Students begin by drawing a plaster cast in charcoal, developing their ability to render accurate proportions and value relationships. After students finish a charcoal cast drawing, they are introduced to the fundamentals of oil techniques in grisaille, paint handling, and modeling form. Once this has been achieved, students may progress to still-life painting in oil, working on values, color relationships and composition.
Life drawing is at the core of any serious program of fine arts. In these classes, students draw from the figure in pencil, charcoal, including an option of painting. Each drawing or painting is created over a period of sessions, developing the student's eye for accurate gesture, proportions, and anatomy. With a single sustained pose, students will have the option of either taking one drawing/painting to a high degree of finish or completing several drawings from different positions around the model.
Students will work from a live model in order to produce finished drawings and/or paintings. Students will work in pencil, charcoal, pastels or oils. Capturing a likeness is emphasized. Color and techniques in oil and pastel are covered.
Hybrid Class (Students may attend either in-person or via Zoom.)
Explore your imagination! In this class you will be coached through the imaginative art making process used by many artists for personal and professional commission work: idea generation, preparatory work (sketches and value design, reference, and color studies), and on to a final picture. Emphasis will be placed on intent, and visual narrative. Christine's teaching is tailored to the needs of each student, be it exploring personal themes or creating work for an illustration portfolio. Assignments can be provided by Christine or self generated by students. Students may choose to work in the medium with which they are comfortable (digital or traditional media). The first 4 classes will include lectures on the imaginative art process, composition, and color. During each class, critiques and discussion will be done in a supportive group atmosphere. Work will be reviewed through Google Classroom or in person as needed. To use Google Classroom students will need a Gmail account. This system is for class review of projects only. Email Christine with questions or concerns: cmitzuk@gmail.com
Masks required when COVID-19 community level is high.
The goal of this 10-week course is to sharpen drawing ability and technique. Students will be guided through completing a single drawing from a reproduction in the Charles Bargue Drawing Course. The process will take students from the straight-line block-in to the end stages and subtle finishing. Occasional class exercises will allow students to practice using a variety of tools and techniques. This course is an excellent precursor to sight-size cast drawing and appropriate for all skill levels. Copies will be completed in pencil. Please bring a large 18" x 24" drawing board, HB pencil and kneaded eraser to first class.
Gesture is more than quick drawings, it is integral to the life of a picture. The skills you build through gesture study of the figure can be used in many other types of art, from portraiture, to still life, and landscape. Drawing from live models of different body types, we'll build a practical understanding of gesture by exploring what gesture is, how to see it, and different aspects of gesture including relationships of the parts within the whole, flow, contrasts, and visual narrative through body language. Email cmitzuk@gmail.com with questions and for supply list.
Start your child drawing at The Atelier Studio Program of Fine Arts where they will learn methods for seeing and drawing with information our adult students learn! This program, specially designed for children, moves them through steps to learn how to draw realistically, starting with cartoon characters and progressing to more complex illustrations. This course can be continued just as our adult classes, with students working at their own pace to improve their skills. The use of markers, colored pencils, and paint will be introduced as well as working from a still life.
Materials: Please bring a sketchpad (printer paper will do), an HB or 2B drawing pencil, and a rectractable mechanical eraser pencil to each class.
This six-week course will have one model for every two weeks giving students the opportunity to work on studies or alla-prima paintings. Demonstrations by the instructor will show various ways to start a block-in. Topics such as accurate proportions, perspective, values, and capturing a likeness will be addressed. Students can draw or paint. Color and technique in oil will be covered for those who choose to paint. This is appropriate for all skill levels. Beginners can practice, and those who are advanced can create finished alla-prima portraits. This class may be taken by students age 13 and up.
Materials: medium vine charcoal, kneaded eraser, sandpaper block, 11" x 14" charcoal paper, and a drawing board. Painters: we will discuss what is needed, but bring the essentials (Gamsol, paper towels, brushes, palette, etc.) and at the minimum ultramarine blue and a neutral (raw umber, burnt sienna, transparent oxide red or brown). Supplies can be purchased in the school's store.
Traditional meets digital in this mini course. We will focus on teaching essential skills to use Photoshop as a digital tool that you can use in creating both digital, and traditional art. It can be used in conjunction with your knowledge of drawing and other art fundamentals to work out ideas and create art in many different ways.
The classes will be a combination of presentation, demonstration, and work time. Topics will include working in different color modes for print or on screen, “Frankensteining” your reference, drawing and painting digitally, using a pencil drawing as a base for a digital painting, and more. You will also be given suggestions to continue to practice on your own. About a week before the class, access will be given to registrants to get the files for class. If you have a particular project you wish to work on during this class, please contact Christine: Christine.Mitzuk@TheAtelier.org
Some technical assistance will be available. The class does not include any software or hardware.
Requirements: You must:
be familiar with navigating and using your device
download and open the supplied files in Photoshop before the workshop
have your own laptop or other device that can handle Photoshop (if using a laptop, a pressure sensitive pen tablet is recommended)
have a subscription to Photoshop, or must own a previous version of Photoshop (Subscriptions can be as low as $9.99/month)
be able to connect to the internet using The Atelier's Wi-Fi
Strongly recommended: If using Photoshop on a laptop or similar device, a Wacom drawing tablet or similar is strongly recommended. Christine uses a Wacom Intuos (small size, price starts around $70.00). Some local resources include: Best Buy, Micro Center, Device Pitstop.
