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
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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 -
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
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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 -
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
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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 -
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
