Wednesdays, 6 – 7:30 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)  
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan 
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (see below) 

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.) 

Perspective is at the heart of good drawing and painting, allowing us to translate the observable world into believable two-dimensional images and create invented spaces. Learn the fundamentals of linear perspective in clear, easy to-understand language, and apply these principles to still life, interiors and cityscape views.  This course will utilize the online learning platform, Canvas, and include videos, lectures and assignments with regular instructor feedback, plus weekly live sessions via Zoom. Basic drawing experience recommended.   

Learning Objectives:

• Improve observational and interpretive skills, including the ability to gauge proportions, orientations, and relative positions of objects and their parts. 
• Achieve understanding of the core principles of linear perspective. 
• Develop skill in applying the principles of linear perspective to real-world situations. 

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

Image: Fred Kaplan, Vino, Ballpoint pen on paper, 6.75 X 8 in.

Register by: January 19

Materials List 

Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses 

Thursdays, 12:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.* 
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (see description)  

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

Drawing from the portrait and life model is one of the most time-honored methods of art training at PAFA. Improve your observation-based drawing skills as you work in charcoal and graphite directly from models in short and long poses, exploring gesture, proportions, anatomy and expression. All levels welcome.  Note: Tuition includes a $50 models fee. 

Learning Objectives 

• Students will stretch the traditional definitions of portrait and life drawing to merge the two into personal statements. 
• Students will work with clothed and unclothed/life models who are diverse individuals. 

• Students will acquire a working knowledge of varied drawing materials, including charcoal, graphite and ink. 
• Students will acquire a working knowledge of form and structure in the body. 
• Students will develop the ability to better see the model rather than rely on schema. 
• Students will acquire knowledge of diverse artists and their ways of working. 

Note:  This course does not meet during Spring Break, March 4 – 10.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $645. Select credit option when registering. 

Image: Doug Brown, Roberta, 2022, Charcoal on paper, 20 x 26.5 in. Courtesy of the student. 

Register by: January 26 
Materials List  
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.  
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan 
Credit: Non-Credit Only 

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

Mylar is a polyester film that is widely used in a variety of applications, but artists love it as a drawing or painting surface for its distinctive surface texture, archival attributes, and semi-transparent effects.  Suitable for a variety of dry drawing media, its malleable surface offers subtle texture to retain fluid lines and deep values for impactful drawings – all while offering supreme eraseablility for image manipulation and correction.  Its merits for wet media such as ink, water-media, or water manipulation of dry media -- not to mention oil painting – are just as appealing, with a slickness of surface that allows material to spread and move for a variety of opaque and transparent applications.  Its semi-transparency offers a wealth of options, both practical and aesthetic, for transferring or layering imagery or creating light-filled effects.  In this class, learn to experiment with the effects of mylar using dry media and ink in order to discover its potential for subtle, bold, or layered applications for your own art-making practice.  Students will work from a range of still life objects and nature forms but are welcome to bring photo material or work abstractly for day 2 of this class. 

Image: Michelle Oosterbaan.  

Register by: January 26
Materials List 
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.  
Instructor: Kate Samworth 
Credit: Non-Credit Only 

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

Repeated or geometric patterns of form can add intricate beauty, continuity, and visual interest to fine art, illustration, and a variety decorative applications. Explore the applications of geometry to drawing and design through fascinating examples from nature and the history of art and architecture. Working in your choice of colored pencil or water-media, engage in exercises to develop pattern forms and color experiments to determine the most effective color combinations for your finished designs.  Great for artists of all levels, illustrators and designers, or anyone with a love for exploring color and pattern. 

Image: Kate Samworth, Four Seasons Celestical Map, 16 x 20 in.