Christine Mitzuk has been using Photoshop since the mid 90s, first as a student at the U of MN, then through her graphic design career. She continues to use it as a professional artist and illustrator as part of her traditional painting process and for digital paintings.
Clay anatomical overlay (detail) by James Shoop Resin skeleton and clay anatomical overlay
With James Shoop
Using a 21-inch skeletal armature, you will apply clay muscles to match an anatomical cast. Each muscle is applied in the order which is indicated on three lists provided.
List 1: the lower and upper leg. List 2: the torso, upper arm, lower arm and the hand. List 3: the neck and head.
The lists were designed to be used in conjunction with the anatomy book Anatomy for Artists by Eliot Goldfinger.
This class is an excellent study for the artist who is inspired by the human form. Each student will apply clay to the bone-tinted armature to gain a complete understanding of the relationship between muscle and bone. You will also learn important skeleton landmarks as well as the origin and insertions of the muscles and tendons. The finished sculpture will look like the clay muscle image.
Resin skeletal armature provided and included in the price of the class.
Additional materials required: Two 2-pound blocks of Chavant NSP Medium brown clay, $26. Chavant clay can be also be purchased online.
In this class we will explore how to portray clothed figures and different materials. Learn about underlying anatomy, characteristics of fabrics and fold types, and ways to choose folds from nature to serve the picture. This 14-week class will be broken into three segments, each with a different costume and pose. Using the sight-size method, students will develop a minimum of 3 costumed figure studies. Depending on experience, students are welcome to work in pencil, charcoal, or oil paint. Email cmitzuk@gmail.com with questions.
Masks required when COVID-19 community level is high.
Color I Fall Session: This class is packed with information and color mixing. Bring questions and a curious mind. Using the colors of The Atelier's Paxton Palette, students will create color boards and value scales and explore color wheels. Through these projects students will be introduced to color space, gamut, the attributes of color (hue, value, chroma) and temperature, how to mix colors to different color biases, and why a 50/50 mix does not make a middle value or middle color. The presentations will cover the color wheel as it relates to painting with the Paxton Palette, how we see color, mixing “mud,” some color history, demystifying paint tube labels, and more. Each class is mostly work time, part presentation and discussion. Additional time on projects outside of class may be needed (your mileage may vary). Beginners to color welcome. We will work in oil paint. Please contact Christine if you wish to use other media, have other questions, and for the supply list (cmitzuk@gmail.com).
Color II Winter Session: Deepen your understanding of color and put color theory to practical use. Learn ways to alter chroma, the relative nature of color, color harmony, simultaneous contrast, and more through a combination of presentations, demonstrations, and assignments. Assignments will include color mixing exercises and painting studies from still-life objects and master works. Color I or a basic understanding of hue, value and chroma are strongly recommended. We will be using the Paxton Palette in oil paint.
Class will be in-person at The Atelier.
Due to instructor business travel, no class February 2, 2023.
Masks required when COVID-19 community level is high.
This class will be focused on one-day oil studies of still lifes in color. The student will begin each class with a quick 20-minute sketch of the still life in paint. The remainder of the day will be focused on color mixing, application, and manipulation of paint on the canvas using brushes or palette knives. Each week will be a new still-life setup in order to study new textures, colors and shapes. Studies, especially done in color paint, are the basis of all finished works. This class attempts to give the student more confidence in applying paint to a surface, relieving the fear of making mistakes in paint by making those mistakes and then correcting them. Only through experimentation with application of paint on the canvas do we learn to create different effects. We will also focus on quick adjustments to value, color, and drawing with differing brushes and mixing color on the palette or directly on the canvas. Some experience in drawing is recommended as much of the class will be in paint application and not perfection of drawing skills. All levels are welcome! This class will not be focused on completing a refined, finished piece but for practice, exploration and fun! This class will use only oil paint and not other mediums. Email Cassandra Ronning at cassandra.ronning@gmail.com for questions and suggested supply list.
This class, for beginning and continuing students, covers traditional watercolor methods. Both layering of colors and wet-in-wet techniques are taught with emphasis on composition, value, and color mixing. Students learn by doing master copies and then applying the techniques learned to their own works. Lots of instructor demos and critiquing are part of this class. This class will be taught online on Zoom.
Students will paint a new study each week working from the figure. Working from a new pose each week will give students many opportunities to study gesture, anatomy, proportion, value and color! Instructors will guide the student to achieve a complete figure, starting by drawing and progressing to blocking in with paint while striving for accuracy in proportion. All students will begin in black-and-white value for the first two classes progressing to color based on skill level and student preference. Throughout the class topics to be discussed will include value structure/form, some anatomy, color mixing/ relativity, and understanding temperature. Different exercises will be presented throughout the class to focus on these topics.
This class is tailored for young artists ages 13 and up. Students will be taught methods to accurately put down in charcoal or pencil what they see in nature drawing from a plaster cast or still life. A perfect class for friends to take together or teens and their parents.
