Oil Painting: Topa Topa
Oil Painting: Topa Topa
Date and Time: Six consecutive Saturdays: February 21, February 28, March 7, March 14, March 21, and March 28, 2026
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Teaching Artist: Gabriel Islas
Cost: $250 for all six sessions
Preregistration required
Paint the most recognizable mountains in the Ventura County skyline, the Topa Topa, with award-winning artist Gabriel Islas as your guide. Gabriel will introduce the geology and history of the Topa Topa Mountains before leading students through a step-by-step painting adventure of this iconic mountain range. This special landscape course covers the foundations of oil painting, including color theory, paint mixing, and application. Gabriel will provide instruction and live demonstrations throughout the entire process as you create your own 18” x 24” oil painting.
This course will meet on six consecutive Saturdays: February 21, February 28, March 7, March 14, March 21, and March 28, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This class is appropriate for everyone ages 16 and over. The cost of the six-day workshop is $250.00 per person. All skill levels are welcome and all materials are provided. Preregistration is required and space is limited. The course will be held inside the Cole Creativity Center located at 123 N 10th St, Santa Paula, CA. Free parking is available directly behind the building and students may enter through the front or back door.
Questions? Please call the Museum at (805) 525-5554 ext. 104 or email creativity@santapaulaartmuseum.org.
About Our Teaching Artist: Gabriel Islas is a painter and art educator based in Southern California. Gabriel obtained his BFA with an emphasis in painting from Academy of Art University, San Francisco and exhibits atmospheric landscape paintings. Gabriel manages the Santa Paula Art Museum’s Cole Creativity Center as Curator of Creativity and paints outdoors and out of his studio in Midtown Ventura at Pacific & Main Creative Workspace. He has painted at locations including Mt Rainier, Grand Tetons, Death Valley, the Eastern Sierras, and Denali. Gabriel is a member of the California Art Club, Buenaventura Art Association, Last Place Art Club and Studio Channel Islands. In 2025, he has exhibited at the Studio Channel Islands Member Show, Buenaventura Art Association’s 36th Open Competition, Thousand Oaks Open Juried Art Show, Ventura Botanical Garden’s Plein Air Artist Gallery Show and California Art Club’s Plein Air Visions Exhibition and 114th Gold Medal Exhibition, where he was awarded a gold medal for ‘Best Landscape’.
Instagram: gabriel_islas_art
Student Testimonials:
“:) I liked the incorporation of geology at the beginning. Gabriel gives good advice and I think all his students felt supported. He highlight the merits of everyone’s skills.”
“Gabriel has the patience of a saint”
If this course is SOLD OUT. Please click here if you’d like to join our waitlist to be notified if a spot opens up or if this course is offered again in the future.