WORKSHOP MANIA 
(See far right column for listings.)

This spring and summer, Fred’s studio will be a madhouse of special workshops. There are sure to be several that suit your budget, interests, and busy schedule, and even more will be added so check this page regularly. Choose from evening, 1/2-day, full-day, and 2-day options.

Limited Enrollment
Small groups assure you that you will receive plenty of individual attention.

• In-studio workshops are limited to just 4 students and are held at Fred's Upper Darby studio (see Contact/Subscribe page for address and map).
• For outdoor workshops only up to 8 students
  will be accepted. Outdoor workshops take place mainly in or near Delaware County and central Philadelphia.
  

Registration
To register, use the convenient checkboxes on the Contact/Subscribe page. Registration deadlines are given at right. There are no refunds after registration has closed.

Payment
Minimum 50% deposit is due by the registration closing date, and full payment must be received by the start of the workshop.

Please send payment to: Frederic Kaplan, 524 Spruce Avenue, Upper Darby, PA 19082.

Second Chance Workshops
If you see a workshop that interests you but does not fit your schedule, let me know. If there are enough interested students, I will run it again on dates that better suit your needs.



SPRING HIGHLIGHTS

Paint the Figure
Bring color to the human form as you execute full-figure, head, and torso studies. Anatomy, proportions, and color mixing are among  the topics addressed.
(Details under Painting Classes at right.)

                Painting by student Gary Bolton       Painting by student Gary Kunkleman



Capture Space and Light in Paint
Give your pictures a greater sense of dimension and air through study of the effects of color, design, and painting methods on the spatial qualities and sense of light in paintings. This course is for students at all levels of experience or inexperience.

(See Painting Classes for more information.) 

         Paintings by students Walter Wang (left) and Bruce Cauchidy (right).

Advice about shopping can be found at Material Advice.

PRIVATE LESSONS

Affordable private instruction is available at Fred's studio. One-on-one lessons can be scheduled to suit your needs: weekly, monthly, or once in a while. At only $35 per hour with a 2-hour minium, you can get the personal treatment you deserve. Express your interest now by using the Contact/Subscribe page.

See examples of Fred's work at the Gallery page.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Students are challenged to reach out beyond what they believe themselves capable of in order that they may more fully realize their personal creative visions. To assist in their journeys, students are provided with the thorough technical training and aesthetic insights that make it possible for them to seek out and investigate those avenues most promising for each of them. Methods used include lively instruction and demonstrations, humor, and frank but sensitive critiques. During their excursions, students are often guided away from the main highway of the comfortable and into unfamiliar realms. They may encounter the practices of allied disciplines, unusual materials and innovative methods for applying familiar materials, foreign aesthetic ideas, as well as the huge diversity of pictorial approaches of masters past and present. The ultimate destination of this exhilarating voyage is a land of confidence, practiced skill, and inspired picture-making on the part of the student.

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DRAWING and PAINTING 

Painting Contents:
   CLASSES
-    Painting Introduction
-    Painting Space & Light:
     The Still-life
-    Figure Painting

Drawing Contents:
   WORKSHOPS
-  Drawing Fundamentals
-  Textures of Nature

Experience levels defined:

• Beginner = little or no experience
• Intermediate = at least one  drawing class plus, for painting students, at least one painting class
• Advanced = 2 or more years art making experience along with several classes during that period
  

Painting Classes

Still-life: Oil or Acrylic Paint
(Beginning)
Painting Introduction

Tuesday
7:00 P.M. – 9:30 P.M.
April 17 - June 12

Samuel S. Fleisher
Art Memorial
215-922-3456

This class introduces students to the materials and techniques of oil painting. Using still-life subjects, this class stresses color, composition, and various approaches. Prior drawing experience recommended.



Still-life: Oil Paints
(All levels)
Painting Space & Light:
The Still-life

Friday
10:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.
March 2 – April 13

Historic Yellow Springs
610-827-7414

Designed to meet the demanding needs of the contemporary student, this course focuses on conceptions of space and light to enable you to create more vibrant and compelling still-life paintings. The objective is to give greater solidity and presence to the forms in your pictures, as well as bringing clarity of illumination to them. Issues such as tonal relationships, color mixing and theory, and pictorial structure are considered, along with linear, atmospheric, and coloristic perspective. The impact of the painting techniques applied and the materials and tools chosen are discussed as well. We will also look at how master painters past and present have treated space and light through printed reproductions. This course is for students of all levels, from beginner to practiced, but drawing experience is recommended. 

Painting by student Daniel Chow

Figure:
Oil or Acrylic Paints
(All levels)
Figure Painting

Sunday
10:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M.
March 11 – April 29
(no class April 8)

Pennsylvania Academy
of The Fine Arts
215-972-7632

Paint from the life model and make full figure, head and torso studies.  Gain insights into anatomy, composition, proportion, light and shade, color mixing and painting technique.  Includes demonstration, lecture and discussion of master paintings of the figure.  All levels welcome, but drawing experience is required.



Drawing Workshops

Still-life:
dry drawing media
(Begginning)
A Taste of Drawing

Wednesday
6:00 P.M. – 9:30 P.M.
March 14

Samuel S. Fleisher
Art Memorial
215-922-3456

If you’re new to drawing or have been away from it for a long time, this introductory workshop makes it easy to understand and simplify shapes and forms. Brief demonstrations provide easy methods for gauging proportions and applying the basics of perspective to several still-life drawings as you learn how to make objects look convincingly real. This workshop is also excellent preparation for anyone planning to take a painting class. 

Upcoming workshops offer the opportunity to learn to master drawing a variety of subject matter through exposure to a number of techniques and a range of materials. The drawing above, by Regina Calton Burchett, illustrates one possible treatment.

Landscape & Still-life:
wet or dry drawing media
(All Levels)
Textures of Nature

Saturday & Sunday
9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
May 12 & 13

Pennsylvania Academy
of The Fine Arts
215-972-7632

Frustrated when trying to draw and paint moving clouds, the intricacies of water and trees with an infinite number of leaves? Learn to render these and other complex outdoor elements to improve your landscape ability. Through study of natural objects and the work of master artists, including a visit to the PAFA museum, learn to understand and simplify the shape, structure, and pattern of natural forms. Translate your new knowledge into practice by drawing on location in pencil, charcoal, ink, or watercolor. 

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WORKSHOP MANIA
(See general information in main column at far left)

Contents:
-    It's all About Proportions
     (drawing)
-    Tenebrism: Painting Dramatic
      Lights and Darks (painting)
-     Surface and Texture: Part I
      (painting)
-     Problem Solving the
      Landscape (painting)
-     Secrets of Composition
      Part-I: Drawing (drawing)
-     Rendering Draperies
      (drawing or painting)
-     Paint the Brandywine
      (all media)
-     Secrets of Composition
      Part-II: Painting (painting)
-     Draw the Town (drawing)

Still-life: Drawing
(Beginning & Intermediate)
It’s All About Proportions

Tuesday
9:30 – 12:30 A.M.
March 13
(register by March 9)
Tuition: $40

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

For those who have difficulty gauging proportions and placement, this workshop introduces several easy-to-use methods to help improve accuracy. No longer will a chair-seat be too narrow to sit in. Doorways will never again be so wide that a hippo could slide through them. Tables won’t end up being so tall that you can’t reach your dinner plate. Garages won’t be so far from the house that they end up in the neighbor’s back yard. (Previous drawing experience recommended.)

This contemporary still-life by Tina Jones makes use of tenebrism to give areas in light richness of color, while deep shadows add an air of drama and mystery.

Still-life: Painting
(Intermediate to advanced)
Tenebrism: Painting Dramatic Darks and Lights

Tuesday
9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
March 20
(register by March 16)
Tuition: $100

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

Since Caravaggio perfected the technique in the 1600s, tenebrism has become a much favored method for creating pictures with a sense of drama and mystery through the use of intense darks and rich lights. You will learn how to enhance the potency of your paintings through increased contrast, more vibrant lights, and economy of description as you paint the still-life. New ways of using color will be introduced, as well as procedures for building your pictures in a logical and well-structured manner. (Previous painting experience required.)

Still-life: Oil Painting
(Intermediate to Advanced)
Surface and Texture: Part I

Saturday
9:00 – 5:00 P.M.
March 31
(register by March 28)
Tuition: $100

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

Make shiny objects like glass, crystal, and metal in your paintings appear more convincing. Procedures will be introduced to allow you to develop each type of surface in a logical and manageable way as issues such as reflectivity, transparency, and texture are discussed and demonstrated.

Glass is among the most challenging surface textures to paint. Workshop instructor Fred Kaplan tackles glass along with non-reflective materials in this still-life.

Still-life: Oil Painting
(Intermediate to Advanced)
Surface and Texture:
Part II

Tuesday
9:00 – 5:00 P.M.
April 3 (register by March 30)
Tuition: $100

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

This segment of Surface and Texture addresses non-reflective materials such as wood and wicker. You will develop methodologies for simulating wood grain, the knap of fabrics, and the weave of wicker as you learn ways to simplify these complex textures.

