Scottsdale Artists’ School offers weekly classes and workshops for everyone from the absolute beginner to the professional artist. The School’s programs are taught by working, professional artists who are also experienced instructors.
We are constantly working to update our programs daily. We invite you to check back frequently so that you don’t miss out on any of our exciting new workshops and classes.
Upcoming
-
Oil Painting Essentials
Gregg Kreutz I Workshop I Oil Feb 9 - 13, 2026 Drawing on lessons from his book Oil Painting Essentials , Gregg Kreutz will teach and demonstrate the key factors in getting paintings to come to life. Factors such as how... Read more -
Painting the Landscape in Watercolor or Gouache
Spike Ress I Workshop I Watercolor Feb 9 - 12, 2026 This workshop will explore and develop students’ understanding of drawing, color, value and design, all important fundamentals needed to analyze the subject at hand and complete a successful painting. Spike... Read more -
Principles of Painting
Robert Moore I Workshop I Oil or Acrylic Feb 10 - 13, 2026 This workshop is an intense four days of inspiration, hard work, and productive learning. The main principles Moore covers are design, color, composition, and edges. Beginning with slide lectures in... Read more -
The Figure: Arriving at Full Color
Rose Frantzen I Workshop I Oil Feb 12 - 16, 2026 This advanced workshop will explore alla prima painting in a progressive study from bold, accurate, monochromatic structure, reinterpreting this into color temperature, followed by directly relating these practices to a... Read more
-
Tonal Landscapes
Richie Carter | Workshop | Oil Feb 16 - 19, 2026 This four-day oil painting workshop with Richie Carter will focus on painting low light tonal landscapes. Students will be working from photo references to complete at least one small preliminary... Read more -
Composing a Garden Painting
Kathy Anderson I Workshop I Oil Feb 16 - 19, 2026 While setting up a still life with fresh flowers every day, Kathy will talk about composing a garden painting from start to finish. She will bring in photo references to... Read more -
A Creative Approach to Floral Compositions
Daniel J. Keys I Workshop I Oil Feb 16 - 19, 2026 Each day, Daniel will do a demonstration while discussing the skills necessary for creating beautiful floral paintings using the alla prima method. Following each morning’s demo, students will set up... Read more -
Portrait Painting FAQ
Rose Frantzen I Workshop I Oil Feb 19 - 21, 2026 This advanced workshop will explore “Alla Prima” portrait painting. What questions can artists ask themselves to better see the colors, values, edges, and proportions of the model? How can these... Read more
-
Landscape Painting
Kyle Ma | Workshop | Oil Feb 20 - 23, 2026 In this four-day workshop, Kyle will show his entire process of creating a finished landscape painting. To create a successful painting, it is important to not only have a strong... Read more -
Dynamic Animal: An Intensive Sculpture Workshop
Adam Matano | Workshop | Oil-Based Clay Feb 23 - 27, 2026 Participate in an immersive five-day workshop dedicated to animal sculpture, guided by instructor Adam Matano. Engage in a comprehensive exploration of sculptural techniques, focusing on dynamic animal poses and/or multi-figure... Read more -
Rocks and Roses
Matt Ryder I Workshop I Oil Feb 23 - 27, 2026 This exciting five-day oil painting workshop will explore two subjects that many artists struggle to paint confidently, Rocks and Roses. The main emphasis of this multi day workshop will be... Read more -
Painting the Dog as Fine Art
Johanne Mangi I Workshop I Oil Feb 23 - 26, 2026 This continues to be a popular workshop as Johanne brings innovative ways to learn each time. No two workshops are ever the same. She keeps the material fresh all the... Read more
-
Photo to Painting: Create Memorable Art
Charlie Hunter I Workshop I Oil Feb 24 - 26, 2026 “Color gets the credit, but value does the work!” What does it mean? During this intensive workshop, students will dive into the world of values with master-of-the-limited-palette, Charlie Hunter. Using... Read more -
Drawing from Life
Juliette Aristides I Workshop I Drawing Feb 27 - Mar 1, 2026 The nude is the most enduring subject in art. When we draw the human form, we reflect on ourselves. In this workshop students will learn how beautiful figure drawings are... Read more -
The Figure in Oil: In Studio and Plein Air
Peggi Kroll Roberts | Workshop | Oil Mar 2 - 4, 2026 In this workshop, the figure will be the subject matter; however, the focus will be on improving drawing skills and seeing values and colors correctly, along with understanding their relationships... Read more -
Organizing a Dynamic Composition
Shanna Kunz I Workshop I Oil Mar 2 - 5, 2026 What do you get when you take a workshop with Shanna? In our workshop, we are going to explore compositional design and color decisions in studio painting. Students will need... Read more
-
Equine Painting
Chauncey Homer | Workshop | Oil Mar 2 - 6, 2026 This five-day workshop is designed to improve painting skills and help the student develop a personal style. Mr. Homer will demonstrate how to go beyond merely copying a photo by... Read more -
Abstract Moves: Secrets of Image Structure
David Michael Slonim I Workshop I Oil, Acrylic or Watercolor Mar 9 - 13, 2026 At an emotional level , it is the abstract image structure that moves a viewer--the skillful arrangement of space, value, color, and texture. This is true whether you paint landscapes,... Read more -
Paint with an Understanding of the Masters
Robert Johnson I Workshop I Oil Mar 9 - 13, 2026 Robert Johnson is an OPA Master. His workshop in oils will focus on developing an understanding of the essential elements of painting that have been passed on through the centuries... Read more -
Painting the Old West: Tucson, Arizona
Phil Starke I Off-Site I Workshop I Oil Mar 9 - 13, 2026 Phil Starke’s focus will be on helping students simplify the landscape and mix colors that suggest light, not detail. Two of the most important aspects of painting are a strong... Read more
-
Visualizing Your Painting – Design and Composition through Value Studies
Ray Roberts I Workshop I Oil Mar 9 - 12, 2026 This workshop includes a half-day Zoom orientation and discussion prior to class, preparing students for more painting time for this studio workshop. Understanding Form - Ray will explain how form... Read more -
Fundamentals of Studio Landscape Painting
John Poon I Workshop I Acrylic or Oil Mar 16 - 20, 2026 This time-tested curriculum is designed for the serious student wishing to develop fundamentals in landscape painting, including a greater understanding of values, color mixing, atmosphere, and composition including organization and... Read more -
Alla Prima: Painting the Portrait and Figure from Life
Romel de la Torre I Workshop I Oil or Pastel Mar 16 - 20, 2026 Romel will demonstrate every morning using Alla Prima (a style of painting where, instead of building colors up with layers or glazing over an underpainting, the painting is completed while... Read more -
From Brush to Clay
Simon Kogan I Workshop I Water Based Clay Mar 16 - 20, 2026 For thousands of years, the Chinese developed three interdependent components: ink, brush, and paper. This class is not about Chinese painting or calligraphy. Simon will share the principles and his... Read more
-
Radiant Acrylic Landscapes
Jed Dorsey | Workshop | Acrylic Mar 16 - 19, 2026 Through this workshop, you will discover how to use color and light effectively to create dynamic, well-designed paintings. Filled with practical exercises, presentations, and demonstrations, you'll be given tools to... Read more -
Paint in Motion
Daniel Bilmes | Workshop | Oil Mar 20 - 22, 2026 In this three-day workshop, students will explore painting techniques with emphasis placed on personal style development, designing a process to be more in tune with who you are – your... Read more -
Logic of Painting
Regina Lyubovnaya | Workshop| Oil Mar 23 - 26, 2026 In this four -day workshop , students will approach still-life and portrait painting not from the perspective of technique or dogma, but from a multiplicity of choices. Our focus will... Read more -
Sculpting the Human Form
John Coleman | Workshop | Oil-Based Clay Mar 23 - 26, 2026 The focus of this workshop will be the human figure and portrait head with the emphasis on gesture, design and surface texture. Moving beyond the basics to explore what makes... Read more
-
Power of Expressive Brushstrokes and Mark Making!
Hsin-Yao Tseng I Workshop I Oil Mar 23 - 27, 2026 This five-day workshop is particularly designed for anyone who wants to learn how to paint expressive yet energetic paintings. We will be focusing on exploring different mark making, textures, and... Read more -
Creating Emotional Connection:Harnessing the Power of Expression
Louis Carr I Workshop I Oil Mar 23 - 26, 2026 Capturing a likeness of a person reveals how we see them, but capturing the humanity of a person is how their soul speaks back. This is the heart of this... Read more -
Finding Ourselves in the Landscape
Jivan Lee | Workshop | Oil Mar 30 - Apr 2, 2026 How do we paint more than a formula ? Where do we find our voice ? And more, why paint –?at all? The landscape is a powerful teacher that can... Read more -
Painting the Portrait in Charcoal using Both Dry and Wet Alla Prima Techniques
Michelle Dunaway | Workshop | Charcoal Mar 30 - Apr 2, 2026 Michelle will guide students with demonstrations and one on one personalized instruction on painting the portrait in Charcoal using brushes, powdered charcoal, condensed charcoal, and a variety of tools and... Read more
-
Think Like a Painter
Aimee Erickson | Workshop | Oil Mar 30 - Apr 3, 2026 In nature, light reveals color. In painting, color reveals light. Learning to understand various lighting phenomena gives us more freedom in choosing how we paint what we see, rather than... Read more -
Fill Your Paintings with the Wonder of Light -Bootcamp for the Painter
Susan Diehl I Workshop I Oil Mar 30 - Apr 3, 2026 This workshop will use still life as a means to study light, the artist’s greatest gift. Using the Russian Impressionist tradition of comparing and contrasting , students will paint indoors... Read more -
Color Mixing in Oil
Adrian Gottlieb | Workshop | Oil Apr 6 - 9, 2026 Adrian will instruct this four-day workshop in color mixing, with emphasis on flesh tones. On the first day, Adrian will give a lecture on the color theory necessary to understanding... Read more -
Portrait and Figure: Drawing and Alla Prima
Robert Liberace I Workshop I Drawing & Oil Apr 6 - 10, 2026 This class will explore both the organized and elegant manner of classical drawing, and the dynamic, fresh approach of contemporary Alla Prima painting. Though each style has a distinctive character,... Read more
-
Figurative Painting
Milt Kobayashi | Workshop | Oil Apr 6 - 10, 2026 Milt Kobayashi will take students through the arc of an oil painting, dealing with the problems that will arise, embracing alternative solutions, and exploring tangential ideas as they present themselves.... Read more -
Creating Paintings that Speak: The Art of Design, Light and Story
Steve Puttrich | Workshop | Oil Apr 6 - 10, 2026 This five-day oil painting workshop is for artists ready to create paintings that speak— paintings with strong design, emotional clarity, and confident brushwork. Through daily demos, guided painting, and critique,... Read more -
Figurative Painting 2 Weeks
Milt Kobayashi | Workshop | Oil Apr 6 - 17, 2026 Milt Kobayashi will take students through the arc of an oil painting, dealing with the problems that will arise, embracing alternative solutions, and exploring tangential ideas as they present themselves.... Read more -
Painting Hands
Shana Levenson I Workshop I Oil Apr 10 - 12, 2026 Hands describe so much emotion in a painting. Color, structure, values... so many aspects to painting a hand that can be captured to make convincing, realistic hands. Come learn how... Read more
-
Landscape with Mark Boedges
Mark Boedges | Workshop | Oil Apr 13 - 17, 2026 This workshop will focus primarily on giving students the tools to render authentic light by carefully using correct values and rigorously maintaining color temperature relationships between light and shadow. We... Read more -
Painting the Still Life with a Strong Light
Elizabeth Robbins I Workshop I Oil Apr 13 - 16, 2026 In this workshop, Elizabeth will discuss the concept of painting strong light and shadows, along with painting with emotion and not just copying what is seen. Elizabeth will do daily... Read more -
Investigating the Modern Portrait
David Jon Kassan I Workshop I Oil Apr 13 - 17, 2026 The focus of this workshop will be investigating the underlying rhythm, expression, and emotion of the modern portrait. Students will work to develop clarity of vision essential for accurate observation;... Read more -
Figurative Painting I Second Week
Milt Kobayashi I Workshop I 5 Days Apr 13 - 17, 2026 Milt Kobayashi will take students through the arc of an oil painting, dealing with the problems that will arise, embracing alternative solutions, and exploring tangential ideas as they present themselves.... Read more
-
The Figure in its Environment
Margaret Dyer | Workshop | Pastel or Oil Apr 20 - 23, 2026 Margaret's step-by-step method will help the student simplify the complicated. Students will explore drawing, composition, anatomy, proportion, value, color and medium application. Emphasis will be on the model's relationship to... Read more -
Flesh Tones
Tina Garrett I Workshop I Oil Apr 20 - 24, 2026 Program Description ARC Living Master, Tina Garrett shares with her students the practical methods she uses in her award-winning portraiture to help artists make the best paintings they’ve ever made.... Read more -
Exploring Metals, Glass and Pattern in Painting
