“Three Day Nude Alla Prima” with Shane Wolf
February 20-22, 2026
9:00 am to 4:00 pm each day
REGISTRATION
Shane’s workshop will be at
the Gateway Atelier of Classical Art,
4814 Washington Blvd, Suite 230,
St. Louis, MO 63108
Nude woman by Shane Wolf
In this 3-day intensive workshop Shane Wolf will teach his technique of alla prima figure painting in oil from the live model. Students will explore many short pose sketches in oil (approx 20-minute poses) as well as having longer poses of several hours for a more completed painting. Shane places a lot of importance on short studies in order for the students to better grasp the rather elusive aspects of flesh tones and value relationships of the model.
Much emphasis during this workshop will be on accurate color use, namely the understanding and execution of chroma relationships in flesh tones.
This workshop welcomes all levels of experience with figure painting in oil, and is ideal for those seeking to discover the efficiency and strength of alla prima painting.
Class schedule:
Friday: AM: 3 hours: Shane demo 30 minutes, short pose paintings
— lunch break
PM: 3 hours: short pose paintings
Saturday: AM: 3 hours: 1-hour paintings
— lunch break
PM: 1.5 hours: 1 painting
— evening break
5:30 - 8:30 PM Shane 3-hour alla prima demo
Sunday: AM: 3 hours: 1 painting
— lunch break
PM: 3 hours: 1 painting
Registration is $775. Full payment due at time of registration (see below). No refund After Feb 13, 2026.
Payment can be sent via check to our studio at:
4814 Washington Blvd, Suite 230, St. Louis, MO. 63108
OR you can use Zelle with our email: gacastudio.info@gmail.com
REGISTRATION for this WORKSHOP $775.
Workshops take place in the GACA’s studio, located in the Pierce Arrow Building,
4814 Washington Blvd, Suite 230, St. Louis, MO. 63108
self portrait by Shane Wolf
For more information on Shane Wolf, please visit his website at:
https://www.shane-wolf.com
Supply List:
An important note: Due to their toxicity all solvents, turpentine, Gamsol, etc are prohibited during the workshop. During this workshop brush cleaning will be done by soaking dirty brushes in linseed oil (note: buy linseed oil in the hardware store wherever they sell wood treatment products; super cheap!) then cleaned with soap and water. If you've never cleaned your brushes in this manner not only is it nontoxic but it's also quite good for the bristles of the brushes, and will save you hours of your life from having to wash your brushes regularly (trust me).
Paints (feel free to use the brands you like; just be sure that whatever brand they are they are "Extra Fine" quality and not student grade or other cheapened versions) You may recognise that these colors are often referred to as the “Zorn” palette:
-Titanium white (no other white; I use either Rublev's, Old Holland, or Marin des Beaux Art's "Wolf White" (French brand, and the white is named after moi! : ))
-Yellow Ochre (I use Old Holland Yellow Ochre light)
-Cadmium Red (I use Old Holland "Cad Red Light")
-Ivory Black (I use Old Holland)
Paint Supplies:
-palette (NO white disposable palettes; if you like using disposable palettes, avoid white)
-medium cup(s) for those who use a handheld palette like I do (this is to correctly balance your palette, even if we are not using mediums)
-palette knife
-paper towels or rags
-The Shane Wolf Rosemary brush set (the best : ) https://www.rosemaryandco.com/the-shane-wolf-brush-set … or whatever brushes you are used to using
-a small bottle of cheap linseed oil (this is for cleaning brushes)
-a jar or container of some sort to soak your brushes in overnight
• Note about mediums:
For this alla prima workshop we will be painting straight from the tube, so NO mediums. Not only is this a simple, fun and very direct way of painting, but also entirely avoids various toxicities of painting mediums.
•. Note about dry time and traveling with your paintings after the workshop:
In general, adding siccatives to your paint is a bad thing to do in terms of the health and longevity of your work. In a workshop setting however, it may be desirable in order to more easily travel with your finished paintings. If you so choose, feel free to bring a very small bottle of siccative (ie cobalt, manganese, or an alkyd medium).
• Canvas / Panels: all supports need to be prepared with a neutral gray imprimatur prior to class (see the following instructions):
-12 canvases or panels approximate size 35 x 25cm (14 x 10 inches). These canvas can also be part of one roll and cut up into smaller sections if you prefer.
-2 canvases or panels approximately size 60 x 50cm (24 x 20 inches) or bigger if you prefer to paint larger
-All canvases or panels can be cotton, linen, polyester, smooth, medium or heavy grain, as you prefer. Mounted to panel, stretched, loose, canvas boards… again, whatever your preference and also easy to travel with!
• Canvas preparation:
All of the canvases need to be prepared ahead of time at home with an imprimatur: a very thin, diluted coat of paint that is applied to the entire surface of the canvas. Aim for a 40 - 50% neutral gray, one that will contrast equally with darker shadow values as well as the lighter values of the figure. Naturally the true value of each student's canvas or panel will be different, and that's ok. Our goal here is to kill the white of the canvas (more on that once we are all together in the workshop).
• For the imprimatur in OIL: A simple mixture of titanium white plus ivory black oil paint is all that is necessary for this gray. Once the proper value is mixed, dilute the paint with solvent (ie odorless mineral spirits, turpentine, Gamsol, etc) until the consistency is almost as liquid as that of house paint (this requires a lot of mineral spirits/turpentine). Using a house painting brush, scrub this paint very thinly over the totality of the canvas. Set the canvas aside for at least 5 days to dry.
• For the imprimatur in ACRYLIC: Attention: only canvas prepared with a synthetic, universal ground can be prepared with an acrylic imprimatur; oil ground canvases cannot (If you're not certain if your canvas has a universal or oil ground, it is most likely a universal ground. Oil ground canvases are becoming a rarity, thus the far majority of canvases bought in mainstream art stores are universal ground.). The application process is the same as mentioned above, except the paints are acrylic and the mixture is diluted with water instead of with a solvent. Dry time is reduced to just a few hours instead of days.