Medium: Cold wax & oil
Level: Open to all levels
Class Dates: Mondays, October 5-19, 2026
Class Times:
• 10:30 am-1:00 pm Pacific Time
• 1:30 pm-4:00 pm Eastern Time
• 6:30 pm-9:00 pm UK Time
Autumn is nature’s grand finale—a season of glowing color, crisp air, dramatic skies, and landscapes alive with warmth and movement. In this three-day workshop, we’ll explore how to capture the feeling of fall without painting every leaf. Through observation, simplification, and expressive mark-making, you’ll discover how bold color, layered surfaces, and thoughtful design can evoke the energy and beauty of the season.
We’ll begin in our sketchbooks with quick thumbnail sketches, value studies, and color explorations to simplify the landscape and strengthen our compositions before moving to paint. Students will first create a small color study to experiment with palette, composition, and technique before developing a larger, more refined painting. This process encourages confidence, creativity, and a deeper understanding of how to build expressive landscapes.
DAY 1: SEEING THE LANDSCAPE
We’ll begin in our sketchbooks with playful exercises in composition, value, color mixing, and mark-making as we explore the rich palette of autumn. Through quick thumbnail sketches and color studies, we’ll simplify the landscape, identify strong compositions, and discover the unexpected colors hidden within the season. Students will then begin a small color study, using oil and cold wax to experiment freely with bold shapes, expressive color, and layered surfaces.
DAY 2: BUILDING LAYERS & RICH SURFACES
Using our small study as a guide, we’ll begin a larger painting while exploring layering, scraping, transparent color, broken color, and a variety of mark-making techniques. Demonstrations will include brayers, silicone tools, scrapers, stencils, and other favorite tools that create depth, movement, and luminous surfaces without relying on excessive detail.
DAY 3: REFINING & BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Our final day is all about editing with intention. We’ll strengthen compositions, refine focal points, create beautiful edge relationships, and use transparent layers to unify the painting while preserving its freshness and energy. We’ll also discuss how to know when a painting is finished, along with simple tips for presentation, framing, and caring for your completed artwork.
Whether your work leans representational or abstract, you’ll leave with a finished autumn landscape, a small color study, and a repeatable process for approaching future paintings with greater confidence and creativity. No prior oil and cold wax experience is required. All levels are welcome. Bring your curiosity, your favorite fall reference images, a sketchbook, and a willingness to experiment.
In stock
$225.00
Chicago-area artist Karen Sako creates paintings that fuse the precision of design with the freedom of abstraction. Her background in graphic design and decades as an instructor fuel her mastery of color, composition, and mark-making. Sako’s work, celebrated for its boldness and emotional resonance, has earned numerous awards and recognition in both national and international exhibitions. Collected across the globe, her paintings invite viewers to experience the mystery of light, the rhythm of nature, and the energy of pure expression.
She is also a cherished member of esteemed artistic organizations such as The Suburban Sketchers of Long Grove, Barrinton Area Art Association, and the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society.
About This Online Class:
Search Winslow classes by instructor, day, month, medium or keyword.
