18th Century French Chinoiserie

Instructor: Pascal Amblard | Date: October 14-17, 2026
Class Status: Nearly full!

A detailed mural depicting people sitting on a ladder-like structure surrounded by plants and flowers, with decorative borders.

Pascal Amblard’s sketch for 18th century chinoiserie panel

This October, renowned French mural artist Pascal Amblard will return to San Francisco to teach this intensive course on the methods of painting Chinoiserie ornament. Invented in 17th century France, the style of Pillement and other originators of this look became wildly popular throughout the 18th century and is now an enduring favorite and certainly on-trend in interior design today. Mr. Amblard is one of the living masters of this style, and has been awarded a prestigious O1 visa in order to teach this workshop.

Over four full class days, participating artists will paint a panel of Chinoiserie, a light ornamental style with a painted ornamental frame— painted at full scale, using high quality oil and alkyd paints on canvas 32" x 60". Classwork will include

  • transfer techniques

  • mixing colors

  • understanding scale

  • effective brushwork

These skills which may be applied to other types of ornament of landscape work. Your finished panel will be suitable for framing, or for use as wall decor, panel ornament, or cabinet inset.

Artists of all levels of experience will have ample opportunity to challenge and advance their technique in this workshop.

This class takes place at Lynne Rutter Studio: a bright and fully-equipped working mural studio in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco.

I'm Interested!
A wall painting depicts a ladder-like structure with three people and a dog sitting on the steps. The background is decorated with floral patterns in light blue and gray, and the scene includes elements like a potted plant and a parasol.

Class Fee: $1800

Location: Lynne Rutter Studio | 2325 3rd St. #207, San Francisco, CA (map)

Schedule: Wednesday - Saturday, 9:30AM - 5:30PM, with a lunch break

Reservations: Class is nearly full! Click here to add your name to the list. Instructions and updates will be emailed to you.

Feel free to  contact the studio with any questions.

A detailed decorative painting featuring a tree with a thatched roof gazebo and small figures sitting on its branches, surrounded by ornate blue and white floral and scroll motifs, with birds at the bottom.