Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. 
Instructor: Phyllis Laver 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credits (see description)

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.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $695. Select credit option when registering.

Image: Phyllis Laver.

Register by: September 8 

Materials List

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

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

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.

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

Register by: September 8 

Materials List

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

Wednesdays, 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 
Instructor: James Toogood 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.5 undergraduate credits (see description)

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. Open to watercolorists of all levels and to acrylic/oil painters looking to broaden their skills. 

Learning Objectives

• Students will learn about color theory as applied to watercolor. 

• Students will receive a comprehensive explanation of watercolor materials and tools, with particular focus will be paid to the properties of paint and pigments as they interact with the paintbrushes and paper. 
• Through both discussions and demonstrations, first time participants and beginners will learn a variety of techniques that are fundamental to watercolor, presented in a systematic step by step method. Participants can expect to have regular individual instruction, given at their current skill level. 
• Focus also will be paid on acquiring the skills needed to achieve a richness of color and a feeling of light. 
• Participants will work from direct observations from the still life and model, as well as from one’s own source materials. 
• Those not taking the class for credit will have the option to work on landscape, still life, portrait and figure or abstraction, as they wish. 

• Participants will be exposed to a variety of watercolor styles and encouraged to discover one’s own personal aesthetic. 
• The course is ultimately designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to make accomplished, personally rewarding watercolor paintings. 

Optional: This Condensed Course is available for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $995. Select credit option when registering.

Image: James Toogood.

Register by: September 8 

Materials List  

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

Wednesdays, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. 
Instructor: Peter Van Dyck 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)

This combination of instructed class and open studio is designed for students interested in advancing their representational drawing and painting. Design and work on your own personal projects utilizing the cast collection, figure/portrait models, and still life or interior spaces, assisted by individual critiques and group instruction on topics of broad concern or interest. This course features intermediate-level instruction for students with prior drawing/painting experience. Note: Tuition includes a $80 model fee. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $1,180 (including model fee). Select credit option when registering.

Register by: September 8 

Materials List 

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

Wednesdays, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 
Instructor: Joseph Sweeney 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit

Enjoy open-air painting in beautiful Valley Forge National Historical Park, the encampment site of George Washington’s Continental Army in 1777-1778 and now home to a painter’s delight of lush scenery and historic architecture! Located in Montgomery County, 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.

Learning Objectives:

Students will -- 

• Learn the basics of working outdoors. 
• Learn how to set up, use and care for a field easel. 
• Learn how to transport wet paintings to and from home without damaging one’s car. 
• Identify the working properties of different surfaces to paint on including linen, canvas, paper, wood, prepared panel, and masonite. 

• Learn how to select paint colors and related materials for successful outdoor painting. 
• Gain skills in drawing and proportion in the composition of a landscape. 
• Become an expert in finding locations suitable for painting, including how to orient oneself to the sun and how to find shelter from wind and rain. 
• Learn to assess the time of day and how much time is left before the sun continues its course across the sky. 
• Make quick field sketches and bring them to full completion, to develop a sense of place. 

• Learn to mix color to portray the season, atmosphere, and temperature.

Image: Joseph Sweeney, Valley Forge Park.

Register by: September 8 

Materials List

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

Wednesdays, 6 – 9 p.m. 
Instructor: Morgan Dummitt 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see below)

Modeling the portrait in clay is a foundational skill of traditional sculpture. Working from a model, learn to create a portrait from composition to completed sculpture. Instruction for this uniquely comprehensive course will encompass learning to build an armature, modeling the form in clay, and casting in plaster to preserve the finished artwork. Topics of study will include proportion, composition, structure, and simplified sculptural form. 

This class consists of twelve meetings, which will be divided as follows: 

Week 1: Armature Construction/Composition 

Weeks 2 - 8: Clay Modeling 

Weeks 9 – 12: Plaster Casting  

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. 

Image: Morgan Dummitt, Cooper Portrait.

Register by: September 8 

Materials List

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

Wednesdays, 6 – 9 p.m. 
Instructor: Ron Wyffels 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)

Lithography is a versatile printmaking process that allows for a complete range of drawing effects: contour line, hatching/cross-hatching, painterly wash applications, expressive mark-making, and reductive techniques. Learn all aspects of the lithographic process through step-by-step demonstrations and hands-on practice: preparing a traditional stone or lightweight aluminum plate; creating your own drawing from observation, imagination or photographic transfer using a range of drawing materials; selecting paper; printing in black-and-white and color; and editioning your prints. Note: Tuition includes a $20 lab fee.

Learning Objectives

• Students will gain a basic understanding of the lithography printing process.

• Students will acquire technical experience in preparing stones, plates, & ink.
• Students will learn basic stone & plate drawing, etching and processing techniques.
• Students will acquire technical expertise by way of proofing and printing their stones & plates, including learned skills in roller use & litho press operation.
• Students will learn printmaking professionalism including printing editions on clean registered printmaking paper, signing and numbering editions appropriately.
• Students will learn the importance of image development through individual reviews and by exploring various possibilities with the process.

• Students will develop critical visual and verbal skills by way of individual discussions with the instructor and with their peers.
• Students will advance their individual art concepts and expand their artistic territory through new techniques & material uses.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $715 (including lab fee). Select credit option when registering.

Image: Ron Wyffels.

Register by: September 15 

Materials List  

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

Tuesdays, 1 – 4 p.m. 
Instructor: Phyllis Laver 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)

PAFA’s breathtaking Cast Hall is a unique resource for artists, containing copies of Greco-Roman and Renaissance sculpture, including the Winged Victory, the Venus de Milo, and the staggering life-size Michelangelo’s David, among other notable works. Cast Drawing, or Drawing from the Antique, was one of the first courses established in the founding of the Academy and has remained a core part of PAFA’s fine arts curriculum for over 200 years. Become a part of this long and rich artistic tradition as you learn to draw accurately from observation, explore line and form, and gain an appreciation for some of history’s most beautiful sculptural artworks. This course is an excellent introduction to drawing techniques and materials and is appropriate to all levels. Read a History of PAFA’s Cast Hall by Faculty Member Al Gury here.

Learning Objectives:

• Students will learn to articulate 3-dimensional form with active gestural line. 
• Students will translate form into cross-contour models. 

• Students will develop skill in drawing form with light. 
• Students will manipulate composition to alter visual impact. 
• Students will acquire knowledge of diverse artists and their ways of working. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $595. Select credit option when registering. 

Image: Daniel Garber, Reclining Male Figure [Cast drawing: Michelangelo's "Day"], 1904, Charcoal on buff laid paper, 18 5/8 x 24 3/8 in., Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Gift of the artist, 1945.14.5

Register by: September 15 

Materials List  

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