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Designed for those with drawing experience who desire to improve their drawing skills and elevate their artistic expression. Learn to recognize ki, or energy, as you draw the human figure with pencil, charcoal, conté and ink. Begin to sense ki in lines, space, and chiaroscuro; see color in black and white drawing; and understand the effects of changing light, pressure, and media. Achieve spiritual expression through a new understanding of ki, soul, and spirit. Includes demonstration, discussion of Master artists’ drawings and critique.
Register by: September 3
Mixing too much paint, for too long and with disappointing results? Penetrate the elusive nature of color by learning to mix paint with authority through evaluating colors from the tube, in isolation on your palette, and surrounded by other colors. Visual aids, focused projects and still life painting will develop your color acuity. Essential for painters of all levels.
If you’ve never drawn before, or your skills are a little rusty, then this class is for you. Drawing is a valuable way of recording your thoughts and impressions. Acquire grounding in the basics so you can draw what you see with confidence. Study the still life, cityscape, human figure, and other subjects to master the drawing elements – shape, contour line, composition, light and shadow, texture and perspective.
Learn to create unique etchings called monoprints by incorporating painterly inking methods with basic intaglio techniques. Work in black-and-white and color using traditional intaglio techniques, including drypoint, etched line, open bite, aquatint, hard ground, simple collograph methods, and softground producing both linear and tonal effects.
Working from a variety of colorful still life arrangements, learn to create paintings from preparatory sketches to fully resolved pieces. Instruction will focus on basic drawing skills, composition, painting technique, color, texture and the development of a more personal interpretation of the subject matter. This class is excellent for beginners as well as experienced painters seeking to further their interest in the subject.
This course will cover all aspects of the foundry process. This valuable opportunity to create a finished bronze sculpture is appropriate for the novice as well as those with casting experience. Demonstrations and hands-on instruction will be given in wax modeling and casting, ceramic shell techniques, bronze pouring, metal chasing, TIG welding and patination. Students are encouraged to bring a sculpture or object to cast.
The invention of perspective and the introduction of paper in Europe in the 13th century ushered in the heights of Renaissance drawing. Draw in PAFA’s Cast Hall and from the human figure and learn techniques specifically developed to describe three-dimensional form. Work in charcoal, conté crayon and chalks, as well as pen-and-ink wash on toned paper. Schematic and perspective drawings, including compositional drawings for fresco, panel and canvas painting, will also be discussed.
Printing from a drawing carved into wood or a linoleum block is the oldest and most straightforward form of printmaking. Its beauty and expressive power can be seen in the work of Albrecht Dürer and the German Expressionists. All aspects of the process will be covered, including drawing on the block, carving your design and printing techniques for making black-and-white and color prints.
An essential how-to course for painters of all levels. Through lecture, demonstration and hands-on learning, you will stretch canvas, prepare wood panels, make gesso, grind pigments and frame your own paintings. Discover how to use mediums, solvents, varnishes, brushes. Learn underpainting and glazing techniques while painting from the still life and human figures. Slide presentations and informative videos will augment studio work.
Explore the aesthetic possibilities of abstract form through clay sculpture. Working from direct observation of natural and manmade objects as well as the life model, and responding to your imagination, develop your technical skills as you progress toward a personally expressive body of work. Instruction will focus on composition and design, the development of form, abstraction from nature, positive and negative space, sculpture in an environment, and expressive content. Open to all levels.
Screenprinting is a versatile and quick form of printing on paper, textiles, wood, glass, ceramics and more. All aspects of the process will be covered including screen preparation, image development, mixing and modifying ink, printing techniques and reclaiming screens. Students will have the opportunity to explore hand-drawn, digital and photo processes and will be encouraged to experiment.
Using the interior spaces of the Academy as subject matter, discover engaging and original compositions. Learn to organize values and colors to simplify the complex appearance of subject matter and develop a sense of light and space. Drawing, perspective, composition and strategies for working on location will be covered. Suggested media: oil, pastel or charcoal.
This sculpture course introduces the conceptual and practical aspects of modeling the figure in clay on an armature from direct observation. Experienced students will model a 24-inch figure based on volume, proportion, architectonic construction, and spatial displacement of form. Beginning students will sculpt a life-size portrait first. Technical procedures discussed will include armature construction, orientation of the armature to the model, clay modeling (methodology), the specific use of tools, and basic elements of plaster casting.
Lectures and drawing demonstrations on proportions, skeletal framework, surface form, and movement of the figure will help you develop the ability to draw the human form with anatomical and spatial accuracy. Designed to advance the skills of students who have studied drawing previously.
Explore the possibilities of stone carving by using traditional and nontraditional methods. All processes – from rough carving to polishing – will be covered, and various tools and techniques will be demonstrated.