Studio incamminati ProfeSSional Program curriculum reviSed January 2012 miSSion Statement Studio Incamminati exists to meet the express needs of students eager to learn the aesthetic and philo- sophical principles of humanist realism. Modeled on the traditional Italian academia and French atelier, Studio Incamminati provides a dynamic teaching program to produce highly skilled artists who can call upon their abilities to create art with depth of purpose. We teach artists whose art and teaching will in turn inspire others. As Studio Incamminati progresses, students master the practices needed to develop rewarding careers and lives in the arts. PurPoSeS The curriculum is designed to assist students in developing the essential skills and techniques integral with humanist realism. Humanist realism concentrates on both the human form and soul, producing in the process, art that informs, fulfills, and nourishes society. Thus, Studio Incamminati’s emphasis on skill and technique goes well beyond the faithful reproduction of the object of study. The realism espoused and practiced by Studio Incamminati artists unveils the human condition in its complexity, revealing the human soul and something profound about us and the world we live in. Studio Incamminati strives to create richly meaningful art that will inspire generations to come. The broad aim of the curriculum is to teach foundational skills and is based on the belief that mastery of technique preludes creative expression. Mastery of foundational skills positions artists to be truly creative and communicate the human experience in meaningful ways. The absence of such skills is paralyzing, as it restricts the artists’ ability to convey the world in which we live. Thus, students at Studio Incamminati learn to draw and paint the human figure and still life, work with light and shadow, refine form and shape, and interpret and understand color. While indebted to practices of the Old Masters, the curriculum is dynamic, using the paragons of the past to bring enlightened meaning to the present. The curriculum consists of four successive levels (approximate years), each demanding mastery of certain competencies. Each level is organized in terms of stages. Advancement through the curriculum is contin- gent on demonstrated proficiency in the skills specific to the student’s level. Students who wish to advance will present their work to Studio Incamminati’s faculty for review at the semester’s close. Augmenting the school’s faculty members are guest instructors, and lecturers in art history and anatomy, all committed to maximizing student potential, rounding out their artistic learning experience. Studio Incamminati faculty communicate the essential concepts of the curriculum in their own terms and through their own language. There is no single way to communicate the curriculum, and there is no single way to master the basic concepts. Approaches to teaching vary, and each faculty member maintains their individuality, while remaining committed to the basic concepts. © 2012 Studio Incamminati 1 introduction The curriculum reflects Studio Incamminati’s commitment to artistic excellence in fulfillment of our mission. level one: firSt Stage All Studio Incamminati students begin their experience by learning how to see the human figure in its most basic simplicity. The aim is to “see big” by grasping the whole figure and eschewing the micromanage- ment of form. Students understand the figure as movement, and they must “feel” the energy of the figure. Initially, through a series of short gestural poses, students capture the energy of the figure using charcoal as their medium. Sample of a charcoal figure drawing: the gesture; Jen Hagen, American Artist Drawing magazine, Winter 2010 © 2012 Studio Incamminati 2 As the semester proceeds, the poses are longer. Students exercise a certain freedom in their manipulation of the char- coal. Freedom, however, is not license, and students must main- tain their commitment to seeing the form objectively. Their strokes should be fluid, driven by the kinetic energy of the pose they seek to describe utilizing straight lines and angles. At this juncture, students do not attend to curves. Straight lines and angles best describe the basic armature of the pose, providing the necessary foundation on which to build complexity. The progressive nature of the curricu- Sample of a charcoal figure drawing; lum demands that students first John Flavin, Figure Study, Charcoal on paper, 19 x 25 inches, 2009 master foundational concepts including accurately drawing the basic shapes and separating light and shadow into simple masses before continuing to the next level. Students step back frequently to assess how well they have grasped the energy of the gesture and the major direction or tilt of the figure. Students squint to eliminate details and see the form simplified into large elements, or prominent masses, of the figure. This exercise helps students improve hand/eye coordination and shapes their ability to critically observe form. Development