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

Cultivate fluid mark-making and bold approaches to subject matter through rapid and loose painting studies. Tight and precise painting, especially in the early stages of an artwork, can sometimes lead to work that appears stiff and over-labored, or to locked-in compositions that are difficult to change or correct. Working from the still life, cityscapes, and the life model, utilize short, small painting exercises to learn new ways of starting paintings, keeping compositions open to adjustment, and both initiating and retaining a sense of freshness in your forms and brushstrokes. Instruction will address color mixing, painting materials and methodologies, and the importance of setting a viable learning environment for your painting practice. Discover the beauty and freedom of loosening up your painting! Note: Tuition includes a $15 models fee.

Register by: March 3
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

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

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.

Register by: March 3
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

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

If you believe that painting can be more than applying brush to canvas, this course is for you.  Explore the fluid, sculptural, assembled possibilities of acrylics!  This hands-on, one-of-a-kind journey will take you places that you never thought you would go in acrylic painting:  pour paint to make layers of color that can be peeled up, sculpted into three-dimensional forms, or collaged and layered into other paintings or mixed-media works. Create flexible tiles of acrylic color that can be snipped, shaped, and assembled into mosaics or applied to a variety of surfaces for artistic or decorative effects.  Discover a myriad of alternative supports, brushes, and methods of paint application to incorporate abstract effects into your current body of work.  Push the boundaries of what it means to paint with acrylics in this exciting exploration into experimental techniques. 

Register by: March 3
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Tuesdays, 6 – 8 p.m. (Zoom with posted Canvas content)
Instructor: Alicia Mino
Six-Week Short Course (18-Hour Equivalent)
Credit: Non-Credit Only 

Learn to create lively and realistic animal portraits utilizing watercolor painting techniques. Explore the anatomy and structure of the skull and facial features, as well as the construction and natural rendering of fur and other textures. Emphasis will be placed on expressing the unique character and posture of the animal portrait subject, as students work from their choice of wildlife imagery or photos of household pets. Instruction will address basic drawing and watercolor techniques for creating precise but soft effects – perfect for the distinctive needs for creating animal likenesses.  

Register by: March 3
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses 

Wednesdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Steve Nocella
Eight-Week Short Course (24 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

This class focuses on the essential processes of sculpture and provides a comprehensive foundation for creating three-dimensional art. Explore and experiment with fundamental techniques such as modeling, carving, and construction. Gain a greater understanding of form and space by exploring a variety of additive and subtractive processes. Instruction will cover the methods and techniques for working in clay, plaster, wood and metal. Content will emphasize both aesthetic concepts and the safe use of sculpture shop equipment. This experience will create a sound point of departure for advanced and dynamic sculpture study. Note: Tuition includes a $40 lab fee.

Register by: March 5
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Wednesdays, 6 - 9 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

If you’ve never painted before, or your skills are a little rusty, this class is for you. Exploit the resources of PAFA’s dedicated still-life studio and its many thoughtfully composed arrangements. You will acquire grounding in the basics so you can paint what you see with confidence. Materials and painting methods will be discussed and demonstrated, including color mixing and theory. Examples of Master paintings, coupled with individual and group critiques, will help direct and inform your efforts.

Register by: March 5
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Thursdays, 10 a.m. – 1 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.  

Register by: March 7
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses 

Thursdays, 12:30 - 3:30 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.

Register by: March 6
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies