Figure Drawing, the Academic Method
At The Florence Academy of Art, skill in drawing is considered fundamental to perfection in painting, sculpture or other art forms. This course is designed to strengthen the student's visual relationship with three-dimensional form, allowing him to confront the human figure, and eventually to paint or sculpt with accuracy. Students are introduced to the academic method of figure drawing, employed by the major Realist ateliers of 19th century Paris, best exemplified by Jean Léon Gérôme and the French Academic tradition. They are taught to use the sight-size method of measurement, which trains the eye to view the subject with accuracy in order to reproduce it successfully. Throughout the course, students will apply this method of measurement to the human figure. Students will learn to copy 19th century academic drawings (produced by Charles Bargue upon request of Gérôme) and plaster casts of antique and Renaissance statues, focusing on outline, proportion, shadow shape. They will work from the live model everyday for 3 hours. Poses range from one hour pencil drawings emphasizing line, to long poses lasting three hours per day for several days to obtain a
fully finished, accurate drawing. Together with the instructor, the student participates in selecting a pose.
Class times: Monday-Friday, 9:00am-12:00pm or 2:00pm-5:00pm. Art history lectures and museum visits.
60 hours full instruction in English, all with the model. Maximum enrolment: 14. Cost U.S. $ 2,350.00.
Approximate cost to student for materials: $ 150.00.
Studio location: Via Ugo Foscolo, 6 a short bus ride from the Duomo and the train station.
Painting the Figure in Oil
Students begin to paint the figure in grisaille, a beginning exercise designed to eliminate the complex problem of color and concentrate on accuracy in drawing and anatomy, the handling of paint, and the accurate observation of light and shadow values. The course moves quickly to a limited palette, allowing students to explore the phenomenally broad range of color effects in the human body, now focusing on color harmony and unity of light. Class discussions and museum visits include anatomy and an introduction to the history of figure painting from the Renaissance to the present. All students with a background in drawing the figure are welcome.
Class times: Monday-Friday, 9:00am - 12:00pm , Studio location: Via Fratelli Bandiera 7/r or
Monday-Friday 2:00pm - 5:00pm, Studio location: Via delle Casine21/r.
60 hours full instruction in English, all with the model. Art history lectures and museum visits.
Studio access 9:00am-9:00pm. Maximum enrolment: 14. Cost: U.S. $ $ 2,350.00. Materials not included. Approximate cost to student for materials: $ 200.00.
Portraiture, Techniques and Traditions
Portrait anatomy and structure are studied from various points of view, with particular attention paid to the anatomical construction of its parts, ear, eye, nose and mouth. Groups of three work around one model from a variety of viewpoints: profile, full front, three-quarter, reconstructing both the anatomy and the psychology of the sitter. Here the study of expression is undertaken to convey mood and personality. Students may choose to work in charcoal or oil.
Class times: Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm, Studio location: Via delle
Casine 21/r or Monday - Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm, Studio location: Via Fratelli Bandiera 7/r
60 hours full instruction in English, all with the model (3-4
students per sitter). Art history lectures and museum visits. Studio access 9:00am-9:00pm. Maximum enrolment: 12 in via delle Casine and 16 in via Fratelli Bandiera. Cost: U.S. $ $ 2,350.00. Materials not included.
Approximate cost to student for materials: $ 200.00
Still Life Painting
“… why should the earnest student overlook the simplest and most thorough way of acquiring all the knowledge of the craft of painting and drawing, the studying of inanimate objects, still life painting, the very surest road to absolute mastery over all technical difficulties. Once learned it applies to all painting, all drawing…”
Emil Carlsen, Palette and Bench, 1908
Simple objects are made transcendent by exquisite stagecraft and technique. Still life painting is a unique genre in its own right with a long history of richness and variety as well as being a training ground for other forms of painting. The workshop covers the issues of composition, drawing, values and color through the vehicle of making a modest scale still life painting in oil. Studies are executed in both charcoal and oil paint. Students work in an environment of natural north light, utilizing the methodology of The Florence Academy to create a uniquely individual Still Life developed in a step by step approach: selection of material, composition, charcoal sketches, value and color studies, preliminary painting and final paintings. Students also learn about supports for painting, pigment selection and the fundamentals of color mixing, the use of mediums, the sight-size method of drawing, and the use of basic tools for drawing and painting. Aside from general information, all instruction and critiques will be on an individual basis.
Class times: Monday-Friday, 9:00am - 12:00pm. 60 hours full instruction in English. Art history lectures and museum visits. Studio access 9:00am-9:00pm. Maximum enrolment: 12 (3 students per private studio). Cost: U.S. $
2,350.00.
Materials not included. Approximate cost to student for materials: $ 200.00.
Studio Location: Via Ugo Foscolo, 6, a short bus ride from the Duomo and the train station
Figurative Sculpture
Beginning, intermediate and advanced students of sculpture are welcome to join this intensive course in Figurative Sculpture, designed to further develop the student's ability and understanding of human form and the structure of the human body. Exercises are tailored to meet the various levels represented by students in the class. In beginning exercises, students study the structure of the head, working on a human skull in clay.
This prepares them for sculpting a portrait from life. In intermediate and advanced exercises, students work from life, developing a 1/2 life-size figure and life-size portrait. The fourth week is reserved for casting the student's work learning how to cast with rubber/silicone.
Application procedure: please include a brief description of your past experience in sculpture and include 5 reproductions of your work. Class times: Monday-Friday, 9:00am - 4:00pm. Art history lectures and museum visits.
Studio access 9:00am-9:00pm. Maximum enrolment: 16. Cost: U.S. $
2,425.00
. Materials included except tools.
If students wish to cast their work, the cost is $200.00 per piece.
Studio location: Via Luna, 8/r
Landscape Painting Workshop
The city and countryside of Florence are backdrop to the landscape painting workshop. Students will be introduced to the prismatic palette, and discuss properly keying a picture, grouping of lights and darks, understanding structural rhythms and the importance of balance, contrast, variety and unity. With an Art Historian, the class will visit the Macchiaioli collection of landscape paintings at the Modern Art Gallery at the Pitti Palace. (The “Macchiaioli” were a group of 19th century Italian landscapists who worked during the same period as the Impressionists.) Students will study these fine examples of impressions of the Italian countryside, while discussing what makes a successful landscape. A variety of city and country sites will be visited for 2-5 day sessions in each. Locations will be chosen to emphasize specific challenges and appropriate strategies to sequentially develop the various phases of landscape painting, and vary from open air markets, cloisters, piazzas and the Italian countryside. Students of all levels are welcome to join. Locations will be reached on foot or by public bus.
Class times: Monday-Friday, 8:30am-12:30pm. 80 hours full instruction in English. Evening art history lectures. Maximum enrolment: 16. Cost: U.S. $
2,425.00
. Materials not included.
Approximate cost to student for materials: $ 200.00
Studio Rental
Private studio space can be rented from
June 30 - July 25, 2008
. Cost. U.S. $ 500.00 includes studio access 9:00am-9:00pm, and art history lectures and museum visits.
Housing Assistance
For students who wish to live on their own, in private apartments, the Academy provides a list of English-speaking housing agents; for students who prefer to live in a shared situation with other students on the program, the Academy provides a housing plan.
Minimum enrollment requirement for all courses is 5. Students will be notified if this number is not reached by March 1st. At that time, they will be given the choice of either enrolling in another class, availability permitting, or having their deposit refunded.
The Florence Academy of Art reserves the right to substitute instructors of any course at the last minute or during the session.
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