of hand/eye coordination and observational skill mark all phases of the cur- riculum at Studio Incamminati. Students additionally work from still life to develop the ability to see graphic shapes in light and shadow. Still life offers students the advantage of depicting a variety of objects, forms, shapes, colors, surfaces, and textures, while also addressing subjects’ placement in space in relation to the background—all issues rel- evant to realism. At the founda- tional or beginning level, still life subjects consist of simply shaped Sample of a charcoal still life drawing; Barbara Lewis, Value Study, Charcoal on paper, 15 x 10 inches, 2010 © 2012 Studio Incamminati 3 objects in monochrome—the cylinder, the sphere, and the cube. Still life objects increase in complexity as skills progress. As with studies of the human figure, students strive to harness energy and movement in their still life compositions. They use straight lines and angles when beginning a still life drawing, to describe the form as simplified planes, using charcoal as their medium before moving onto oil paint. Students learn about value fields, along with the flow of light across the entire subject. level one: Second Stage In this stage students begin to use a variety of media including charcoal, oil paint and graphite. Having established the basic structure of the pose, students now mass in the figure by defining or chiseling shapes of light and shadow. Here students come to see with eyes squinted the planes of the figure and how they combine to create transitions of value. Values are seen best with eyes squinted. Students learn by squinting they can eliminate detail and see the largest shapes. While keeping the excitement of the gesture, students learn to perceive the figure in the abstract simplicity of light and dark shapes. This “blocking in” is rapid, dealing with the “whole,” not details. At this stage, the studies are developed beyond the two values of light and shadow. Shapes are made more accurate, without developing details. Recognizable features of the figure emerge from the development of abstract shapes. Students create dimensional form by increasing the range of values while maintaining a clear separa- tion of light and shadow. Following the block in of basic light and shadow, focus shifts from the abstract to the creation of the figure. Students develop the figure with simplified planes, Sample of a charcoal figure drawing: block in; each describing different values. Christina Rose, David I, Charcoal on paper, 25 x 19 inches, 2009 As the drawing progresses, shapes of value become more accurate and refined leading to an in-depth understanding of how to build form. The figure is portrayed in its environment, establishing a human form with weight and well grounded in space. © 2012 Studio Incamminati 4 Students are introduced to the management and handling of paint using open grisaille: the use of thinly applied layers of brown paint, a mixture of burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, and titanium white, that serves as a painting’s first stage. Sample of an open grisaille; Darren Kingsley, Open Grisaille, Oil on canvas, 8 x 10 inches, 2008 Traditionally used as an under painting, open grisaille is a monochromatic technique also used to study and capture the shapes of lights and shadows. Using a limited value scale, students build volume and form by painting in shadow shapes and wiping out light shapes with a soft cloth. The canvas’s tone functions as the lightest value. Exercises in open grisaille help students fully convey the energy of the figure while introducing paint handling. Students begin their work with open grisaille by painting the model, both in gestures and short poses, similar to methods of study used during students’ introduction to charcoal in the first semester. The exercise is repeated until the process becomes part of the student’s artistic nature. Sample of an open grisaille; John Flavin, Open Grisaille, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches, 2010 © 2012 Studio Incamminati 5 Along with open grisaille using short poses, students gain basic skills in modeling form through a semester- long cast drawing class. As a type of value study, cast drawing allows students to work longer on a single drawing, developing artistic stamina and mastering complex tonal work. The aim is to establish a strong foundation on which to build complexity. Students must resist the urge to refine the cast without first grasping its foundation. Students strive to see the larger shapes. They must repeatedly look from the subject to the drawing to assess how well they have recorded the object’s lights, darks, and cast shadow. The plaster cast gives the student the opportunity to study the human form for a longer period of time and under a controlled light source, while using an object that has a uniform “local” color— the white cast. The student learns correct shape analysis, how to verify proportion, how to separate light from shadow and how to model form with value gradations.