Nancy Chaboun I Workshop I Oil Apr 20 - 22, 2026 Discover ways to understand how to capture the reflective qualities of metal the translucency of glass and using pattern effectively in your painting. Perfect for all skill levels, this class... Read more -
Painting with Acrylic with Mike Hernandez
Mike Hernandez | Workshop | Acrylic Apr 23 - 25, 2026 A strong understanding of natural color and lighting is an important asset to any painter. Among the challenges of outdoor painting, desert scenes tend to be some of the most... Read more
-
Loose Realism: Painting the Still Life
Sarah Sedwick I Workshop I Oil or Acrylic Apr 23 - 25, 2026 Paint more loosely and confidently during this workshop with Oregon artist Sarah Sedwick! Take a step-by-step approach to alla prima oil painting, from black-and-white studies to brilliant color. Build a... Read more -
Bringing Life to Painting from Photographs
Timothy Rees | Workshop | Oil Apr 27 - 30, 2026 Overcome the flat, stiff, colorless look associated with painting from a photograph. Join award winning artist Timothy Rees as he presents the concepts and a process to overcome the negative... Read more -
Basics of Mixed Media
Andrew Denman I Workshop I Mixed Media Apr 27 - 30, 2026 During the pandemic, artist Andrew Denman paid the bills by selling quick, mixed media studies of birds and animals on social media. These intimate and improvisational pieces proved wildly popular,... Read more -
Painting the Landscape: From Sketch to Finish
John MacDonald I Workshop I Oil Apr 27 - 30, 2026 This studio workshop will focus on two aspects of painting: the painting process and the five basic components which comprise every painting. The process will begin with choosing reference (sketches... Read more
-
What Watercolors Can Do
Cindy Baron I Workshop | Watercolor Apr 28 - May 1, 2026 This four-day workshop is loaded with enthusiasm and energy. The workshop In this course Cindy will introduce students to the world of watercolors and the beautiful paintings artists can create.... Read more -
Beyond the Likeness: A Layered Approach to Portrait Painting
John Darley | Workshop | Oil & Tempera May 4 - 7, 2026 In this workshop, students will learn a layered approach to portrait painting using both tempera and oil to achieve depth, luminosity, and expression. Through live demonstrations, helpful lectures, and personalized... Read more -
Big Cat Intensive
Guy Combes | Workshop | Oil May 4 - 8, 2026 Endangered big cats of the world have always held a particular fascination for Guy Combes, and in this workshop, he returns to share his interest in painting them. Having grown... Read more -
Harmony and the Landscape
Cindy Baron I Workshop I Oil May 4 - 7, 2026 This workshop is designed to show how to take a tonal painting and build layers of color and harmonize in an unusual approach to creating successful paintings. There will be... Read more
-
Birds in Sculpture
Sandy Scott | Workshop | Oil Based Clay May 11 - 15, 2026 The class begins with a discussion of bird anatomy, comparative anatomy, the principles of aerodynamics, the importance of drawing and assembling shapes, and how to achieve the illusion of movement... Read more -
Landscape Painting: Principles & Practice
Robbie Moore I Workshop I Oil May 11 - 14, 2026 Through morning lectures, hands-on critiques, and practical demonstrations, Robbie will share the foundational principles and practical tips that have sustained his career as a full-time artist. The focus will be... Read more -
Painting the Figure from Photographs
Ted Nuttall | Workshop | Watercolor May 11 - 15, 2026 Although painting a person in watercolor may seem daunting, it is every bit as approachable as creating a still life or landscape. Ted Nuttall will demonstrate the techniques and instill... Read more -
Plein Air Painters of America
Kathleen Dunphy | Eric Jacobsen | Chris Morel | Michael Obermeyer I Off-site Workshop I Oil May 18 - 22, 2026 Join the Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA) for a rare opportunity to paint in “Dixon Country” alongside four of PAPA’s Signature Members. This biannual destination workshop, offered through Scottsdale... Read more
-
Abstracting the Landscape: Traditional and Contemporary
Chris Groves I Workshop I Oil May 19 - 22, 2026 This class will merge the knowledge of the fundamentals of classical landscape painting as a foundation, combined with the understanding of the basic principles and elements of abstraction in order... Read more -
An Approach to Figure Painting
Joseph Todorovitch | Workshop | Oil May 26 - 29, 2026 In this workshop, students will paint a figure from life over the course of four days, and discuss choices for choosing the pose, composition, color harmony, lighting, pacing, and bringing... Read more -
Plein Air Painting in Boulder, Colorado
Mark Boedges I Off-Site I Workshop I Oil Jun 22 - 26, 2026 Join Mark for a five-day intensive plein air workshop in the beautiful Rocky Mountains outside of Boulder, Colorado. Mark will take his students high into the mountains, just west of... Read more -
Plein Air Painting in Beartooth Pass, Montana
Mitch Baird | Off-Site I Workshop | Oil Jul 27 - 31, 2026 Beartooth Pass is known as the Alps of Montana because of its luscious flowering meadows, rugged rock, weathered pine, and 950+ alpine lakes!! The high alpine views make for great... Read more
