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CE Three- to Six-Week Short Courses (Half-Day or Online)
in CE Courses by Format/Length
Digital Drawing and Painting (In-Person)
with Deon Robinson
Thursdays, 1 - 4 p.m.
Explore drawing and painting beyond paper and canvas! Learn to create artworks on the computer using Adobe Photoshop and digital pen tablets. Apply drawing and painting concepts such as line quality, color, value, and mark-making techniques as you use your stylus like a brush or pencil withthe computer screen or tablet as your digital canvas. Generate portfolios that focus on extending fine art principles into the virtual realm in the development of character designs, concept art, game art, or other pre-visual development. This course is also appropriate to anyone interested in translating their drawing/painting skills to another medium for their personal art-making practice. Students will utilize programs and equipment through PAFA’s illustration department – an excellent way to learn to work with digital art-making products without, or prior to, purchasing.
Image: Deon Robinson.
Register by: May 12
Figure Painting: Alla Prima and the Limited Palette (In-Person)
with David Wilson
Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.*
Painting the human form from observation is one of the cornerstones of PAFA's long tradition of rigorous instruction. Working from the nude model in poses of varying lengths, investigate color mixing, proportion, and composition using oil paint as a medium. Focusing on alla prima painting techniques and a limited flesh-tone palette, learn to model the human form through gesture, shape, volume, and temperature – excellent for painted sketches and preparatory studies, foundations for extended work, or an introduction/refresher to figure painting. Intended for all skill levels, this course also offers the valuable opportunity for more advanced students to continue to hone their skills to deepen their understanding of the language of painting. Instruction will be geared toward oil, but students may draw-only, or use other appropriate media, in this class, if they wish. Note: Tuition includes a $35 models fee.
* No class on May 27 for Memorial Day Weekend.
Image: David Wilson, 2016.
Register by: May 12
Confident Acrylics (Online)
with Charles Muldowney
Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Discover and explore the characteristics of acrylics so that you can paint with confidence! Acrylic paint can imitate oil paint and watercolor paint, yet it has its own exceptional assets and characteristics not available with these other media. Its vibrant color, versatility, and layering capabilities make it the preferred medium of artists like David Hockney, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Bridget Riley, Helen Frankenthaler and Murray Dessner. Work from still life, self-portrait, window-view, and photographic subjects to practice a variety of application techniques, use of materials, and color mixing principles. Presentations, demonstrations, exercises, and projects will promote familiarity and experimentation with this accessible medium. Learn:
- Acrylic painting with traditional application methods, such as direct and indirect painting, wet-on-wet, grisaille, camaieu, glazing, velatura, dry brush, and stipple approaches
- Impasto techniques of working with thick paint using a pallet knife and other tools
- How to use oil over acrylic paint
- Use of the historic Zorn and Apelles palettes
- Essential color and design principles
- Experimental practices, including alcohol resist, wax resist, rollers, spreaders, scrapers, mixed media, and spattering
Image: Charles Muldowney.
Register by: Registration Still Open! Recordings are available for online courses.
Mixed Media Explorations: 2D, 3D, and Beyond (Online)
with Colleen O'Donnell
Tuesdays, 1 - 3 p.m.
Explore alternative ways of conceptualizing and creating mixed media art that erases the divide between flat and sculptural work. Two- and three-dimensional techniques have been an important part of modern art history, from the whimsy of Robert Rauschenberg to the politically-charged Jasper Johns and the revealing works of Kiki Smith. Learn how to combine 2D and 3D elements such as paper, photos/imagery, found objects, mementos, and drawn/painted subjects to create a contemporary expression of your own. Intrinsically engage the unconscious while drawing on elements of design to reflect a point of view and a moment in time through this powerful art form.
Image: Patti Rosenberg.
Register by: Registration Still Open! Recordings are available for online courses.
Painting Over the Line, Summer 1 (Online)
with Kassem Amoudi
Wednesdays, 1 – 4 p.m.
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. Painting experience recommended. Kassem will begin each class with a slide presentation/lecture 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.
Image: Kassem Amoudi.
Register by: Registration Still Open!
Figure Drawing in Charcoal and Pastel (In-Person)
with Deon Robinson
Thursdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
A cornerstone of PAFA’s studio instruction, figure drawing is a challenging, engaging practice that benefits artists for portfolio building or in developing skills for figure-based work in any media. Working in charcoal and colored soft pastel, students will work from a variety of models in short and extended poses to explore human anatomy and proportions, value drawing with chiaroscuro, and the application of elementary color theory to produce achromatic and color drawings from observation. Open to all levels. Tuition includes a $35 models fee.
Image: Deon Robinson.
Register by: May 12
Watercolor Landscape (Online)
with Roberto Osti
Thursdays, 2 - 5 p.m.
Learn to paint watercolor landscapes while working indoors from photographic references – excellent for painters wishing to learn painting techniques to apply to their own photographed places or outdoor work, those with limited access or mobility for traditional plein air practice, and anyone interested in learning essential watercolor techniques. Provided subject matter will represent a variety of terrain and light effects, and instruction will address the rendering of trees, grass, sky, and water. Students will practice fundamental watercolor techniques such as washes, gradations, textural effects, wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, dry brush, and more as they paint in real-time with the instructor. The online structure allows for a helpful overhead view of the instructor’s work in progress and a focused but conversational community environment as students engage with the instructor and complete in-class work together.
Image: Roberto Osti, Maine Coast, watercolor.
Register by: Registration Still Open! Recordings are available for online courses.
Intuitive Drawing (In-Person)
with Tony Rosati
Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Ideal for people with little or no formal training, this course presents foundational techniques and an overview of subject matter through concise and straightforward instruction. Working chiefly in pencil from simple objects and portrait models, learn concepts and methods to use line, shape, light and shadow, and value to draw what you see effectively, accurately, and expressively. This is a great starter course for further course study or personal practice.
Image: G. Daniel Massad, Study for "From Toshiko's Garden", 1987, Graphite on paper, 23 x 26 9/16 in. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Gift of the artist in honor of Toshiko Takaezu, 2008.18
Register by: May 26