TOOLS & RESOURCES

Designed for advanced students who have completed the Drawing Program, this course provides essential skills and knowledge about techniques and materials used in oil painting.

• Introduction and Preparing Supports
• Imprimaturas and Underpainting Techniques
• Brushes, Palette Knives, and Mark-Making Techniques; Oil Paints
• Psychology for Artists
• Contemporary Figurative Artists You Should Know
• Uses of Photoshop
• Marketing for Artists
• Professional Practices – Presenting, Framing, and Pricing Artwork
• Guest Artist Talks

This course is recommended for students who have completed the Drawing Program. It focuses on the process of constructing landscapes using oil paint. Through various observation methods, students will learn to meticulously analyze composition, perspective, color application, and more, aiming to capture the essence of nature as authentically as possible. This course provides an excellent opportunity to apply different resources in a dynamic environment, where students are challenged to adapt their knowledge to diverse scenarios.

Objectives

• To infuse compositions with emotion, expressiveness, and depth.
• To enhance observation skills and execution speed, resulting in dynamic landscapes.
• To master various perspectives in both natural and urban settings.

Please note that materials are not included. On the first day of the course, there will be an introductory session at the Academy where instructors will explain the course and the materials needed. For the rest of the 10-week term, every Friday from 10 am to 2 pm, teachers will select different locations in Barcelona or its surroundings for painting sessions.

Course for advanced students who have completed the Drawing Program.

This course is focused on color theory and its practical application. Students will learn to select colors, analyze different palettes, to mix and match them. They will also complete practical exercises and learn the most important shortcuts and tips to quickly find the optimal color for each brushstroke and immediately analyze its compatibility with the rest of the composition. The course also teaches students to prepare their own oil paintings, and how to organize and handle them on the palette.

In-depth knowledge of paint as a material and the composition of each color are essential tools for the artist to have flexibility and confidence when painting. For this same reason, this course will also focus on the study of the different types of materials, supports, oils, mediums, and brushes.

The Sculpture Portrait course focuses on the process of constructing a three-dimensional portrait with clay, employing a live model for reference. Students will explore diverse observational techniques to master proportion, gesture, and internal structure, to capture the essence of the individual being portrayed by aiming for likeness and expression.

This course takes place once a week on Fridays from 2 to 5 pm, featuring a live model who maintains the same pose throughout the term.

The trimester spans 11 weeks, but during the last week, known as "Casting Week", students learn to make molds of the sculptures they have created during the trimester.

Clay is included; however, tools and other necessary materials are the responsibility of the student. A detailed list of materials will be provided along with the confirmation email.

The expressive drawing course provides students with a unique chance to explore their personal artistic expressions.

With a live model present, students experience a more dynamic and stimulating drawing session, trying to swiftly and accurately capture the human figure. Short poses, lasting either 2, 5 or 10 minutes, are used in artistic drawing to refine observational skills, execution speed, and spontaneity in strokes. Within this time-constrained environment, students learn to make quick decisions and rely on their artistic instincts.

Through a variety of activities, including free drawing, experimentation with colors and shapes, and exploration of emotional expression, students develop not only their artistic confidence but also their ability to communicate ideas and emotions through art. They embrace mistakes as opportunities for creative growth, fostering a sense of trust in their intuition.

Upon completing the course and returning to the academic drawing program, students bring with them a fresh perspective, enabling them to approach artistic challenges with greater innovation.

Course for beginners. Figurative art implies that the artist knows and dominates the representation of the shapes and characteristics of the human body to perfection. For this, excellent knowledge of the human anatomy is essential to explore the surface of the body and to identify and recognize the bone structure, as well as the muscular and carnal morphology of the figure for the perfect conceptual understanding.

Aims

• To understand the skeletal and muscular structure of the human body: parts, connections, and structure.
• To identify the morphology of muscular masses
• To understand the shape of the human body in a conceptual way.

Course material

Artistic Anatomy, by P.M.L.P. Richer and R. Beverly Hale is recognized as the best anatomy book since the Renaissance. The original 1889 edition was used by Renoir, Braque, Degas or Bazille. The English edition, first published 35 years ago, brings the great 19th century master of artistic anatomy, Dr. Paul Richer, together with the most renowned 20th century master of anatomy and drawing of the human figure, Robert Beverly Hale, who translated and edited the book for the modern reader.

Course for beginners. In order to represent objects and figures as realistically as possible, the effects of light and shadows on them must be understood. In this subject, the student will learn the techniques that create the lights and shadows that can be observed in nature. By controlling the light, this allows more freedom and precision for creation.

Aims

• Understand, identify and know how to place different tones and reflections of light on a specific object and its surroundings.
• Know how to put light in any space, on any type of medium (drawing or painting, traditional or digital) and any kind of work (still life, human figure, portrait, etc.).

The History of Art course will examine works of art produced by different artists over time, prompting observation of the distinctive and influential characteristics of each period. This is a journey that will begin in the 15th century, moving on to the 20th century, with artists who stand out for having revolutionised a specific period in history.

