Demonstration Pieces

This week we had our students start their drawings with a twist. Everyone in the class made what we call a Demonstration Piece. At each stage of drawing process (Block in, construct, articulated construct,) the students made tracings so that they could have a record of their progress/process.

These Demonstration Pieces let students spend extra time getting to know and fully grasp each distinct stage of the drawing, while helping to pinpoint any shortcomings that one might have so that it can be targeted for improvement. The final outcome was a series of drawings that chronicled the phases of this particular drawing.

Since these pieces were developed with the purpose of being demonstrated, we posted everyone's work on the wall. One student commented on this saying that it helped him to see what everyone else in the class was doing without having to circle the classroom and hover over easels.

Figure Painting in the New Year

The Academy of Realist Art in Boston started the new year with something different for the students who had up to this point only drawn from the Figure. Fernando Freitas came down from the Toronto school to teach a figure painting workshop. He reviewed all of the steps in the ARA's painting process to any of the students who had already painted in the past. To the students who had never worked in this method of painting before, Fernando blew their minds.

Here is a list of the ARA stages of painting for anyone interested:

Cartoon Drawing

Dry Brush

Dead/Local Color

First Painting (Thick application of paint)

Second Painting (fine blending/refinement stage)

Glazes and Scumbles

Fernando Freitas is the director and senior instructor at the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto and has been working to inspire artists of all ages for the past 15 years. The Boston school always enjoys Fernando's visits because we get a chance to hear his different perspective on the art world and get a taste for his alternative sense of humor.