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Drawing
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Holistic Figure Drawing
with John Horn
Wednesdays, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Instructor: John Horn
Twelve-Week Course (36 Hours)
Develop your ability to render the human form through the time-honored combination of anatomical study and life drawing. Learn the methods and technical skills of traditional figure drawing, such as measuring, capturing gesture, anatomical structuring, and tonal rendering. Through lectures and demonstrations, and work from the life model, learn the structural aspects of the human form: bony landmarks, simplified volumes, and proportional relationships. Progress to the skeletal framework and superficial muscles to identify their surface effects and how they influence mass and movement. Incorporate your knowledge of figure anatomy to capture the fluidity, vitality, and subtleties of the human form while working from the life model in short and extended poses. This course is ideal for anyone interested in strengthening their figure drawing, painting, or sculpture skills, as well as for those interested in future medical illustration. Note: Tuition includes a $75 models fee.
Registration Still Open!
Materials List
Please review CE’s Fall 2026 Policy Guide, including Withdrawal/Refund Policies, prior to registering.
Drawing from PAFA's Historic Casts
with Phyllis Laver
Tuesdays, 12:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
PAFA’s breathtaking Cast Hall is back! Following renovations to PAFA's Historic Landmark Building, this unique resource is again available to offer enrolled students opportunities to work from 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. Students may also work from select casts on display in additional PAFA exhibition areas. Cast Drawing 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 shape, describe form through light and shadow, 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 Al Gury here.
Image: Daniel Garber, [Cast drawing: female torso (4th century, Greece)] (detail), ca. 1899-1905, charcoal on cream paper, 24 1/4 x 18 3/4 in. Collection of the PAFA Museum. Accession # 1945.14.4. Gift of the artist.
Registration Still Open!
Materials List
Please review CE’s Fall 2026 Policy Guide, including Withdrawal/Refund Policies, prior to registering.
Drawing Fundamentals
with Phyllis Laver
Tuesdays, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
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, selections from PAFA’s casts and statuary, 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.
Registration Still Open!
Materials List
Please review CE’s Fall 2026 Policy Guide, including Withdrawal/Refund Policies, prior to registering.
Portrait in Pencil Workshop
with RA Friedman
Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Instructor: RA Friedman
Weekend Workshop
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 a structural foundation and how to easily manage anatomy by breaking down forms into simple geometric 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! Note: Tuition includes a $10 models fee.
Image: RA Friedman
Registration Still Open!
Materials List
Please review CE’s Fall 2026 Policy Guide, including Withdrawal/Refund Policies, prior to registering.