Filter by Category
In-Person Classes
in CE Course Type
City Landscape Drawing and Painting (Outdoor)
with Larry Francis
Sundays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Larry Francis
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Capture the small-town beauty Manayunk's hilly streets, rowhomes, and storefronts. Learn to create a convincing sense of space, light and time of day while depicting streetscapes, trees, water and sky. Color mixing and painting techniques for oils will be demonstrated, but all drawing/painting media are welcome. Located just 15 minutes outside of Philadelphia, Manayunk offers engaging urban and riverside neighborhood subjects with parking, shade, provisions and facilities available. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
Image: Larry Francis, Entrance to the City, Oil on canvas, 24 x 48 in.
Register by: March 8
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
The Landscape Oil Sketch (Outdoor)
with Roger Chavez
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Credit: Non-Credit Only
The oil sketch is a traditional way for painters to execute preparatory ideas and quickly capture initial impressions – perfect for plein air painting! Learn useful techniques for rapidly encapsulating color and form while working directly from observation. Locations with shade and restrooms include Bartram’s Garden along the Schuylkill River and the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, near Philadelphia International Airport. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
Image: Roger Chavez.
Register by: April 1
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Plein Air Painting in Valley Forge (Outdoor)
with Joseph Sweeney
Thursdays, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Instructor: Joseph Sweeney
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (see description)
Enjoy open-air painting in beautiful Valley Forge National Historical Park, the encampment site of George Washington’s Continental Army in 1777-1778 and now home to a painter’s delight of lush scenery and historic architecture! Located in Montgomery County, 35 minutes northwest of Center City Philadelphia, the park features great views of the Schuylkill River, Valley Creek, the Valley Forge Farm, Mt. Joy, Mt. Misery, and many valleys, cabins, and colonial houses, with ample parking and access to restrooms. Working from diverse landscape subject matter, students will learn essential plein air approaches, including color mixing to achieve a sense of light and air, capturing time of day, compositional fundamentals, and sound drawing and painting practices. Instruction is geared toward oil/acrylic painting and pastel drawing/painting. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation.
Learning Objectives:
Students will --
- Learn the basics of working outdoors.
- Learn how to set up, use and care for a field easel.
- Learn how to transport wet paintings to and from home without damaging one’s car.
- Identify the working properties of different surfaces to paint on including linen, canvas, paper, wood, prepared panel, and masonite.
- Learn how to select paint colors and related materials for successful outdoor painting.
- Gain skills in drawing and proportion in the composition of a landscape.
- Become an expert in finding locations suitable for painting, including how to orient oneself to the sun and how to find shelter from wind and rain.
- Learn to assess the time of day and how much time is left before the sun continues its course across the sky.
- Make quick field sketches and bring them to full completion, to develop a sense of place.
- Learn to mix color to portray the season, atmosphere, and temperature.
Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $595. Select credit option with price adjustment when registering.
Image: Joseph Sweeney, Valley Forge Park.
Register by: April 5
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Spontaneous Figure Painting (In-Person)
with Kassem Amoudi
Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Tired of getting lost in the details of traditional figure painting? Take a break from representational model-based painting and learn to incorporate the human form as an abstracted or hinted element in your work, toward suggesting ideas, conveying emotions, or emphasizing its formal qualities. Learn expressive painting techniques to render the figure in a looser and more contemporary manner, creating a lively surface while boosting your creativity, technique and skill. Content includes examples and discussion of notable artworks, critique, and one-on-one instruction. Painting experience recommended. Note: This workshop does not feature in-class models.
Image: Kassem Amoudi, Song of the Reed.
Register by: February 23
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Sketch-on-the-Go (Outdoor)
with Frederic Kaplan
Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
RAIN DATE: May 4*
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Capture the active life of the city and its rich architecture. This is an excellent workshop for anyone who wants to learn to sketch on the bus or train, in cafés and public parks, or while traveling abroad. Topics include perspective, gauging proportions by eye, gesture figure drawing, and methods for simplifying form. All levels welcome.
* Rain Date: May 4. Please plan on the rain date when registering – regular withdrawal policies apply, dated by the original workshop date, for students unable to attend the rescheduled date. See policy guide, below.
Learning Objectives
- Gesture figure drawing methods
- Basic perspective as applied to architecture
- Simplification of complex subjects
Image: Sybille Zeldin, Turkey Mart. Courtesy of the student.
Register by: April 19
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Watercolor Workshop (In-Person)
with James Toogood
Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Instructor: James Toogood
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Interested in learning or improving your watercolor skills? All materials and techniques will be discussed, including the selection of papers, brushes, and pigments, as well as transparent and opaque painting methods. Students will work from still-life, and/or their own source material. All levels welcome.
Image: James Toogood.
Register by: April 26
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies