Drawing and Painting Workshops at Penland
Penland School of Craft offers drawing and painting workshops of varying lengths taught by visiting instructors in our well-equipped studios. Class topics include oil painting, watercolor, encaustic, life drawing, charcoal and pencil drawing, color theory, composition, abstract art, and much more. Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.
Register for Workshops
Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.
Please read this note about our session schedules.
DRAWING AND PAINTING SUMMER SESSION 1
MAY 28–JUNE 2, 2023
Leeah Joo
Trompe L’oeil Oil Painting
Learn to create lifelike realism with oil paint. We’ll begin with a brief study of historical and contemporary trompe l’oeil painters to analyze different methods. Demonstrations will cover creating ideal set-ups, manipulating light and shadow, and a variety of paint applications to create dimensional illusions. Beginning students will build fundamental painting skills while experienced painters can work to refine or master hyper-realistic effects. We’ll create a deep box set-up and a shallow shadow box set-up, and, depending on skill level, students will complete two or three paintings. All levels.
Adjunct professor at Southern Connecticut State University at Paier College (CT); other teaching: Kansas City Art Institute, Maryland Institute College of Art, Hartford Art School, Fairfield University; exhibitions: Andrew Bae Gallery (IL), Arcadia Contemporary (NYC); representation Sugarlift Gallery (NYC), Arcadia Contemporary (NYC).
DRAWING AND PAINTING SUMMER SESSION 2
JUNE 4–16, 2023
Billy Renkl
Gleaning: Studio Approaches to Collage
As a studio practice, collage is pretty new—just over a century old. This workshop will offer analog experiences using collage, some of which will be based informally in its early history, including vivid works by artists such as Hannah Höch and Max Ernst. We’ll cover cutting and gluing techniques, but a productive collage practice is not necessarily based on manual skills. Our principle goals will be experimentation, the development of personally expressive work using found imagery, and an understanding of the unique ways found imagery communicates. All levels.
Professor at Austin Peay State University (TN); solo exhibitions: Cumberland Gallery (Nashville), Taylor Bercier Fine Arts (New Orleans), Vanderbilt University (Nashville), University of Kentucky, Tennessee Arts Commission, Galerie Neue Raume (Berlin); illustrator working for many clients, recently illustrated the picture book When You Breath (Cameron Kids).
DRAWING AND PAINTING SUMMER SESSION 3
JUNE 18–30, 2023
Jon Bocksel and Kenji Nakayama
Brush Lettering and Sign Painting
This workshop is about brush-written letters and the ability to create signs from practiced alphabet styles. Students will learn design and sign-trade techniques and create completed signs while also learning foundational alphabets to be practiced for years to come. Drawing exercises will help students improve “eyeballing” skills, sensitivity to shapes and lines, and light/dark balance. The workshop will include many brush demonstrations and both meditative and practical exercises. All levels.
Note: the studio fee for this workshop is estimated at $200-300 per student.
Jon: sign painter, studio artist; teaching: Moma Teen Arts (NYC), Laru Beya Collective (NYC); exhibition and lettering design: Brooklyn Museum (NYC), Coney Island (NYC), Jewish Museum (NYC); author of Signos de Cuba, a self-published book documenting brush lettering in Cuba; work reviewed and published in the New York Times.
handsigns.info | @handsigns.info
Kenji: sign painter, studio artist; teaching: Montserrat College of Art (MA), San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design; exhibitions: San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design, Fuller Craft Museum (MA), Simmons University (Boston), Calico Gallery (NYC); collections: Simmons University (Boston), Fuller Craft Museum (MA), Milwaukee Art Museum.
DRAWING AND PAINTING SUMMER SESSION 4
JULY 2–14, 2023
Ming Ying Hong
Drawing a Self-Portrait
This workshop will explore self-portraits drawn from direct observation. Students will develop a basic understanding of human head proportions and create works using a variety of techniques, including contour drawing, line gestures, mass gestures, and value drawings. We’ll work mostly with graphite and charcoal, beginning with small studies and then moving to large-scale self-portraits in charcoal. All levels.
Associate professor at Rhode Island School of Design; other teaching: Mississippi State University, Old Dominion University; exhibitions: Bo Bartlett Center (GA), Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Visionary Projects (NYC), publications: New American Paintings, ArtMaze magazine.
DRAWING AND PAINTING SUMMER SESSION 5
JULY 16–28, 2023
Joseph Hart
Exploratory Drawing
The goal of this workshop is to loosen up artistically and explore fresh approaches to observational and abstract drawing. Each day will feature a mix of studio exercises, technical demonstrations, discussions, prompts, and independent drawing. Students will experiment with a range of techniques and media to create ambitious, bold, and provocative drawings that may be small, medium, or large in size. Materials will include paper, graphite, charcoal, ink, acrylic paint, found objects, and more. We’ll emphasize playfulness and personal creative growth. Students can expect to work in series, collaborate in small groups, and develop independent drawing projects. All levels.
Studio artist; teaching: Rhode Island School of Design, City College of New York, Penland; Romer Young Gallery (San Francisco), Halsey Mckay Gallery (NY), David Krut Projects (NYC), Cooper Cole Gallery (Toronto), Galerie Vidal Saint-Phalle (Paris); collections: Rhode Island School of Design Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum (NYC).
DRAWING AND PAINTING SUMMER SESSION 6
JULY 30–AUGUST 11, 2023
Morgan Thomas Shankweiler
Aleatory: Play as Process
This workshop will explore the use of chance, games, and play as points of departure for getting unstuck, experimenting with new ideas, and creating work with deep meaning. We’ll start each day letting games make creative decisions for us. Then we’ll create our own games to explore the intersection of chance and choice. We’ll focus primarily on drawing and painting and also explore collage and linoleum block printmaking. Our time will include demonstrations, discussions of historic and contemporary works, lots of game play, and time for individual and collaborative experimentation. Students can expect to finish at least one fully-realized drawing or painting, take home a spark-kit for future game creation, and contribute to large collaborative works with classmates. The emphasis will be on process, experimentation, and having fun in a supportive studio community. All levels.
Studio artist, mural artist for Mural Arts Philadelphia and The Village of Arts and Humanities (Philadelphia); teaching: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Strath Haven High School (PA); residencies: School of Visual Art (NYC), DaVinci Art Alliance (Philadelphia), Penland winter residency; exhibitions: INLIQUID (Philadelphia), Second Street Gallery (VA), Hamilton Street Gallery (NJ), Fountain Street Gallery (Boston), A.I.R. Gallery (NYC).
DRAWING AND PAINTING SUMMER SESSION 7
AUGUST 13–18, 2023
Dietlind Vander Schaaf
Encaustic: Layers, Translucency, and See-Throughs
This workshop will enable students to achieve greater clarity and translucency in their encaustic paintings. We’ll focus on building paintings from the ground up, covering what can be done directly on the substrate, between the layers of medium, and on the surface. We’ll discuss opaque and translucent color, how to create beautiful glazes, and working with various drawing materials: ink, charcoal, PanPastel, oil pastel, pencil, graphite and Pigment Sticks. Mark-making and writing exercises will help each student deepen their connection to their work. All levels.
Studio artist; teaching: Haystack (ME), Arrowmont (TN), Castle Hill (MA), Snow Farm (MA), Zijdelings (Netherlands), Penland; instructor for R&F Handmade Paints; grants: Maine Arts Commission, International Encaustic Artists; exhibitions: Cape Cod Museum of Art (MA), Conrad Wilde Gallery (AZ), Fuller Craft Museum (MA), On Center Gallery (MA); representation: Portland Art Gallery (ME).
DRAWING & PAINTING FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Jodi Reeb
Making your Mark: Encaustic Painting and Photo Collage
This encaustic workshop will bring together several basic techniques to create beautiful, layered paintings rich with texture and translucency. We’ll explore color mixing, scraping, and developing imagery with a focus on using photographs as collage. This process involves printing photographs on lightweight tissue paper and embedding the images in the encaustic medium. We’ll also explore image transfers. Layers can be created by using oil sticks to add pigment above or below the photographs for color and depth. The workshop will also include a brief history of encaustic painting and information about supplies, tools, safety, and preparation of substrates. Lots of one-on-one studio time will help you create and develop a body of work, gain confidence, and expand your voice with encaustic. All levels.
Studio artist; teaching: Minneapolis College of Art and Design Continuing Studies Program, Haystack (ME), Zijdelings Atelier (Netherlands), Ampersand Ambassador Teaching Artist, R&F CORE Artist; two Minnesota State Arts Board Artist’s Initiative grants, Hinge Arts Residency (MN); exhibitions: Gallery One (Minneapolis), Kolman & Pryor Gallery (Minneapolis), Truro Arts Center (MA), Reedy Gallery (MN).
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
DRAWING AND PAINTING FALL CONCENTRATION
October 1 – November 10, 2023 (six weeks)
Clarence Morgan
Practical Reset: Pushing your Practice
Artists are often taught to think about painting and drawing in ways that reinforce conventional practices and classifications. In this workshop, students will play in the gap between what is familiar and modes of working that are beyond their place of comfort, adjusting to unconventional ways of using tools, materials, and processes. Participants will be encouraged to rethink their studio practice and develop individual visual vocabularies that speak to their inner life as well as their personal history, cultural heritage, and ethnic lineage. This is a conceptually-driven workshop that will not focus on specific skills or techniques. Intermediate level: for people who have an established artistic practice in any medium.
Studio artist; professor emeritus at University of Minnesota; Distinguished Alumni Award from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Penland Outstanding Artist Educator, Sam and Adele Golden Foundation Artist Residency (NY); recent exhibitions: Ralph Arnold Gallery (IL), Penland Gallery, Minneapolis Institute of Art; collections: Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Cleveland Museum of Art, Flint Institute of Art (MI), North Dakota Museum of Art.
clarence-morgan.com | @cmorganstudio
A Penland video about Clarence Morgan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nv_YtCVrsc
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
