Tuesdays, 6 – 9 p.m.
Instructor: Jill A. Rupinski
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)*
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Expand the boundaries of traditional watercolor painting! Explore the wonderful range of effects that may be achieved by incorporating compatible water-soluble materials such as ink, watercolor pencils, and opaque pigments, as well as toned surfaces. Demonstrations and examples of masterworks will illustrate traditional and contemporary techniques, with a wealth of practical and technical advice provided. Observational study in PAFA’s still life studio may be supplemented by options to work from personal sketches, photo sources, recognized artworks, and memory or imagination. Students will be encouraged to experiment, explore, and develop their personal expression with water-media.  

*Note: No class on March 4. 

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

Register by: January 10
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Thursdays, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

If you’ve never drawn before, or your skills are a little rusty, then this class is for you! Learn to draw what you see with confidence. Work from simple forms, still life arrangements, and interior and exterior spaces to master the drawing elements: shape, contour line, composition, light and dark, texture and perspective. Instruction will guide students through sight-drawing and measuring techniques, use of materials, gauging value, and ways of defining form and space. This course is excellent as a foundation for future study, as a precursor to more advanced drawing study or to painting and other disciplines. Note: This part 1 course does not include work from models. 

This class is part 1 of an optional 2-part course! See also Drawing Fundamentals: Cast and Figure for continued instruction. Students are welcome to enroll in either or both parts; Line and Form is not required as a prerequisite to Cast and Figure but is recommended for students with little or no drawing experience. 

Image: Ellen R. Warren, Begonia, ca. 1880, pen and black ink on white wove paper, 2 x 3 1-4 in. Collection of PAFA.

Register by: January 10
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Fridays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Beginning with Caravaggio’s 1599 Basket of Fruit, still-life has a long history as a vehicle for transforming the commonplace into powerful statements. Take part in this intriguing tradition by exploring the symbolic and narrative potential of the unique object arrangements in PAFA’s dedicated still-life studio.  This course is also ideal for gaining or advancing essential painting skills as you expand your understanding of color, composition, application and layering techniques, and painting materials.  Instruction will focus on oil and acrylic paints, but gouache is also permitted. Previous drawing experience strongly recommended. Painting experience helpful but not required.  

Learning Objectives: 

The student will learn how to…  

• Select and use basic materials, including the characteristics of various commonly used colors, solvents, and mediums  

• Execute a variety of direct and indirect painting methods.  

• Employ approaches to interpreting and modifying observed reality to achieve emotive, symbolic, and compositional goals  

• Engage in the descriptive, emotive, and symbolic use of color, shape, and mark  

• Apply basic color theory and color mixing skills   

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

Register by: January 24
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Saturdays, 1 – 4 p.m.
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Learn the fundamentals of drawing with the vibrancy colored pencil! Work from still life objects and arrangements, natural and urban landscape window views, and clothed portrait/figure models to explore descriptive and expressive line quality, light/shadow, composition, color relationships, cross-hatching and layering methods, as ways to render scenic form and space. Instruction will guide students through observational sighting and measuring techniques and color theory essentials to achieve a sense of realism and to serve as a solid foundation for future study. Tuition includes a $25 models fee.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $620, including models fee. Select credit option with price adjustment when registering.

Register by: January 31
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Mondays, 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Instructor: Richard Estell
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Explore the painting techniques of the masters who pioneered the 19th and 20th century American watercolor movement, including Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper, and Charles Demuth. Characterized by bright color and bold handling that includes accents of opaque watercolor and loose washes, work in this tradition captures subject matter with dazzling light-filled effects. Practice these classic methods and learn to incorporate them into your own artwork to achieve a greater freedom of expression as well as adaptability and control in the way that you paint. Demonstrations and art historical discussions will be combined with short and more extensive still life and self-portrait exercises. This course is appropriate for beginning and intermediate levels.

Register by: March 3
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Wednesdays, 6 - 9 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

If you’ve never painted before, or your skills are a little rusty, this class is for you. Exploit the resources of PAFA’s dedicated still-life studio and its many thoughtfully composed arrangements. You will acquire grounding in the basics so you can paint what you see with confidence. Materials and painting methods will be discussed and demonstrated, including color mixing and theory. Examples of Master paintings, coupled with individual and group critiques, will help direct and inform your efforts.

Register by: March 5
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies