Friday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.  
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi 
Credit: Non-Credit Only 

This workshop is not about the traditional way of painting the figure. If you are tired of getting lost in the details and traditional modes of representational painting, and you want to take a risk by exploring new ways of expressing the human form, this class is for you. Paint and draw the human figure in a looser and more expressionistic contemporary manner. Refine your painting skills to create a lively surface which will be considered a playground for intuitive creativity, technique, and skill. Expert instruction and advice from the instructor will push students to explore new possibilities and work more intuitively, allowing unplanned marks and passages to become artistic breakthroughs. Establish pictorial unity through visual metaphor and focal points and explore the power of using “active” and “quiet” areas. PowerPoint presentations and examples of contemporary ways of using the figure will enhance your understanding of the abstract qualities of space, line and color. Sessions will include live painting time, with critiques and advice from the instructor as he works one-on-one with each student. Open to all levels: You do not have to have extensive experience with painting the figure to make successful paintings. Note: Due to the emphasis on live instructor feedback and in-class painting, this Zoom class is not recorded.

Image: Kassem Amoudi.

Register by: December 1 

Materials List

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies

Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.  
Instructor: RA Friedman 
Credit: Non-Credit Only 

Using inexpensive materials, this hands-on workshop will introduce the concepts and methods needed to create a strong sense of dimension and likeness in your portrait drawings. Explore the proportions and planes of the head, neck and shoulders. Learn how to create astructural foundation and how to easily manage anatomy by breaking down forms into simplegeometric shapes. Instruction will address different strategies for creating a finished tonal portrait as well as tips and tricks that will help you draw like a pro!

Image: RA Friedman.

Register by: December 1 

Materials List

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies

Tuesdays, 8:30 - 11:20 a.m.
Instructor: Bruce Samuelson
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.5 Undergraduate Credits (see description)

Note:  This course does not meet during Spring Break, March 4 – 10.

PAFA’s Open Academy provides the opportunity for Continuing Education (CE) and non-matriculated students to enroll in select BFA courses for credit or non-credit.  Open Academy students enrolled in PAFA’s renowned studio arts courses learn technical skills, creative expression, and critical thinking from master artist-teachers while working amongst dedicated full-time students in PAFA's classrooms. 

The purpose of this course is to promote an individual way of seeing and working from the human figure and develop personal vision. This includes approaching the figure either as an end in itself or as a point of departure, and exploring an individual use of materials and techniques. Instruction for this course will be directed to the individual along with some group criticism and group discussion.

Optional: This course is available for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $1,400. Select credit option with price adjustment during registration.

Image: Bruce Samuelson.

Register by: January 11

Materials List

Open Academy Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Tuesdays, 8:30 a.m. - 3:50 p.m. 
Instructor: Al Gury  
Credit: Non-credit or 3.0 undergraduate credits (see description)

Note:  This course does not meet during Spring Break, March 4 – 10.

PAFA’s Open Academy provides the opportunity for Continuing Education (CE) and non-matriculated students to enroll in select BFA courses for credit or non-credit.  Open Academy students enrolled in PAFA’s renowned studio arts courses learn technical skills, creative expression, and critical thinking from master artist-teachers while working amongst dedicated full-time students in PAFA's classrooms.

Life Drawing will focus on developing skills and exploring the use of the figure with the following concepts: (1) structural and anatomical delineation of human form with line and tone. (2) The figure as an expressive end in itself. (3) Simple group compositions in interior as well as invented space. The class is open to various media & techniques.

Optional: This course is available for 3.0 undergraduate credits for $2,800. Select credit choice with tuition adjustment during checkout.  

Image: Al Gury.

Register by: January 11
Materials List
Open Academy Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Open studio access, 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily, January 16 - May 3 
Weekly meetings/studio-visits on Thursdays, January 18 - May 2,* 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor/Lead Critic: Roger Chavez
Credit: Non-credit or 1.5 undergraduate credits (see description)

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 program will confer an individual studio space on PAFA’s Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building’s 9th floor, as well as weekly meetings for critique and instruction on a variety of artist’s concerns led by artist-instructor/critic Roger Chavez. Studios for this program are located side-by-side within a private, key-accessible corridor for an engaging community atmosphere. Each space is approximately 9 x 16 feet, white-walled and curtained (no individually locked doors, but with secure hallway access), opening out to the corridor’s large east-facing windows for an artist’s dream of beautiful natural light. A limited number of interior studios spaces (no natural light, but with lockable doors) also will be available (select preference during registration). Weekly meetings will feature both one-on-one in-studio critiques/discussions as well as group instruction on art topics designed to motivate and assist you in your work, including drawing sessions, assignment prompts, materials and techniques demonstrations, health-safety lectures for artists, gallery visits, group critiques from guest critics, and more. This class is perfect for artists of varying levels of experience wanting to jumpstart or advance their personal practice, for students considering application to a studio-centered certificate or degree program, or for anyone lacking a home studio and seeking a space (with additional support!) to pursue their work. Participants will benefit from some prior art-making experience and the ability to work independently.

Note: Registration requires a $200 studio deposit that is refundable upon satisfactory return of the studio to its original condition at the end of the program. Students must agree to and sign PAFA’s studio agreement form. Membership and early registration discounts cannot be applied to course tuition, but students are eligible to receive 10% off additional Fall CE courses to supplement their studio pursuits.

*This course’s weekly meeting will not take place during Spring Break, March 4 - 10.  Studio access permitted during break.

Optional: This course is available for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $3,100 (plus refundable deposit). Select credit option with price adjustment when registering.

Image: CE Summer Studio/Critique Program, 2022. 

Registration Deadline: Rolling, on a space-available basis. Late registration (after first weekly meeting) available.

Materials List (Approved Materials - Coming Soon) 

Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.* 
Instructor: Roberto Osti 
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (see description) 

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.) 

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. Note: Course tuition includes a $50 model fee. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $745 (including model fee). Select credit option when registering. 

* Note: This course does not meet during Spring Break, March 4 – 10. 

Image: Roberto Osti, Portrait of Max, limited palette, oil on board. 

Register by: January 8 
Materials List  
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Tuesdays, 12:30 – 3:30 p.m. 
Instructor: Phyllis Laver 
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credits (see description) 

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

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, PAFA’s renowned cast collection, 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 also excellent as a foundation for future study, including for painting and other disciplines.  Note: Tuition includes a $25 models fee. 

Note:  This course does not meet during Spring Break, March 4 – 10.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $720 (including models fee). Select credit option when registering. 

Image: Phyllis Laver. 

Register by: January 8 
Materials List  
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Tuesdays, 1:00 - 3:50 p.m. 
Instructor: Renee Foulks

Credit: Non-Credit or 1.5 Undergraduate Credit (see description)

Note:  This course does not meet during Spring Break, March 4 – 10.

PAFA’s Open Academy provides the opportunity for Continuing Education (CE) and non-matriculated students to enroll in select BFA courses for credit or non-credit.  Open Academy students enrolled in PAFA’s renowned studio arts courses learn technical skills, creative expression, and critical thinking from master artist-teachers while working amongst dedicated full-time students in PAFA's classrooms. 

Students will learn the structure of the portrait, the history of historic and contemporary portraiture, methods and materials of portraiture and will be encouraged to develop a personal point of view in portrait painting. Issues of form, spatial concepts, color, visual and critical thinking will be addressed. Individual and group critiques will be conducted.

Optional: This course is available for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $1,400.  Select credit option with price adjustment during registration.

Image: Renee Foulks.

Register by: January 11
Materials List
Open Academy Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies