Weekly Plein Air Class (April 4 - June 13, 2025)

12-4pm on Fridays, one break on May 23rd.

About Painting en Plein Air in and around Portland, Oregon.

We’ve been painting on Friday afternoons year-round since 2003 in the greater Portland metro area. Each season has its special feeling, and certain locations open up in the Springtime that have been closed all winter. Looking back at some older paintings, I see some places we’ve forgotten about, and I’d like to return to some of those.  

As always, I’ll guide you in the art of seeing, of designing a painting, color and color mixing, and getting it on the canvas successfully, all the while enjoying the process. Even when it’s frustrating. (My old painting buddy, Bill, used to say: If it’s not fun, you’re not doing it right.)

Feel free to reach out with any questions.

Of special note:
Since mid 2020, group critiques and reviews have taken place through an online photo sharing site which has had surprising benefits. It’s very easy to use - student painters and I upload photos of our paintings to an app on our “silly phones” (aka: smart phones) and we can all comment and add remarks. I then drag the images into my photo software and can analyze and critique them, marking them with lines and arrows that make explicit the painting’s dynamics and shortfalls. I also upload and analyze my own paintings, and paintings by great painters with arrows and descriptions. All this has had great benefits and we all seem to love it. More to the point, I see that people are learning faster. Everyone’s painting is improving! So happy! 

The process has also almost doubled my time commitment with the class. The class tuition reflects this added benefit. Please contact me if you have any questions about this.

Class Sessions

Each class session 4 hours. A great way to spend your Fridays!

Limited to ten (10) painters of all experience levels.

Cost

$490 tuition for 10 sessions
$245 tuition for 5 sessions

Location

Locations depend on weather. When clear, there are many options. When wet, we’ll work under shelter.

Sites in or near Portland under consideration: Mt. Tabor, Rivervilla Park in Oak Grove, Foothills Park in Lake Oswego, Rooster Rock (east on Columbia River HWY), Sauvie Island ODFW viewing platform (rain shelter). Several other sites in the area offer something not often painted or even discussed. That is, endangered or threatened places, locations that have been degraded by oil industry or other heavy industry. We’ve been attending to some of these places for years. We’ll also paint at protected or restored locations.

Registration