Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Instructor: David Wilson 
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours) 
Note: No class on November 29

Paint from a life model in long, multi-class poses to develop and refine your figure painting compositions. Extended poses will allow students to adjust and resolve issues of surface, color, and composition. Instruction will cover a variety of topics including glazing, broken color, surface texture, composition and design, the relationship of the figure to the environment, the creation of atmosphere and color harmony, disrupted realism, and open- versus closed-form painting. All levels welcome. Instruction will be geared toward oil, but students are welcome to draw-only, or use other appropriate media, if they wish. Note: Tuition includes a $35 models fee. 

Image: David Wilson

Register by: October 24 
Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  

Mondays, 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Instructor: Justine Ditto
Six-WeekShort Course (18 Hours) 

Painting and printmaking go hand-in-hand, not only as adjacent mediums but in combination. This freeing and instructive course presents printmaking techniques as jumping off points to making mixed media work in spirit of experimentation and personal expression. Learn how to make monotypes, drypoints, and screenprints as a foundation for incorporating your choice of graphite, colored pencil, acrylic, watercolor, oil paint, and/or collage. Content includes technical advice from an artist-instructor ideally skilled in a variety of media as well as critiques to expand your creative boundaries. This class is perfect for painters/draftspeopleseeking to expand their processes, printmakers seeking to employ painterly and mixed media techniques, and anyone with love of color and experimentation. Open to all levels – no prior printmaking or painting experience required. Tuition includes a $20 materials fee.

Image: Justine Ditto

Registration still open! 
Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  

Mondays, 1 – 2:30 p.m. (Zoom meetings supporting majority asynchronous content)
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan 
Six-Week Condensed Course (30-Hour Equivalent) 

Exploit the unique qualities of acrylics to create paintings infused with light and rich, transparent shadows. Through a combination of online videos and illustrated lessons plus live Zoom sessions, learn how to build your paintings in layers of radiant opaque and transparent colors. A variety of acrylic painting techniques will be addressed, including the tenebrism of Baroque master Caravaggio. A rich resource of information about the wide array of acrylic painting materials is also provided. This course is appropriate for students at all levels, including beginners, but drawing experience is recommended.

Image: Fred Kaplan

Register by: October 28 

Materials List

Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  

Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Roger Chavez 
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours) 

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 cultivating viablemethods for growth in your painting practice. Discover the beauty and freedom of loosening up your painting! Note: Tuition includes a $15 models fee.

Image: Roger Chavez

Register by: October 28 
Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan 
Weekend Workshop 

Highly reflective and transparent/translucent surfaces, such as metal and glass, can be a challenge for oil painters to represent accurately: distortions, abrupt shifts in value, and color influences by surrounding objects can make it difficult for the artist to discern what they are actually seeing or how to capture these effects. Through straightforward demonstrations, learn logical step-by-step approaches for painting each of these challenging subjects, and follow up with hands-on practice working from glass- and metal-themed still life arrangements. Prior drawing and painting experience strongly recommended. Note: This workshop is designed for oil painters, but acrylic painters are also welcome.

Image: Frederic Kaplan

Register by: October 31 
Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Instructor: James Toogood 
Weekend Workshop

Water:  It’s all around us -- streams, rivers, lakes, oceans, atmospheric effects, and more. It's a key ingredient in watercolor painting, regardless of the subject matter. But how does the artist create the illusion of water in a painting, regardless of the medium? This two-day workshop will present key tactics an artist can employ when painting bodies of water. Examine the nature of reflections, water movement, how water appears under various weather and lighting conditions, and more. Instruction includes demonstrations of how to incorporate various water effects in your own work and a review of the ways master artists historically have portrayed water in their paintings over the years. Open to all levels. Demonstrations will be conducted in watercolor, but instruction presents valuable information for painters of all media.

Image: James Toogood.

Register by: November 7 
Materials List
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  

Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. (Zoom Only)
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi 
Weekend Workshop 

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 KassemAmoudi in this condensed two-day workshop. 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 to guide students toward their goals. This course is excellent for students seeking to jumpstart their use of color in abstract/nonobjective imagery. Painting experience recommended. 

Image: Kassem Amoudi

Register by: November 14 
Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Mondays, 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM*  
Instructor: Douglas Martenson  
Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Course (45 – 90 Hours)  
Note: No class on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 19, or during Spring Break, March 2 – 8. 

PAFA’s Extended Studio Courses offer fifteen-weeks of comprehensive instruction taught by PAFA's core faculty for an immersive fine arts experience. PAFA's selection of Continuing Education traditional-length and short courses will be coming soon! 

Oil medium will be used throughout this course to produce a series of achromatic, monochromatic, limited color and full color studies of the figure in simple spatial situations. Paint application will be direct, although indirect approaches and optical color will be addressed. Particular attention will be paid to the analysis of hue, value and chroma to describe form and levels of space. Poses and environments will initially be kept simple to allow for the development of small, rapid studies. Time spent on each pose will then expand throughout the semester to explore a more complex treatment of form, color, surface, and design. 

*Optional:  This course is also available for full-day attendance (morning, 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. and afternoon, 1 - 4 p.m.) for $2,800. Select length with tuition adjustment during checkout. 

Image: Douglas Martenson 

Register by: January 2  
Materials will be addressed via PAFA’s Canvas online platform (if applicable) or on the first day of class.  
Please review the CE Winter/Spring Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  
Notes: Extended Studio Courses are not eligible for PAFA membership or promotional discounts. A minimum 10% fee applies to withdrawals, including same-day – students are advised to confirm their schedules before registering.