Mid Week Peek at Garrett Vitanza's Rubens Master Copy Workshop

The two week Rubens master copy workshop at ARA, Boston began on Monday.



Instructor Garrett Vitanza has spent months researching the methods of the Flemish Baroque painter, Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640). He started the workshop with a lecture on Monday morning, after which students got to work on one of three copies:

Portrait of a Man

Two Satyrs

Study of two Heads





Here are a few shots from the workshop (with more to come!).

A few closer in progress shots:

Garrett is working on a demo in class:

Brian MacNeil's Plein Air Workshop

I walk through the Boston Public Garden each day on my way to ARA. This weekend I was especially excited to do so as Brian MacNeil was holding his two day Plein Air Workshop.




Early morning on Day One I found Brian and his group of students surrounded by paparazzi (not pictured).

The forecast was for thunderstorms but thankfully the clouds only produced a few small sprinkles.

Day two and the umbrellas were up, but not for rain drops. It was sunny from start to finish.

On my way home, late afternoon, the workshop was winding down. For some students, this was their first go at plein air painting and they are inspired to do more of it!

End of the Year Student Evaluations

In 2012 we added a new facet to our program : end of the year student evaluations. For four days, the faculty met with each student to critique his or her work. Students were invited to bring in outside pieces, but the largest portion of the critiques centered on this year's figure drawings from the model room.

With all the pieces together, side by side, the faculty assessed individual progress while also identifying regressive tendencies. This made it easy for the faculty to set student goals for the coming year.

Garrett discusses a portrait study with Siri.

Cindy surveys Julie's work

Garrett critiques a piece of Julie's outside work.

Julie displays her early work. What progress!