REAL Academy of Art Colorado

Full curriculum & Part curriculum Study

The REAL Academy's mission is to teach Drawing and Painting inspired by the methods of the Renaissance Masters and adapted to suit contemporary academic training.

The fundamentals of art are taught using the methods that have withstood the test of time.  Each new skill builds on a previous skill that has been mastered.  For example, the direction and use of line in the early graphite work informs the stroke work and handling of the brush in oil painting.  This progressive curriculum can train any student to be a successful oil painter.

The REAL Academy can also can taylor a program for a specific student's needs.  For example, if a student is looking for 3 months of intensive oil painting, a workshop type program can be designed for you.

Students at The REAL Academy of Art begin their training at any time and work at their own pace.  Class size is kept small so students receive plenty of individual instruction and participate in a supportive learning community.

Students can join one of the workshops taught by the instructors. The REAL Academy offers individualized feedback to suit all skill levels. Students will further their insight into the areas of life drawing, portrait, cast, and still life. In addition, the REAL Academy of Art hosts sessions with guest lecturers covering a variety of subject matter throughout the year.

The REAL Academy can address the needs of students, ages 16 and over, with any amount of experience. No portfolio or previous experience is required.

Study options include full curriculum, part curriculum study, and even week long short courses.
Our classes provide artists of all levels with a uniquely simple and logical and contemporary scientific theories based on the integration of arts with a scientific approach to painting and drawing.The instruction will emphasize the mind-set and methodologies that have guided master artists for over five hundred years. We teach time-honored practices that lie at the heart of the world's great masterpieces. Because our goal is to build a generation of good artists, creating opportunities to learn art in line with the nature of this current era.
Our Full curriculum is broken into 4 levels with each exercise being completed at the student's own pace. All students are given one to one instruction and each level is studied fully and mastered before progressing to the next. This way we are sure that every student is not rushed through the content too quickly and they are able to achieve their personal goals. This also allows for flexible study options.
Our Parts curriculum is the same as our full time, but with fewer hours. It may take longer to complete the program but the same high standards of work will be achieved. Our flexible approach to study schedules means that whatever your time limitations or other commitments are, we can find a schedule to suit you.
In order to ensure a high level of accuracy,REAL Academy of Art uses both the sight-size and comparative techniques for drawing and painting. Sight size allows the student to view a model or object from a selected position and execute it so that both visually appear the same size to the artist. Comparative measure uses a system of units to enlarge or decrease an image as perceived by the student. We recognize the benefits of learning both so we teach both methods.

Starting :
The basics are supposed to be practiced first (pencil properly sharpened / properly grasped pencil / trained to organize lines (hatchin and cross hatching shading ) / Training on values scales / Training on shading of simple shapes (geometric shapes) / Understanding how to draw and shading cloth/drape folds.

LEVEL ONE ( Acquire an understanding of shape, proportion. How to apply values to create natural shapes and form )
Bargue Copies/Figure
Drawing in Graphite
Students begin the program by copying a series of prepared lithographs from the Charles Bargue Drawing Course developed in the mid 19th century. These copies, executed in graphite (pencil), help the student to acquire an understanding of shape, proportion, value, and form. Attention is given to the natural behaviour of light over form and how we can replicate this in drawing.
Drawing from the live models is done alongside the Bargue studies.
BARGUE 1
Fully rendered Bargue drawing in graphite (a simple hand or foot study)
BARGUE 2
Fully rendered Bargue drawing in graphite (slightly more complex)
BARGUE 3
Fully rendered Bargue drawing in graphite (building your own construct)
BARGUE 4
Fully rendered Bargue drawing in graphite (using comparative measurement)
COMPARATIVE MEASUREMENT FIGURE DRAWING ASSIGNMENTS
Introduction to Comparative Measurement and beginning stages of figure drawing
Introduction to carbon and charcoal pencil
Fully rendered figure drawing from a sustained (60 hour) pose
ADDITIONAL PROJECTS
Introduction to portraiture

LEVEL TWO ( Understand how controlled light falls across a three dimensional form. )
Cast Drawing/Figure Drawing in Charcoal
The student progresses to working from three-dimensional plaster casts, which is also referred to as working “in the round”. Using vine charcoal, the student will begin to understand how controlled light falls across a three-dimensional form. In addition, it enables the student to translate a three-dimensional object to a two dimensional picture plane, while maintaining the illusion of space. Students are also introduced to the use of sight size-measurement and the concept of “big form modelling.” Figure drawing continues in charcoal.
CAST 1
Fully rendered charcoal cast drawing (simple)
CAST 2
Fully rendered charcoal cast drawing (more complex)
COMPARATIVE MEASUREMENT FIGURE ASSIGNMENTS
Fully rendered 1/2 figure drawing or limb study in carbon
Fully rendered figure drawing in carbon or charcoal
ADDITIONAL PROJECTS
Portraiture in carbon pencil

LEVEL THREE ( Learn the characteristics of the oil medium )
Before you start this stage you must practice the technique of painting in oil color ( how to use oil colors); how to use each type, how to hold the brush correctl,y and how to apply oil paint on the canvas correctly. You must learn the correct media used in oil colors at each stage of the painting ( layers technology). How to put colors on the palette correctly, how to blend colors scientifically and correctly with the knowledge of the attributes of each color of oil colors. There are characteristics that are important to learn at this stage.There are many hallmarks to professionalism. At this stage stuents to learn from special initial exercises and then begin to draw from life.
As follows:
Cast Painting/Figure Painting
The student continues to work from the cast, starting with a monochromatic painting in oils in order to learn the characteristics of the medium and the stages of an academic painting. The element of color is introduced for the second painted cast.
Figure painting is begun with a limited palette.
CAST PAINTING 1
Monochrome painting
CAST PAINTING 2
Limited palette painting
CAST PAINTING 3
Full palette painting
COMPARATIVE MEASUREMENT FIGURE ASSIGNMENTS
Grisaille figure painting
Limited palette figure painting
ADDITIONAL PROJECTS
Master copy painted in oil

LEVEL FOUR ( Explore composition through the arrangement of colour, lights and spatial relationships )
Still-Life/Figure Painting
These skills culminate in the final level of the program, where students begin to explore composition through the arrangement of colour, light, and spatial relationships. Students are introduced to both direct and indirect painting methods to achieve realistic textures, colours, form, and depth. Figure painting is done in a full colour palette.
STILL LIFE PAINTING 1
Red, white and green and varying textures and surfaces
STILL LIFE PAINTING 2
‘Tenebrist’ (high contrast between light and dark zones of illumination) painting with a theme
STILL LIFE PAINTING 3
Painting’s composition incorporates a perishable object (fruits, flowers etc.)
GRADUATION PIECE
The culmination of the techniques and skills gathered by the student thus far. This final painting may be a still-life, figure painting, portrait, or self-portrait, Or choose a painting with a story painted in oils.
COMPARATIVE MEASUREMENT FIGURE ASSIGNMENTS
Classical figure palette painting, working from the model.
The human figure demands an understanding of gesture, proportion, design, and subtle colour. Throughout the course, students consistently work from the live model, first in dry medium and then in paint; the skills learned from the program.