Media: 10 Rules for Art Students (In-Person)

$295

with Keith Leitner

Calendar Next available session starts Oct 31, 2024 at 12:30 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Thursdays, 12:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.*
Instructor:
Keith Leitner
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Artist, philosopher, and influential 20th-century composer John Cage, along with artist and educator Sister Corita Kent, developed a set of 10 Rules for Students and Teachers to encourage artistic production. Learn to apply these valuable guidelines to your own creative processes to find useful and meaningful ways of generating ideas, moving past ruts or stumbling blocks, and maintaining a steady and productive studio practice.  This hands-on drawing/mixed-media class will utilize engaging exercises to challenge you to go beyond your comfort zone and find inspiration in chance, impediments, and everyday objects. Work on paper in your choice of media from imagination or prompts to explore means of building abstract imagery through personal means of mark-making and layering.  Instruction will be supplemented by discussions of the artists who encouraged Cage and those who were influenced by him.  This class is geared toward students with some prior art-making experience but is perfect for those who are launching their artistic career/studies, artists returning to the studio after an absence, and anyone seeking inspiration and stimulation for their art-making practice.  

*No classes during Thanksgiving Break, November 28 – December 1. 

Image: Keith Leitner.

Register by: October 25 

Materials List

Fall 204 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Drawing Fundamentals: Cast and Figure (In-Person)

$330

with Phyllis Laver

Calendar Next available session starts Oct 31, 2024 at 6 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Thursdays, 6 – 9 p.m.
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

For students seeking to expand their beginning drawing skills or those new to working from the figure, this class will focus on applying drawing’s basic elements to the human form.  Starting from Antique and Classical sculpture from PAFA’s cast collection and progressing to work from the life model in short and long poses, work in charcoal and graphite to explore figure-based concepts of gesture, proportions, anatomy, and expression. Instruction will cover sight-drawing and measuring techniques, use of materials, gauging value, and ways of defining form and space. This course is excellent as a foundation for future study in any discipline or for more advanced figure-based work.  Note: This part 2 course includes the use of nude models. Tuition includes a $35 models fee.  

This class is part 2 of an optional 2-part course!  See also Drawing Fundamentals: Line and Form for more foundational instruction. Students are welcome to enroll in either or both parts; Line and Form is not required as a prerequisite to Cast and Figure but is recommended for students with little or no drawing experience.  

*No classes during Thanksgiving Break, November 28 – December 1. 

Image: Doug Brown, Roberta, 2022, charcoal on paper, 20 x 26.5 in.

Register by: October 25 

Materials List 

Fall 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Spontaneous Abstraction Workshop (Online)

$175

with Kassem Amoudi

Calendar Next available session starts Nov 1, 2024 at 10 am

Friday – Sunday, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. (Live Zoom Only)
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Three-Day Weekend Workshop
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Many artists can feel frustrated in front of a blank canvas, unsure of how to start and what to paint. Paint with confidence by learning techniques to tap into your intuitive process and find inspiration more easily! Experienced instruction and advice will push students to take chances and explore unexpected directions and accidental marks to achieve artistic discoveries. Students will use line, color and space, and editing possibilities to create busy/calm areas and focal points in their paintings as they work from personal imagery, expression, and imagination. Instruction will take the form of PowerPoint presentation/examples, advice and formal direction from modern and contemporary artists, and one-on-on critiques in Zoom sessions that are geared toward open painting time in a classroom-like setting.  Painting experience recommended. 

Register by: October 25 

Materials List 

Fall 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Information for PAFA CE Online Courses 

Figure Painting: The Extended Pose (In-Person)

$330

with David Wilson

Calendar Next available session starts Nov 2, 2024 at 10 am, runs for 6 weeks

Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1p.m.*
Instructor: David Wilson
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Paint from a life model in poses of varying lengths 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. 

*No classes during Thanksgiving Break, November 28 – December 1. 

Register by: October 25  
Materials List  
Fall 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Collage and Mixed Media (In-Person)

$295

with Anthony Ciambella

Calendar Next available session starts Nov 4, 2024 at 12:30 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Mondays, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Instructor: Anthony Ciambella 
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Mixed media art and collage offer a myriad of possibilities to combine papers, photographs, and 3D elements to make a statement, convey something personal, or create something textural, colorful, and beautiful.  Develop rich and complex imagery finding inspiration from memory, literature, films, and other sources, while working in a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional materials. Sessions will discuss the characteristics of adhesives, paper and fabric cut-outs, wood, and plastics. Students will receive one-on-one instruction and participate in open discussions about their ideas and work. Topics include construction, storage and presentation strategies. Open to all levels.  

Register by: October 28 
Materials List  
Fall 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

The Painter's Palate: Food Painting in Oil and Acrylic (Online)

$250

with Susan Sullivan

Calendar Next available session starts Nov 5, 2024 at 6 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Tuesdays, 6 – 8 p.m. (Zoom with posted Canvas Content)
Instructor: Susan Sullivan
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Whet your appetite for painting by whipping up food studies in oil or acrylic! Alla prima still life painting is an excellent way to hone your color mixing and paint handling skills, and food subjects – whether bakery confections or lunchtime leftovers – are perfect for learning to capture form, light, color, and texture rapidly and expressively. Discussion and demonstration will cover tactics for setting up your composition, mixing color, and exploring paint application techniques for oil and acrylic. Examine food depictions from historical and contemporary artists for inspiration and admiration. Combine palette and palate to create compositional concoctions that are personal, whimsical, or visually delectable. Instruction is geared toward oil or acrylic painting, but students may work in their drawing/painting media of choice. All levels are welcome. 

Image: Susan Sullivan.

Register by: November 1 

Materials List  

Fall 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Information for PAFA CE Online Courses 





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