Location

This is a HYBRID program; class sessions will mostly be held online, but the class will meet in-person for plein air painting days roughly once every other week.

Plein Air Sessions: Spring and Fall terms will have 6 scheduled plein air days, every other week. Winter term will have 3 scheduled days, every three weeks. Students are permitted to miss up to two group plein air sessions per term as long as they make up the sessions independently. Painting locations will be decided based on weather conditions and curriculum focus. All locations will aim, to the best of the instructor's ability, to provide bathrooms, parking, and a reasonable distance from your car. Locations will be chosen as centrally as possible, but will be kept within King County. 

Content & Objectives

You will build a regular plein air practice as well as a strong studio practice, harmonizing the two modes of landscape painting to create a dynamic workflow. The hybridity of the program itself acts as a preview and training regiment for the nature of landscape painting. Working in the field and in the studio will expose you to the strengths, weaknesses, and nuances of working from life, photo references, sketches, memory, and imagination, and will result in fewer limitations and much more visual exploration. 

We will begin by acquiring a comfort with and understanding of materials as well as exploring the building blocks of image-making as it relates to creating a successful illusion of depth with paint. We will then expand on those foundational principles by exploring different ideas around landscape painting, such as time, through observational painting, and how landscape concepts can merge with other genres like still lifes or figure painting. We will also push our plein air practice by making multi-session plein air work, or exploring more extreme painting conditions like time of day and duration of a painting. In the end, we will be developing a personal hybridized and limitless work process to develop a painting, with the freedom to move beyond traditional landscapes, all the while continuing to build a visual and experiential library to pull from. 

Time Commitment

Students are expected to commit at least 20 hours per week, working in their studio and/or on-location at least 2 days per week plus additional time on their own. They are expected to sign up for individual check-ins at least once per week. 

Class sessions are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30am-4:30pm with scheduled in-person plein air group sessions on select Thursdays. Virtual class days are broken up by scheduled one-on-one meetings, and group class sessions for lectures / demos / critiques / assignments.

Fall: Start date in September.
Winter: Start date in January.
Spring: Start date in April.
Dates: Planned for 2025-2026 Academic Year

Additional Requirements

• Students are required to have their own space to work inside for studio assignments
• Students are only able to miss 2 in-person plein air sessions per term which must be made up with independent outdoor painting sessions
• Students are required to have or arrange their own transportation to and from plein air locations; not all locations will be easily accessible via public transportation
• Students are required to have their own plein air painting equipment
• This is an oil painting program, though other mediums are allowed in addition to oils