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Mixed Media Explorations: Collage, Combines, and Assemblage (Online)
with Colleen O'Donnell
Tuesdays, 1 – 3 p.m. (Zoom, with Canvas content)
Instructor: Colleen O’Donnell
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see below)
Explore alternative ways of conceptualizing and creating mixed-media art. 2D and 3D techniques have been an essential part of modern art history, as evinced in the poetic artworks of Joseph Cornell, politically charged assemblages of Betye Saar, revealing works of Eileen Agaar, and whimsy of Robert Rauschenberg. Push your art-making process to a new level by combining 2D and 3D art into a contemporary expression of your own. Intrinsically engage awareness while drawing on design elements to reflect a point of view and a moment in time. Each week discover your unique expression while bringing new work into existence.
Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $595. Select credit option when registering.
Image: Patti Rosenberg, [Untitled], Mixed media. Courtesy of the student.
Register by: September 15
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Painting from Dreams and the Imagination (Online)
with Susan Sullivan
Tuesdays, 6 – 8 p.m. (Zoom, with posted Canvas content)
Instructor: Susan Sullivan
Credit: Non-credit only
Painting from source material within your own mind offers a fertile ground for personal, surreal, abstract, and whimsical work without being tied to observable subject matter. Develop your painting practice using your imagination as your subject and make your dreams into tangible artworks. Prompts will encourage you to play on your canvas, opening the door from the unknown to visually compelling compositions. Subject cues will include painting from poems or song lyrics, generating images from memories, documenting your dreams, and creating imagery from classmates’ combined sketches. Instruction is geared toward oil or acrylic painting, but drawing, collage, and students’ other preferred media is welcome and encouraged. Zoom meetings include prompts and discussion, live painting time together in a classroom-like atmosphere, and critiques and one-on-one guidance from the instructor. This class is great for artists wanting to incorporate a freeing sense of playfulness and abstraction into their work, those seeking a creative outlet for their thoughts and emotions, and anyone who loves making paintings that are weird, witty, and wonder-inspiring.
Image: Susan Sullivan, Dream, Oil on panel, 16 x 16 in.
Register by: September 15
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Painting over the Line (Online)
with Kassem Amoudi
Wednesdays, 1 – 4 p.m. (Zoom only)
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)
Take your work to the next level under the guidance of artist/critic/mentor Kassem Amoudi in this live Zoom class. Expert instruction and advice will push you to explore new possibilities and work more intuitively, allowing unplanned marks and passages to become artistic breakthroughs. Paint from personal subject matter to find your own visual language, informed by examples from contemporary and modern art. Classes will include presentations/lectures focusing on how master artists through history have addressed color, harmony, focal points, space, mark making, paint application, and more, and how to apply these concepts to your own work. Weekly sessions focus heavily on live painting time in a classroom-like online environment, with critiques and advice from the instructor as he works one-on-one with each student to guide them in their personal style and goals. This course is excellent for students working with abstract or nonobjective imagery, seeking feedback from a critic/mentor and a focused community painting atmosphere. Painting experience recommended. Note: Due to the emphasis on live instructor feedback and in-class painting, this Zoom class is not recorded.
Image: Kassem Amoudi
Register by: September 22
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Realistic Drawing Techniques (In-Person)
with Robert Waddington
Saturdays, 1 – 4 p.m.
Instructor: Robert Waddington
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see below)
This class is designed to provide an intense studio drawing experience with a strong emphasis on improving students’ grasp of a variety of drawing methods used to produce successful realistic drawings. Examine drawing materials’ use, origins, and historical significance. Learn to perceive form, depict accurate tonal values, and develop individual line character while working from PAFA’s historic cast collection of Antique and Renaissance sculpture, as well as from still life objects, students’ own items, and optionally medical-grade human skeletons for students interested in anatomical drawing. Linear (one-, two-, and three-point) perspective, aerial perspective, and the use of color as enhancement will be covered, as well as the purpose and practical use of preliminary and finished drawings as references for paintings.
Fundamental and advanced drawing techniques will be explained and supplemented by instructional handouts, demonstrations, and assignments, with the option for students to be supported in their own independent projects. The goal of this course is for students of all levels to gain confidence in their abilities and to see an immediate improvement in their drawings.
