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Oil/Acrylic Painting
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Composition in Drawing and Painting: Strategies for Building a Strong Design (Online)
with Al Gury
Sundays, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Al Gury
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)
An in-depth approach to understanding and using composition by Al Gury, Professor of Painting and Drawing at PAFA, and noted author of Alla Prima, Color for Painters, and Foundations of Drawing. This class presents practical skills and strategies for making strong compositions. Composition, the arrangement of images, shapes, forms, colors, values to form visual balance and strength within the pictorial frame of an artwork, will be explored through projects using still life, interiors, portraits, and landscapes. Each class will contain explanations of the visual compositional strategies in both historic and contemporary art, and extensive tactics for problem-solving and solutions, as well as a weekly assignment and critique of personal work. Class meetings will be held on Zoom, and Canvas will be used for assignments and class content. All media and levels of experience are welcome.
This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.
Optional: This is a Condensed Course, available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $595. Select credit option when registering.
Image: Al Gury, Still Life with Landscape, 2022, 16 x 12 in.
Register by: September 22
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Lost and Found: Painting Objects Rescued from the Everyday (Online)
with Susan Sullivan
Thursdays, 3 - 5 p.m. (Zoom, with posted Canvas content)
Instructor: Susan Sullivan
Credit: Non-credit only
This class is centered on painting the things around you, emphasizing the role of the painter as observer or chronicler. Do you ever see strange or out of place items on the street? Do you have a favorite corner of your house that you would love to paint? Or maybe there’s that single sock in your drawer... Record your everyday observations and elevate the ordinary into artwork worth looking at. Weekly prompts to inspire you to see things anew and expand your notions of painting subject matter will include depicting household clutter, objects in disrepair or that have lost their mates, thrift and scavenged items, and more. Discussion and demonstration will cover tactics for setting up your composition, mixing color, and exploring paint application techniques for oil and acrylic. All levels welcome.
This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.
Register by: October 20
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Figure Painting: Developing Form and Finish (In-Person)
with David Wilson
Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Instructor: David Wilson
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Paint from a life model in poses of varying lengths 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. 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 20
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Fast and Unfussed: Painting Loosely in Oils (In-Person)
with Roger Chavez
Mondays, 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Credit: Non-credit only
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, making a practical setting for painting, and investigating new methodologies to apply to your paintings. Discover the beauty and freedom of loosening up your painting!
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how to effectively make use of short, fast, and small painting exercises
- Learn the importance and the effectiveness of setting a viable learning environment for painting
- Learn effective color mixing along with use of materials and techniques
Image: Roger Chavez
Register by: October 20
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Classical Design for Contemporary Artists (Online)
with Charles Muldowney
Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. (Zoom, with posted Canvas content)
Instructor: Charles Muldowney
Credit: Non-credit only
Design is the application of the formal elements of aesthetics to an artwork to enhance its strengths. Explore composition, space, value, light, color, line, texture and pattern so that you can employ these powerful elements in your own work. Demonstrations and discussions of artists past and present will exemplify each principle. Learn to apply these concepts through experimentation and targeted projects. Course topics will address composition, space, perspective, value and light, color, line, and texture and pattern.
Learning Objectives:
- Students will recognize and apply the seven basic elements of classical design.
- Students will become familiar with several important art historical figures, and their influence on design.
- Students will experiment with a variety of techniques and materials to gain an understanding of how mark making influences design.
- Students will develop and discuss concepts and image development in the form of structured critique.
- Students will gain confidence in their ability to create interesting design within their own artwork.
Register by: October 20
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
All About Acrylics (In-Person)
with Frederic Kaplan
Wednesdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Credit: Non-credit only
This complete acrylic painting course covers basics to advanced methods. Learn to use quick-drying acrylics expertly in thin, transparent layers as well as thicker, more opaque applications that produce textural and impasto effects. Materials like fluid mediums, gels, and pastes will be demonstrated, along with both brush and palette knife techniques. Several different color palettes will be introduced as students paint a variety of still life arrangements. This course is ideal for students looking for a non-toxic, flexible painting medium, as well as anyone seeking to explore acrylics’ excellent potential for representational and abstract work. Drawing experience is recommended.
Image: Fred Kaplan, Despina, 2019, acrylic panel, 12 X 12 in.
Register by: October 20
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Cut Paper Still Life Painting Workshop (In-Person)
with Meghan Cox
Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Instructor: Meghan Cox
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Abstraction meets representation in this creative take on still life painting. Students will assemble their own still-life set-ups from folded and cut colored paper and then translate these arrangements through observational oil painting on paper. Working from colored planar structures allows the opportunity to explore all the essential aspects of representational still life painting – form, space, value, color relationships, and composition – while experiencing the inherent abstraction of simple shapes and planes of color. Printed papers may additionally allow the introduction of compositional concepts of harmony, pattern, and repetition. Discover the unexpectedly beautiful results of working from the most unassuming of subjects. This class serves both as an engaging exercise in color and abstraction to inspire one’s painting practice and as an excellent introduction to painting concepts through humble, easy-to-draw subject matter.
Image: Meghan Cox, That Early Evening and Orange (detail), Oil on paper over birch panel, 14 x 12 in.
Register by: November 3
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies
Painting Drapery and Cloth Workshop (In-Person)
with Frederic Kaplan
Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Depicting cloth and drapery convincingly can be a valuable skill for painters of still life and figure-based subject matter, and it long has been a component of classical art instruction. Develop methods to simplify and organize the complex and often ambiguous structure of draped fabric. Create charcoal studies tolearn how light and shadow define the creases, folds, and flowing character of drapery. Progress to rendering drapery with oil or acrylic paints as you analyze the interaction of form and color with light. Previousdrawing and painting experience strongly recommended.
Image: Walter Wang, Pears and Apple, 2009, Oil on canvas. Courtesy of the student.
Register by: October 27
Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies