The following courses are designed for individuals or groups. They are progressive studies for those who desire to learn the foundations of art, but cannot commit to the more detailed and extensive studies as in the atelier style of art instruction.
FUNDAMENTAL DRAWING 1 (Four, 2.hr. sessions)
FUNDAMENTAL DRAWING 2 (Four, 2.hr. sessions)
INTERMEDIATE DRAWING (Four, 2.hr. sessions)
ADVANCED DRAWING (Four, 2.hr. sessions)
FUNDAMENTAL OIL PAINTING (Four, 2.5 hr. sessions)
Monochromatic painting – One color, black & white
INTERMEDIATE OIL PAINTING (Four, 2.5 hr. sessions)
Limited palette painting– Three colors
ADVANCED OIL PAINTING (Four, 2.5 hr. sessions)
Full color palette painting
The atelier style of art instruction is the idea that a student learns best when he or she can study and gain the skill of each subject individually. The student studies drawing before painting so that he or she can learn how to create a block-in, produce drawings with accurate proportions, compose, generate mood, and construct a hierarchy within a work of art.
DRAWING
Drawing is the foundation of all art, from becoming a painter, sculptor, architect, designer, or an animator. Such topics as proportions, gesture, composition, design, value, form and volume all fall under the field of drawing. Therefore drawing is taught before painting or sculpting. Drawing is the most direct way for a student to obtain mastery in art based on the understanding of its foundational principles. Subjects to be understood are anatomy, composition, design, form, perspective, proportion and value.
BLACK & WHITE PAINTING
Once a student has achieved a certain level of mastery with drawing, he or she can begin to experiment with paint. Simple monochromatic studies are designed to help the student learn how to create the illusion of the three dimensions. The first would be to paint a sphere in black and white. This geometric solid clearly reveals any problems in representation and helps separate the areas the student needs to work on further. Understanding the ratio between light and shadow well enough to transform a circle into a sphere forms a standard of knowledge required for solving more complex problems. After this the student can begin studies of master copies, casts, still-lifes and figure paintings.
MONOCHROMATIC PAINTING
The student has been spending a lot of time working with black and white and will progress to working with color. The transition is made slow via using only one color, white and black. The intermediate stage of working in a simple palette with only one color focuses on the practice of implying texture and value in the study.
LIMITED PALETTE PAINTING
Warm and cool studies are representing the shift of temperature from warm to cool, gradually introduces concepts in color, leading to full color painting.
Beautiful paintings can be tonal, relying more on value than color for their attraction. With this kind of painting the palette is limited to 3 colors, white and black. To make a successful tonal painting, the artist concentrates on subtle shifts between warm and cool tones to create an effect. Despite the lack of dramatic color shifts, these paintings can feel complete, due to their balance of color temperature and value.
COLOR
The final part of the training is to work in full color. The student who is ready to make the leap form theory to practice does various color theory exercises and quick studies. These quick studies can be done from a still life, a portrait, a life model, an interior, or from a landscape.
SHORT STUDIES
Initially the student begins with one day studies to practice and gain an expertise with the material. The conversion from limited palette painting to full color work, as well as the shift from single objects to full composition, can be challenging. Doing one painting a day offers the chance for experimentation and building of confidence. After a student has done a dozen or so works, he or she begins to set up a composition and a consistent working process easily.