Register by: February 9

Materials List 

Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.  
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan 
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (see description) 

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

Hone your drawing skills in a variety of media while appreciating the color and intricacy of natural forms!  Less a traditional botanical art class and more a drawing media and techniques course, this class promotes observational drawing, experimentation in a variety of materials and mark-making methods, and the freedom to use rich, colorful natural forms as a point of departure toward personal expression.  In the spirit of the Kunstkammer (from German: “cabinets of curiosities”), work from a lovingly curated collection of unusual plant specimens from Longwood Gardens along with your own gathered natural specimens such as leaves, flowering plants, shells, fruit, and vegetables in order to explore line, form, value, and texture, as well as color principles and layering/mixing techniques. Experience a range of materials such as traditional drawing tools, colored pencil, water-media, and even walnut ink to depict forms through contour, color, and tone.  This course is excellent for students with an interest in natural history illustration or a love of nature, as well as for anyone seeking a straight-forward drawing or color course from animated, lyrically composed still life subjects.    

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

Image: Michelle Oosterbaan. 

Register by: February 16

Materials List 

Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Tuesdays, 6 - 8 p.m. (Zoom, with posted Canvas content) 
Instructor: Alicia Mino 
Credit: Non-Credit Only 

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.) 

Learn strategies to translate your photographs into drawings that both retain the photo’s realism and promote your personal expression. Using colored pencil (which combines the possibilities of color with the ease of dry media), explore tactics for accurately translating your imagery to your drawing surface; identifying, mixing, and layering color to achieve vibrant effects; creating realism through the study of texture, light, and contrast; and employing addition and subtraction techniques to expand your range of mark-making. Work from your choice of photographic subject matter – a great option for students seeking to make art from personal experiences, capture family and friends who cannot pose for portraiture, or expand their interests and skills in landscapes, animals, or other subject matter not easily accessible.  This course is excellent for beginners or those interested in colored pencil or photorealistic drawing techniques. 

Image: Alicia Mino.

Register by: February 23

Materials List 

Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses 

Thursdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.  
Instructor: Keith Leitner 
Credit: Non-Credit Only 

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.) 

Drawing is integral to all types of painting in the development of form and composition, but many beginning painters lack the fundamental drawing skills, or the understanding of how best to use them, to serve their painting goals.  This combination drawing and painting (all media) class will focus on how to use drawing to create a roadmap to develop your finished work. Observational, measuring, and compositional rendering tactics will be addressed with attention to using positive and negative space and breaking your composition down to basic components. Students then will be guided toward adapting their drawings to paintings in their choice of oil or water-based media. Historical examples will show how painters past and present have used drawing in the creation of their work. Various drawing media will be discussed; some painting experience recommended.     

Image: Keith Leitner. 

Register by: March 1

Materials List 

Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Thursdays, 6 - 8 p.m. (Zoom with posted Canvas content) 
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan 
Credit: Non-Credit Only 

Register by December 18 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2024 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. (Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Open Academy classes, studio rental, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.) 

Dogs, cats, and other pets have sneaked their way into master drawings and paintings throughout the centuries just as they insinuate themselves into our daily lives.  From cats stealing food in 17th century still life art, to Bonnard’s dachshunds perched at the table or curled beside the bath, to Sarah McEneaney’s pets as studio helpers in contemporary work, household animals have proven themselves to be important painterly subjects on their own or as a part of still lifes, portraits, domestic scenes, and other genres.  Learn to find inspiration in your own furry family members to make them a meaningful part of your painting practice.  Rather than a pet portrait or animal anatomy course, this class will utilize drawn and painted sketches from life, photo references, and compositional studies to explore ways of realistically and expressively depicting your animal, including them into other subjects as formal or personal elements, or even making them a part of abstract compositions. Line, gesture, movement, textural/optical effects, and compositional principles will be addressed. Content will include presentations and PowerPoint examples from historical and contemporary art, engaging homework assignments, and discussions about the meaning of animals in art and tactics for making them a special focus in your own work. Open to all drawing and painting media.

Image: Sarah McEneaney, Paint Print, 2002, Lithograph on paper, 11 x 15 in. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter. 2011.1.282e

Register by: March 1

Materials List 

Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses