Oil Painting: Still Life

Oil Painting: Still Life

Adult Class | Registration opens Tuesday, October 20, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

1/13/2027-3/3/2027
6:30 PM-9:30 PM EDT on Wed
$275.00
$250.00
$20.00

Oil Painting: Still Life

Adult Class | Registration opens Tuesday, October 20, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Students will be guided step-by-step through the fundamental principles of oil painting, using still life as a foundation for developing observation, color, value, and composition. Each class session builds on the last, encouraging gradual skill development, increased confidence, and a deeper understanding of how to translate what you see into paint. Through a combination of exercises and direct observation, students will explore the process of building a painting from initial sketch and composition through color mixing, layering, and finishing. The course emphasizes hands-on practice, supportive feedback, and skill-building in a creative, welcoming environment.

What You Will Learn:
- 
The key elements and principles of oil painting, including color, value, shape, form, and composition
- 
How to mix and apply color to accurately observe and describe objects.
- 
Techniques for creating volume, depth, light, and shadow with paint
- 
How to compose and develop a still life from direct observation
- 
Foundational oil painting practices to build confidence and develop your artistic eye

Who This Class Is For:
Beginners and anyone looking to strengthen their foundational oil painting skills. Questions about whether this class is right for you? Email adulteducation@fleisher.org.

  • Need updated supply list.
Patricia Thomas

Patricia Renee Thomas is a Philadelphia-based painter, and art educator, with a BFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture, a MFA from University of Pennsylvania's Weitzman School of Design with a certificate in University Education. She has exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions with the DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, The Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia, PA, The Delaware Contemporary in Wilmington, DE as well as Kravets-Wehby Gallery in Chelsea, New York, Kapp Kapp Gallery in Philadelphia, Gaa Gallery in Cologne, Germany. She was a 2025 McMillian Stewart Chair of Painting Fellow at Maryland Institute College of Art, a 2021 recipient of the Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art, and a 2021 recipient of the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship. Thomas teaches Painting and Drawing at University of Pennsylvania.

https://patriciarthomas.com/