Classical Art Instruction

For many years I struggled with my art education. After studying in Florence, Italy, I determined to fill in the missing foundation to my drawing and painting skills. At the Art Students League, NY, NY, I studied under Nelson Shanks. His rigorous teaching methods instilled in me the foundation I was missing. Knowing that these skills are rarely taught at any art educational level, I desired to share these skills with others.
 
I opened About Face Classical Art Instruction Studio in 2004, currently The Oblong Studio of Art, and have successfully trained numerous students ranging in age from 7 to 70. It consists of a six stage learning process that I'm eager to share with you!

Stage I
The quickest way to establish an understanding in drawing is to work with simple subjects, (i.e., the cube, sphere, cone, etc) and to work with charcoal in a re tractive manor. With this method the student begins to exercise his or her ability to see and quickly render the subject with ease.

As the student improves and refines their ability both visually and with the use of their tools, the subject matter should progressively become more complex, progressing from simple geometric form to the complex, and from non-organic to complex organic form. It is very satisfying to see the rapid improvement of ones skill. 

Stage II
Once the student is able to quickly establish proportion, values and the sense of space, and with more complex subject matter, they are ready to translate these skills from charcoal to tonal paintings or grisaille: Stage II

Grisaille is often used as the under painting of classical art. In this stage the student transfers their skills established in Stage I to working with paint and brush. This is accomplished through working with a combination of the following: 96% Burnt Siena, 2% Ultramarine Blue and 2% Titanium White oil paint and the humble bristle brush. This process utilizes the white of the canvas for its highest values and often results in beautiful works of art once the student adapts to this new medium.

Stage III
I have recently introduced a new stage of tonal painting which can either be approached with black and white paint or blue and white. In either case the student begins working with the opacity of white paint for the lights instead of the transparencies of the canvas in grisaille. This is an critical transition to stress the importance of transparency and opacity in the artistic process. Very often painters who miss this process will paint oil paintings that resemble water color paintings. This is a terrible mistake and easily avoided by implementing the simple lessons established in Stage III

Stage IV
Once the student is working comfortably and consistently with tonal painting using transparencies and opacity, it is time to introduce them to the wonderful world of color. Of utmost importance is the understanding of the minimal primary palette: Red, Yellow and Blue. This particular stage may only be of short duration depending on the students previous experience with color use, but it is essential in establishing simple color theory which lays the ground work for more complex concepts introduced in latter stages.

Stage V (The Ah ha! Stage)
Color Theory is best explored through the study of the three complimentary palettes of: red and green, yellow and purple, and orange and blue. Without this natural framework, students are often overwhelmed with the endless possibilities presenting them on their palettes. The mysteries of color theory are easily explored in this critical stage of learning. This is perhaps the most exciting and most gratifying stage of all. It is the "Ah ha! Stage" worth all the effort and time spent to get here. 

Stage VI
Now that the student is familiar with the painting process the natural question is: "What will I paint, or what will I say?" At this point I no longer place before the student ideas to explore. It is time to express oneself. Some students easily implement this stage throughout the earlier stages of learning, and that is heartily welcomed. These ones are eager to express themselves; others need encouragement and direction. It is the all important stage of self expression and exploration; like a young child who has learned a few speaking skills, the student is challenged to paint a picture worth at least 50, or perhaps 100...no, let's make it a 1000 words!