As the course progresses, students will not only refine their ability to describe works of art and discern their style and historical context, but will also develop the skills to interpret them through critical analysis. Beyond simply defining art and its various forms, the aim is to acknowledge its dynamic evolution and empower students to articulate their own artistic creations with greater clarity. This involves understanding the underlying concepts and influences that shape their work, gaining a deeper appreciation for the complexities of artistic expression.

The Human Figure Modeling course focuses on working from a live model, with poses in contrapposto as they are most suitable for understanding anatomy and the variation between relaxed and tense muscles. Students must grasp the sense of the pose by stepping back and comparing their work with the observation of the model to scale, in order to adjust measurements coherently.

Special attention will be given initially to the overall impression and the precision of proportions and gesture before addressing modeling techniques and additional details. To achieve this, calipers will be used for precise measurements and tools such as sticks or other practical utensils to indicate essential reference points, serving as a guide to construct the rest of the figure. The first step will involve understanding the relationship between the pelvis and the thoracic cage.

Sessions last for 3 hours per day. Part-time students have the option to choose between attending 2, 3, or 4 days a week, and can select the schedule from 10 am to 1 pm or from 2 pm to 5 pm.

The trimester spans 11 weeks, but during the last week, known as "Casting Week", students learn to make molds of the sculptures they have created during the trimester.

Clay is included; however, tools and other necessary materials are the responsibility of the student. A detailed list of materials will be provided along with the confirmation email.

From the Renaissance to the late 19th century, the canons of classical antiquity generated admiration, establishing in the works of this period the standard to follow for new artists. In the training of these artists, the study of plaster copies of classical sculptures became indispensable as a vehicle for cultivating good taste.

At the Barcelona Academy of Art, students in this course use clay to copy a series of plaster molds in order to refine their manual and visual skills, analyzing proportions and contours.

Each session lasts for 3 hours. Part-time students have the option to choose between attending 2, 3, or 4 days a week, and can select either the 10 am to 1 pm or the 2 pm to 5 pm schedule.

The trimester lasts for 11 weeks, but during the last week, known as "Casting Week", students learn to make molds of the sculptures they have created during the trimester.

Clay is included; however, tools and other necessary materials are the responsibility of the student. A detailed list of materials will be provided along with the confirmation email.

Drawing the human figure is an essential part of the Barcelona Academy of Art's curriculum. The Human Figure Long Pose exercise lasts for 3 hours, in which the same model is used for 3 or 5 consecutive weeks. The model is always in the same position, and the student always works from the same easel throughout the exercise and until the end of the designated period.

The drawing will first be done in pencil and later on, the student will start practicing with charcoal. Working with charcoals of varying thickness allows the student to study a wide range of different types of values to create a naturalistic representation of the figure.

The Long Pose exercise allows the student to observe the model accurately in order to analyse and deeply understand their figure. This exercise also allows the student to acquire the necessary knowledge to know how to choose the most important features when drawing poses of shorter duration.

Important: In order to be able to move on to the Painting program, it is essential that the student has passed all the exercises corresponding to the Drawing part.

Each session lasts for 3 hours. Part-time students have the option to choose between attending 2 or 4 days a week, and can select either the 10 am to 1 pm or the 2 pm to 5 pm schedule. The trimester lasts for 11 weeks.

Please note that materials are not included. A detailed list of materials will be provided along with the confirmation email.

Bargue Plates (ideal for first registrations): In this first part of the Studio Programme, students must first complete the exercises in the Bargue Plate Drawing programme, from Charles Bargue's Cours de Dessin created in collaboration with the Great Master Jean-Léon Gérôme. The plates are grouped by skill level, and the teaching is structured in such a way that the student acquires deeper and deeper knowledge as they progress through the exercises.

The Sight-Size method is a useful tool in the initial phases of the programme to introduce students to the taking of measurements, the study of proportions, gesture, shapes and the detection of the shadow line. As the student progresses through the syllabus, they should work on taking measurements by comparison whenever necessary. By studying the contours, the student acquires a high level of precision along with the ability to simplify with just a few lines, to gradually approach the complete representation of the shape. Charcoal makes it possible to work with precision and acquire extensive knowledge of values. To introduce these concepts, the tones are reduced to cloudy shapes and three tones are highlighted: light, medium and shadow, to demonstrate how light and shadow patterns show forms. This gives them extensive knowledge of the gradations of colour values.

Once this first phase has been completed, the students continue their studies with the Cast Drawing Programme. Casts are plaster copies of classical and Renaissance figures also included in the Cours de Dessin.

The white surface of the cast allows the student to study and interpret the shapes without yet having to worry about the complexity of colour values and textures. Through this exercise, the eye is intensively trained to accurately see and reproduce nature, as well as to grasp a deep understanding of the mechanics of light and contours.

Each session lasts for 3 hours. Part-time students have the option to choose between attending 2 or 4 days a week, and can select either the 10 am to 1 pm or the 2 pm to 5 pm schedule. The trimester lasts for 11 weeks.

Please note that materials are not included. A detailed list of materials will be provided along with the confirmation email.