Landscape: All Media
(Intermediate to Advanced)
Problem-solving
the Landscape

Saturday
9:00 – 5:00 P.M.
April 14 (register by April 11)
Tuition: $100

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

Through individualized instruction, you will learn to identify and resolve weaknesses in your landscape paintings or drawings. Common issues include uninteresting greenery with an overly narrow range of color, water that doesn’t look convincingly like water, distant views that lack depth, and foliage that lacks believability. Draw or paint in the medium of your choice (pencil, oils, watercolor, etc.) at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge conveniently located near Philadelphia International Airport. Bring a recent picture with you for review.

Landscape painting made at Heinz Wildlife Refuge by student Mary Cody.

Still-life: Drawing
(Beginner to Advanced)
Secrets of Composition Part-I: Drawing

Wednesday
9:00 – 5:00 P.M.
April 18 (register by April 14)
Tuition: $100

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

Good composition should be invisible but remain vital to creating satisfying pictures. With the help of this workshop you will learn how to use line, value and shape to design images that lead the viewer’s eye throughout the picture and to areas of focus. We will also look at how composition affects the mood and meaning of a picture, as well as how composition can influence its spatial qualities. A variety of historical and modern approaches will be reviewed, including geometric, rhythmic, and curvilinear structures.

Workshop instructor Fred Kaplan makes the painting of draperies manageable by simplifying structure and defining form.

Still-life:
Drawing or Oil Paint
(Beginner to Advanced)
Rendering Draperies

Monday and Tuesday
9:00 – 4:00 P.M.
April 23 & 24
(register by April 20)
Tuition: $180

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

Master the challenge of painting or drawing the folds, creases, and curls of draperies and clothing. Through demonstration and discussion, you will gain understanding of the structure of draperies and discover methods for making their complexities more manageable as you execute two studies: one with free-flowing suspended fabric (day one), and another of the clothed mannequin (day two).

Landscape: All Media
(Beginner to Advanced)
Paint the Brandywine

Saturday
9:00 – 5:00 P.M.
April 28 (register by April 25)
Tuition: $100

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

Combine drawing or painting outdoors with a tour of the Brandywine River Museum. Paint along the bank of the shady and picturesque Brandywine River as you reinforce your skills in capturing the effects of daylight, rendering convincing reflections and shadows on the water, and modeling foliage. At your option, lunch across the street at Hank’s, a long time haunt of Andrew Wyeth’s. After lunch enjoy a relaxing visit to the museum and informative talk about how the artists on display have approached the challenges of landscape painting. Complete the day by continuing work on your picture. ($12 museum admission additional; discount for AAA members. There may be a charge for parking on crowded days.)

Tour the Brandywine River Museum's outstanding collection and paint nearby picturesque landscape.

Still-life, interior, townscape: Drawing
(Beginner to Advanced)
Perspective in a Snap

Monday and Tuesday
9:00 – 4:00 P.M.
April 30 & May 1
(register by April 26)
Tuition: $180

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231 

Becoming skilled in the principles of perspective doesn’t require a PhD in Boolean geometry, just a stick of charcoal, a sheet of paper, and your eyes. Using an easy to understand and intuitive approach, you will quickly learn how to make the objects and spaces in your drawings appear believably 3-dimensional. Topics addressed include how to accurately place doors and windows, erect steps, manage foreshortening, and master extreme views. Hands-on drawing projects reinforce lectures and demonstrations. Illustrated hand-outs will help you remember the methods taught long after the workshop has ended. (“Perspective in a Snap” is excellent preparation for the upcoming “Draw the Town” and “Paint the Town” workshops.)

Still-life: Painting
(Intermediate to Advanced)
Secrets of Composition Part-II: Painting

Thursday
9:00 – 5:00 P.M.
May 17 (register by May 14)
Tuition: $100

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

Advance your compositional skills into the realm of color by learning to exploit color relationships to construct well designed paintings. We will look at the roles that brilliance, intensity, and value play, along with the importance of complementary and analogous color sets. In addition, the physical properties of paint are taken into account (brush mark, thickness, stroke direction, etc.) and their effect on the visual structure of a painting. Other issues considered are repetition, direction, and edges, as well as the unifying force of shadow. Through review of reproductions, you will discover the how master painters past and present have relied on color in composing their pictures. (Previous painting experience required.)

This elaborate townscape was drawn by Michael Calver while traveling in Europe.

Townscape: Drawing
(Beginning and Intermediate)
Draw the Town

Saturday and Sunday
9:00 – 5:00 P.M.
May 19 & 20
(register by May 16)
Tuition: $200

Frederic C. Kaplan
610-734-1231

If you plan to sketch as you travel this summer, "Draw the Town" is perfect preparation. As you draw on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania (Saturday) and in Philadelphia’s Old City (Sunday), learn simple methods for putting buildings into their proper perspective. You will also discover how to make structures look convincingly solid, establish proportions, place features like doors and windows accurately, and set it all into a believable outdoor space. This is a good follow-up to the "Perspective In A Snap" workshop.

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