This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.
Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $595. Select credit option when registering.
Register by: September 22
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Foundations of Art 101 (Online)
with Al Gury
Sundays, 3 – 4 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Al Gury
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)
Al Gury, Professor of Painting and Drawing at PAFA, and noted author of Alla Prima, Color for Painters, and Foundations of Drawing, presents the foundational basics of art making.
This course is designed for individuals who are new to or just beginning to study art, or for those desiring a refresher in the basic elements, with a goal of imparting a solid and practical understanding of essential topics and practices. As a survey course, each week will focus on a specific topic and a project assignment. Topics will include the materials of drawing and painting, drawing shapes, measuring, forms, perspective, depth, use of line, understanding light and shade, and composition. Exercises will include the basics of charcoal and pencil drawing, use of pastel, color concepts, and how oil paints work. Subjects will include still lifes, interior spaces, portraits, and life drawing through the use of masterworks. Course content and assignments will be posted on Canvas, PAFA’s online learning platform. Weekly Zoom meetings will provide opportunities for Q&A, art history discussion and references, illustrations of key concepts, and explanations of the weekly project by the instructor.
This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.
Optional: This is a Condensed Course, available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $595. Select credit option when registering.
Image: Al Gury, Sunflowers, Oil on panel, 10 x 8 in.
Register by: September 22
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Composition in Drawing and Painting: Strategies for Building a Strong Design (Online)
with Al Gury
Sundays, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Al Gury
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)
An in-depth approach to understanding and using composition by Al Gury, Professor of Painting and Drawing at PAFA, and noted author of Alla Prima, Color for Painters, and Foundations of Drawing. This class presents practical skills and strategies for making strong compositions. Composition, the arrangement of images, shapes, forms, colors, values to form visual balance and strength within the pictorial frame of an artwork, will be explored through projects using still life, interiors, portraits, and landscapes. Each class will contain explanations of the visual compositional strategies in both historic and contemporary art, and extensive tactics for problem-solving and solutions, as well as a weekly assignment and critique of personal work. Class meetings will be held on Zoom, and Canvas will be used for assignments and class content. All media and levels of experience are welcome.
This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.
Optional: This is a Condensed Course, available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $595. Select credit option when registering.
Image: Al Gury, Still Life with Landscape, 2022, 16 x 12 in.
Register by: September 22
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Painless Perspective Workshop (In-Person)
with Frederic Kaplan
Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Perspective is at the heart of good drawing. It allows us to transform the 3D world into a believable 2D image, and it need not be difficult to understand. With still life and interiors as subject matter, learn basic principles and simple methods presented in clear language and without the need for special tools or complex geometry. This workshop serves as a good foundation for further study in drawing. A modest amount of previous drawing experience is recommended.
Image: Elena Kingsbury, [Untitled], graphite on paper. Courtesy of the student.
Register by: September 29
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Woodcut and Relief Printmaking (In-Person)
with Ron Wyffels
Thursdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Ron Wyffels
Credit: Non-credit only
Printing from a drawing carved into wood or a linoleum block is the oldest and most straightforward form of printmaking. The direct nature of this process makes it an ideal introduction to printmaking for beginners, while artists of all levels enjoy its potential for intricate detail and graphic impact. This six-week course is the perfect condensed exploration into this striking technique. All aspects of the process will be covered, including drawing on the block, carving your design and printing black-and white and color prints. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $20 lab fee.
Learning Objectives
- Students will gain a basic understanding of the relief printing process.
- Students will acquire technical experience in preparing woodblocks & linoleum blocks to receive their drawn images.
- Students will learn safe and smart cutting techniques for making their printing blocks.
- Students will acquire technical expertise by proofing and printing their black & white and color relief prints, including skills in ink brayer use & press operation.
- Students will learn printmaking professionalism including printing editions on clean registered printmaking paper and signing and numbering editions appropriately.
- Students will learn the importance of image development by exploring various possibilities with the process.
- Students will develop critical visual and verbal skills through individual discussions with the instructor and with their peers.
This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.
Image: Ron Wyffels, woodcut.
Register by: October 20
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies