{"id":38437,"date":"2025-12-05T17:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T23:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themesh.art\/?post_type=learning&p=38437"},"modified":"2025-12-05T17:35:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T23:35:13","slug":"drawing-and-painting-2","status":"publish","type":"learning","link":"https:\/\/themesh.art\/en\/taller-curso\/drawing-and-painting-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawing and Painting"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Student and graduate work is directly affected by the philosophy, teaching methodology, and physical structure of the studio in which it is created. A distinguishing characteristic of The Florence Academy of Art is that we require all our students to work from life under natural north light, in the tradition of the masters of the past whom we admire: Titian, Rembrandt, Vel\u00e1zquez and Sargent, to name a few. Our students do not idly copy their subjects but instead learn to translate nature in a way that is both anatomically accurate and artistically beautiful. Long poses may last three hours a day, five days a week for four or five weeks. This gives students time to work out problems and produce a competent drawing or painting. Natural light allows students to select a specific area of the painting to keep in sharp focus while peripheral areas remain out of focus, just as the eye sees in nature: there are no edges in natural light, but soft gradations of light to dark.
\nThe sight-size method is a helpful tool, and we apply it in the early stages of the curriculum when students are learning measurement, proportion, and shadow shape. Students at the advanced levels are taught to apply comparative measurements when necessary.
\nThe rate at which students progress through the Drawing and Painting Program varies by individual, and normally requires a minimum of three years to complete. Classes meet Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. First year drawing and sculpture students are required to attend Anatomy Lectures which are held on Monday evenings from 5:00 \u2013 7:00 pm. Students attend additional figure drawing class one evening a week. All students are encouraged to participate in the Friday evening Art History lectures and the technical demonstrations on materials & techniques held during the academic year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Students are considered graduates when they have successfully finished all assigned projects. The Florence Academy of Art is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). Students may earn credits towards a U.S. degree.
\nApplicants may request advanced standing upon entry. Faculty will assess and determine the applicant\u2019s level during the portfolio review. Only applicants who have attended similar atelier style schools, and who have completed the same drawing exercises as those required by The Florence Academy of Art Intensive Drawing curriculum, will be considered for advanced standing. Applicants who are granted advanced standing must spend enough time in the Academy\u2019s drawing and painting programs to absorb the principles, methods and ideology espoused by The Florence Academy of Art. Therefore, the last entry point in the curriculum for all applicants, and the first required exercise, is a cast in charcoal and white chalk on toned paper.
\nProgram faculty may concur to waive specific exercises thereby allowing a student to fulfill graduation requirements without completing all of the curriculum\u2019s exercises. This decision will be based on the performance of the individual student and will be monitored closely by the faculty to ascertain that the student has understood the concepts and is able produce work at the standards required by they program.<\/p>\n

Student and graduate work is also affected by the faculty, who are chosen from the best of our student body. Each year, three to five graduates are invited to remain for a fourth year as Graduates in Residence, and as teaching assistants in the Intensive Drawing Program and the Sculpture Drawing Program. Over time, some become Principal Instructors, and eventually Program Directors. The academy is therefore sustained by a group of committed artists whose instructional language is unified by their common background, but each brings his or her individual voice to the critique.<\/p>\n

Ramiro Sanchez, the Director of the FAA\u2019s Advanced Painting Program, says the following about building a student\u2019s skill base:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the program challenges individuals to push their technical ability beyond their perceived capacity, they develop strength of\u00a0character and the confidence necessary to be a professional painter. This helps to create a state of mind in which they are certain of their choices. Our graduates will never stand in front of a blank canvas and feel lost. They will always be able to return to the method. They will never say\u00a0how am I going to do this<\/em>, but rather concentrate on what they want to say, and follow their inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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1st year<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Intensive Drawing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat we do is a craft. You have to start with whatever you\u2019re able to do, then add to it with discipline and exercises. This classical approach is built on practice and building skills. There\u2019s no shortcut.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Daniel Graves, Founder<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Beginning Drawing<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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1st year | 15 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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An established set of exercises focuses on outline, proportion, and shadow shape, on a step by step progression through the program\u2019s curriculum.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Beginning Cast Drawing<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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1st year | 7.5 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Cast drawing combines the skills acquired from the preceding exercises, and sensitizes the student\u2019s eye to the light and values found in nature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Beginning Figure Drawing<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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1st year | 25.5 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The figure is the center of the Academy\u2019s curriculum. Beginning figure drawing applies the accuracy gained from the cast to representing a living model.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Anatomy<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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1st year | 3 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Weekly lectures begin with a discussion of the skeleton and myology, the study of the muscles, then move to drawing exercises with the model.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2nd year<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Intermediate Painting<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe instruction is not only technical. Instructors also talk about choices that must be made when working from life. Why one might leave information in or leave it out. It is a thoughtful process. It teaches students to constantly ask questions about why they are making certain choices, what affect that will have on the final impression of the piece, and if that is how they want their work to be interpreted.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Dana Levin, FAA Alumnus & former Principal Instructor<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Advanced Cast Drawing<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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2nd year | 7.5 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The student is challenged to see and organize value relationships with more sophistication and strategy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Advanced Figure Drawing<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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2nd year | 8.5 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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By decisively organizing and observing value shapes in relationship with anatomical elements, students develop their ability to think as painters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Beginning Figure Painting<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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2nd year | 17 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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A limited palette serves as a manageable base from which to explore expanding degrees of chromatic complexity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Beginning Painting<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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2nd year | 15 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Students attend technical demonstrations and learn to grind their own paint, beginning without the aid of mediums, concentrating on exact mixtures and values.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Recommended Elective:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ecorch\u00e9 Sculpture<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

LEARN MORE<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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3nd year<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Advanced Painting<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAs the program challenges individuals to push their technical ability beyond their perceived capacity, they develop strength of character and the confidence necessary to be a professional painter. This helps to create a state of mind in which they are certain of their choices. Our graduates will never stand in front of a blank canvas and feel lost. They will always be able to return to the method. They will never say how am I going to do this, but rather concentrate on what they want to say, and follow their inspiration.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Ramiro Sanchez, Director Advanced Painting<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Advanced Figure Painting<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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3rd year | 25.5 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Advanced Figure Painting incorporates line, values, gesture, body type and proportion, and also a convincing sense of reality \u2013 anatomy, weight, and flesh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Still Life and Portraiture<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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3rd year | 25.5 credits<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Simple still lifes represent the student\u2019s first opportunity to confront composition, to control the light source, and to create a meaningful expression.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Recommended Elective:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dynamic Ecorch\u00e9 Sculpture<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

LEARN MORE<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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VIEW APPLICATION PROCEDURES<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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