Watercolor & Pastel at Pendle Hill (4 sessions)

Watercolor & Pastel at Pendle Hill (4 sessions)

Adult Class | Registration opens Monday, February 9, 2026 8:00 AM EST

Intermediate to advanced level suggested.
6/8/2026-6/11/2026
9:00 AM-12:00 PM EST on Mon Tue Wed Th
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$185.00
$165.00
$30.00

Watercolor & Pastel at Pendle Hill (4 sessions)

Adult Class | Registration opens Monday, February 9, 2026 8:00 AM EST

Deepen your experience of watercolor and/or pastel painting through contemplative practice, deep looking, and attentive engagement with the spring landscapes of the Pendle Hill Retreat Center. Working within the gardens, wooded paths, and quiet outdoor spaces, we will slow down our seeing and allow observation, reflection, and presence to guide the creative process. Students may work in watercolor, pastel, or a combination of both, supported through individual guidance from the instructor to identify personal areas of growth, inquiry, or a focused project.

Rather than emphasizing speed or product, this workshop invites a mindful approach to mark-making and material exploration, using the emerging colors, light, and textures of spring as a primary source. Foundational techniques, such as color mixing, paint handling, composition, shading, hatching, and blending, will be introduced as tools to support expressive clarity and deeper visual connection. Experimentation, curiosity, and responsiveness to place will be actively encouraged. Open to all skill levels, this workshop is best suited to students who are comfortable working independently.

What You Will Learn: 

  • Mindful approaches to watercolor and/or pastel painting
  • Observation and deep looking from nature F
  • Foundational techniques such as color mixing, composition, and shading
  • Expressive mark-making and material exploration Personal artistic growth through individual guidance

  • If you would like to purchase lunch from Pendle Hill, you may add this option for $60 ($15/day) by filling out this form by May 25, 2026. You can learn more about lunch at Pendle Hill here. Lunch at Pendle Hill is from 12pm - 1pm, and includes gluten free and vegetarian options.

    If you would like to book an overnight stay at Pendle Hill, you may do so here.

    This is an in-person, off site course taking place at Pendle Hill. Pendle Hill is a Quaker study, retreat, and conference center welcoming all for Spirit-led learning and community. Pendle Hill is located at 338 Plush Mill Rd. Wallingford, PA 19086-6023. Please review our Safety Policies and Community Guidelines.

    To make our classes and workshops accessible to everyone, Fleisher offers tuition assistance every term so that everyone can join our creative community. Tuition assistance applications can be completed once registration is open by clicking here.

  • I. Paper:
    A. if working in pastel, any paper sold as “pastel” paper will work. A premium option would be Clairefontaine Pastelmat https://www.dickblick.com/products/clairefontainepastelmat-card-pads/ Optionally, pastel can also be done on cover stock such as Rive BFK or watercolor paper such as Arches Aquarelle.
    B. If working in watercolor, any paper sold as “watercolor” paper will work. Use 140lb (aka ~300gsm) weight paper. Cold press is recommended for most applications. The best commonly available brand is Arches Aquarelle https://www.dickblick.com/products/arches-natural-white-watercolor-paper/.
    C. If working in both mediums on one piece, choose watercolor paper

    II. Soft Pastels:
    if working in pastels, a set of at least 12 colors. A set of 24 or more will be beneficial. Pastels can also be bought in small packs and individually. Whatever you get, make sure you have a few deep, rich darks in different hues; as I have seen that the basic
    sets often lack these.
    • Optional: hard pastels such as Prismacolor NuPastel; and/or pastel pencils such as Caran d Arches Supracolor pencils. These enable fine details.

    III. Pastel accessories:
    A. Blending: (choose one or many, or you can use your finger): blending stump, chamois cloth, makeup sponge, paper or cloth towel.
    B. Erasers: especially for pastel, at least one white plastic eraser. Recommended: white plastic eraser, pink eraser, kneaded eraser, pencil eraser (has long, thin, white eraser inside of a plastic holder)

    IV. Paint:
    if working in watercolor: watercolor, gouache, or acrylic paint. A set of at least 10 colors. Tubes and/or pans (they are interchangeable and inter-mixable).

    Recommended colors:
    • Ultramarine Blue, Lemon Yellow, Permanent Rose, Viridian, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, and Pthalo Blue, Dioxazine Violet,Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Lamp Black, Chinese (Zinc) White.
    Optional colors: Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Aureolin Yellow


    V. Brushes: 
    for watercolor or for water-blending pastels:
    • Small round soft brush (#4, 5, or 6)
    • Medium round soft brush (#10, 11, or 12). 1” Flat Brush.
    Optional:
    • #18 mop brush, #0 or #1 round brush
    • water brush (the kind that stores water inside the shaft)

    VI. Watercolor accessories (if using watercolor):
    A. Paper towels
    B. Two jars for water
    C. Paint mixing tray
    D. Masking fluid
    E. Sea sponge, optional
    F. Spray bottle, recommended, particularly if using pan colors

    VII. Sketchbook


    VIII. H, F, or HB pencil:
    A. Pencil sharpener.
    B. Eraser.
    C. Painter’s tape.
    D. Something to carry supplies




Albert Fung

Albert Fung is a Philadelphia-based artist, art-instructor, and yoga instructor. He was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He earned his BFA in Printmaking from Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York. In 1996 he earned his MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. He painted and exhibited in New York City from 1993 to 2011. Since 2011, he has been based in Philadelphia. He works in oil painting, in printmaking (mostly intaglio), in mixed media (watercolor, pastel, collage, acrylic, etc.) on paper and panel, and in digital imaging. His work has been exhibited throughout the New York and Philadelphia areas, notably the LeRoy Neiman Center in New York and Boston Street Gallery, LG Tripp Gallery, Roger LaPelle Galleries, and Arch Enemy Arts in Philadelphia. In the Spring of 2023, he will teach Advanced Lithography at Tyler School of Art, Print 2 at Arcadia University, Collage at University of the Arts, as well as Pastel and Watercolor at Fleisher Art Memorial, where he has continuously taught since 2020. During the Fall of 2022, he taught drawing at Moore College of Art, Lithography at Tyler School of Art, Drawing at Drexel University. During the 2021-22 school year, he taught Drawing at Drexel University and at Arcadia University. He previously taught Lithography at Columbia University from 2005-07. He has been practicing yoga since 2003. In 2015 he gained his Certification in Yoga Teaching in 2015 in the Classical tradition from Motherheart Yoga Sangha in Philadelphia. Today, he teaches yoga from his art studio. Today, he makes and exhibits paintings, drawings, and prints; teaches yoga and art.

https://alfung.com/