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Methods of the Masters: Great Women Painters (Online)
with Al Gury
Sundays, 3 - 4 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Al Gury
Six-Week Condensed Course (30-Hour Equivalent)
Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 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. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
Explore the methods of some of the greatest painters in recent art history with Al Gury, noted professor and author of Alla Prima, Color for Painters, and Foundations of Drawing. Notable women artists Alice Neel, Mary Cassatt, Gabriel Munter, and Cecilia Beux, among others, will provide the basis for weekly painting projects. Learn from, and gain an increased appreciation for, these masters through an examination of their materials, color palettes, working methods, and histories through visual examples, discussions, video demonstrations, and tailored painting projects that will be critiqued by the instructor for helpful feedback. Class meetings will be held on Zoom, and assignments and asynchronous class content will be posted on Canvas, PAFA’s online learning platform. Open to all levels of experience and all media: oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel.
Image: Mary Cassatt, Young Thomas and his Mother (detail), 1893, pastel on wove paper, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 in. Collection of the PAFA Museum, Accession # 1904.10. Pennsylvania Academy purchase.
Register by: January 16
Materials List - Coming Soon
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
The Art of Natural History Illustration (Online)
with Kate Samworth
Wednesdays, 1 - 3:30 p.m. (Zoom meetings supported by interactive asynchronous Canvas content)
Instructor: Kate Samworth
Eight-Week Course (24-Hour Equivalent)
Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 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. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
Examine the social, scientific, religious, political, and economic factors that influenced centuries of cataloging the natural world, from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment. In this course, which combines art history with hands-on studio practice, students will learn to identify and imitate the traditional printmaking techniques that are integral to natural history illustration through a series of demonstrations in mixed media. Weekly hands-on Zoom sessions will be supplemented by recorded presentations on art history. Highlighted topics in science will encompass botany, ornithology, zoology, anatomy, entomology, cabinets of curiosity, marine life, and geometry in nature. Note: For intermediate-level students; prior still life drawing experience required.
Image: Kate Samworth, Ch.7 - Why Fish Don't Exist
Register by: January 28
Materials List - Coming Soon
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
Observational Perspective (Online)
with Frederic Kaplan
Thursdays, 7 - 8:30 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Ten-Week Course (30-Hour Equivalent)
Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 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. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), 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.
Image: Frederic Kaplan
Register by: February 5
Materials List - Coming Soon
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
Spontaneous Abstraction Workshop (Online)
with Kassem Amoudi
Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Live Zoom Only)
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Weekend Workshop
Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 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. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
Many artists can feel frustrated in front of a blank canvas, unsure of how to start and what to paint. Paint with confidence by learning techniques to tap into your intuitive process and find inspiration more easily! Experienced instruction and advice will push students to take chances and explore unexpected directions and accidental marks to achieve artistic discoveries. Students will use line, color and space, and editing possibilities to create busy/calm areas and focal points in their paintings as they work from personal imagery, expression, and imagination. Instruction will take the form of PowerPoint presentation/examples, formal direction from modern and contemporary artists, and one-on-on critiques in Zoom sessions that are geared toward open painting time in a classroom-like setting. Painting experience recommended.
Image: Kassem Amoudi
Register by: February 20
Materials List - Coming Soon
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
Holistic Figure Drawing and Anatomy (Online)
with Roberto Osti
Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (Zoom meetings supplemented by Canvas content)
Instructor: Roberto Osti
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 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. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
The human body is one of the most fascinating and inspiring subjects for artists, but many are intimidated by its complexity. Join Roberto Osti, artist, teacher and author of Basic Human Anatomy: An Essential Visual Guide, to draw the human figure with confidence through an understanding its basic shapes and underlying anatomy. Study the human form from a structural point of view to become familiar with its basic landmarks, essential volumes, main muscle groups, and proportional relationships. Supplement this anatomical knowledge with classical rendering methods using graphite, charcoal, and chalk on on white and toned papers, including the trois crayons technique, to produce beautiful figure drawings. The online structure allows for an optimal overhead view of the instructor’s demonstration drawings and a focused but conversational community environment as students draw alongside the instructor and complete in-class work together.
Image: Roberto Osti, Katal Huyuk Venus, 2006, red eath colored pencil on paper, 13.75x17.75
Register by: March 5
Materials List - Coming Soon
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
Assemblage Art: Creating Work in a Series (Online)
with Colleen O'Donnell
Fridays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. (Zoom meetings supplemented by Canvas content)
Instructor: Colleen O'Donnell
Six-Week Short Course (18-Hour Equivalent)
Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 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. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
Unlock your creative voice through the art of assemblage. Learn how to build a cohesive body of mixed-media work by exploring themes, motifs, and the power of working in a series. Through discussion, material exploration, and supportive critique, develop your visual language while experimenting with found objects and personal materials. By the end of the course, each participant will complete a meaningful 3–6 piece assemblage mini-series that expresses their unique story and artistic perspective.
Image: Student Patti Rosenberg.
Register by: March 6
Materials List - Coming Soon
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
Continuing Color: Creating a Personal Approach (Online)
with Al Gury
Sundays, 3 - 4 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Al Gury
Six-Week Condensed Course (30-Hour Equivalent)
No class on April 5
Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 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. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
Explore ways to improve your use of color and enhance your personal style and expression with Al Gury, noted professor and author of Alla Prima,Color for Painters, and Foundations of Drawing. Great colorists such as Velasquez, Manet, Matisse, and Diebenkorn among others will provide the focus for weekly explorations of how to improve color in your work. Visual histories and examples, materials, problem solving, and color theories will be presented through live Zoom meetings and recorded video demonstrations, with a goal of helping each student find their own color voice. Instruction includes a weekly painting project to guide the participants through understanding and improving color choices in their work and subject matter. Assignments will be posted on Canvas, PAFA’s online learning platform, and critiqued by the instructor for helpful feedback. Open to all levels of experience and all media: oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel.
Image: Al Gury.
Register by: March 9
Materials List - Coming Soon
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses