Here are some examples of topics covered at previous educational conferences
Making It Look Real
Ever have a student ask you what’s “wrong” with their drawing, and you didn’t quite know the answer? Take this workshop to discover how to control proportion, value, and perspective while learning how to identify and avoid common mistakes students make that destroy the illusion of believable space.
Drawing Secrets of the Old Masters
Do you want to learn and teach the drawing secrets of the Old Masters? Participants will learn technical drawing skills by working from a 19th century drawing course. Lesson plans that feature technical drawing skills will accompany the instructor demonstrations and hands on portion of the class.
The Modern Atelier: Skill-based Training in Visual Literacy
Atelier training is a new movement. This curricula of training is skill-based and seeks to develop a sensitive, artistic eye and methods of representing nature that pre-date Modern Art. The subject matter includes all the traditional categories in Western Art: figurative, landscape, portraiture, and still life painting. This class will describe “a day in the atelier” and the value of this kind of art education for anyone seeking a career in art.
Why Copy? Introduction to a Bargue Plate
Charles Bargue was instrumental in creating a late 19th century drawing course. Bargue believed that when students copied drawings by trained artists, that their own observation skills significantly improved. Additionally, Bargue believed that drawing from antique sculptures taught design and taste to budding artists, so many of his copying plates show these subjects. Students can still learn a great deal from these copying plates today. This lesson is designed to teach the drawing concepts of the envelope, line, and value in order to produce a technically solid copy of a Bargue plate.
1. The two Bargue plates in this lesson plan are already broken down into steps for students to follow. 2. Show the original envelope that Bargue started his drawing with, as well as a few, big, major, straight lines of the subject.
3. Show a more fully developed block-in drawing that again uses big, major, straight lines.
4. Show a rendering of the subject with a clear organization of values.
5. Notice that in the shadow portion of the Bargue plates that there is no area lighter then the darkest
area of the light portion. Notice in the light areas that there is no value darker than the lightest area of the shadow areas. This maintains the value organization of the Bargue plate.
Adopting 19th Century Techniques in the 21st Century: Ways to Teach Form, Value and Line From the Flat
This class will assist you in building confidence in your drawing ability using proven skills-based instruction. Through this course you will better hone your understanding of value, form and line. We will use the drawing plates of Charles Bargue (a 19th century academic artist) to teach several skills in drawing: value, form and line.
Making It Look Natural
Have you ever had a student ask you what’s “wrong” with their drawing, and you didn’t quite know the answer? Take this workshop to discover how to control proportion, value, and perspective in order to create naturalistic artwork. Learn how to identify and avoid common mistakes students make that destroy the illusion of naturalistic artworks.
Nature's Design
Nature’s Design During the Renaissance, observing design from nature was considered to be the most essential skill that an artist was expected to learn. But what types of design were observed, and how can they be applied to contemporary artwork? Come to this hands-on workshop to learn about nature’s design and how it can be taught in K-12 classrooms.
Literacy and Art: Unknown As Inspiration
Participants will se up a master copy from “The Jeune Femme,” a lithograph from the Charles Bargue drawing course. The lesson is designed to teach how the subject of the plate has inspired artists and writers since the early 1900s, and how copying drawings improves students’ observational skills.
The Modern Ateliers: Skill-based Training in Visual Literacy
This lecture will describe “a day in the atelier” and the value of this kind of art education for anyone seeking a career in art. The curricula of this training gives students 1:1 weekly contact with a living master who teaches through demonstration, 1:1 critique, and skill-based instruction.
