The Part-Time Atelier Program
Serious classical training, built around your life
The Part-Time Atelier is the most rigorous program we offer. It follows the same progression that has defined classical training for centuries: you draw first, then paint in black and white, then work into color. Each stage builds directly on the last. You cannot skip ahead, and the instructor — not the calendar — determines when you're ready to move.
The program is structured for working adults. Much of the studio work can be completed independently between sessions, with instructor feedback at each class meeting. The exercises are systematic and cumulative. Students who stay with the program and do the work consistently produce results that surprise them.
The progression — and what it actually takes
The outline below describes the stages of training in order. How long each stage takes depends entirely on the quality of the work. Some students move through drawing in a year. Some spend two years on grisaille before their color work is ready. That's not falling behind — that's the program working as intended. Serious training is measured in the work, not the clock.
Drawing — Year One
The foundation of everything. The first stage is pencil drawing: proportion, value, edges, cast drawing, still life, and figure. Most students spend a full year here. Some need longer, and that time is never wasted. The ability to draw accurately is what makes every subsequent stage possible. Students who try to rush this stage pay for it later.
Oil Wash and Grisaille — Year Two
Once drawing is solid, oil paint is introduced. The sequence follows a clear arc: oil wash drawing first — single tone, no color, pure value — then grisaille, which is oil painting in black and white. Grisaille is where most students spend significant time. A full year or more on this stage is common, and it is not unusual to carry grisaille work into a third year while beginning limited color. The value structure has to be genuinely resolved before color is added. There are no shortcuts here.
Limited and Full Color Palette — Year Three or More
A limited color palette is introduced when the grisaille work demonstrates real control of value and form. From there, the palette expands gradually toward a full range of color. This stage develops color temperature, mixing logic, and the ability to translate observation into paint decisions. Students who arrive here having done the earlier stages properly tend to find color less mysterious than they expected.
Design and Composition — Year Four and Beyond
Deeper compositional thinking and design are introduced after the technical foundations are in place. This is where students begin to make more independent artistic decisions — how to organize a picture, how to control the viewer's eye, how to move from study to original work.
Studio time and model time
Every program includes two components that run in parallel: studio time and model time.
Studio time means working from casts, still lifes, and flat copies — the traditional exercises of the atelier curriculum. This is where technical control is built. Most studio exercises can be continued independently at home between sessions.
Model time means drawing or painting from a live model — either the nude figure in long pose or the portrait model. This is where speed, responsiveness, and the ability to work from life are developed.
These two tracks do not always progress at the same pace. A student may complete the drawing requirements in studio work and still need another year of life drawing to bring that skill to the same level. Both matter. Both are tracked separately and progress independently.
What is atelier training?
Atelier is the French word for workshop. Applied to classical realism in art, it describes a method of training that passes directly from master to student — the same way painters learned for centuries in Europe.
In an atelier, students work on projects at their own level of development. The instructor moves through the room, offering feedback at intervals, leaving students time to work. There are no lectures, no slideshows, no group projects. There is the work, and there is the feedback that makes the work better.
Atelier training focuses first on drawing, then value, then limited color, then full color. Our program follows that progression exactly.
Our lineage traces directly to Jacques-Louis David through a continuous line of master teachers. That tradition is alive and active in this studio every week.
→ See our full lineage here
Program schedule and enrollment
Both the Wednesday and Saturday Atelier programs run September through May. Each is a full academic year. The complete sequence from drawing through color takes most students three to four years of consecutive enrollment — longer if they pursue advanced work in composition and design.
Fall 2026 enrollment is open now. Class size is limited. If you've been thinking about joining, September is the right time to start — the program is designed to be entered at the beginning of a year.
Questions before enrolling? Call or text: 267-221-6046 Or email: [email protected]
→ See program options and enroll
We offer various summer classes including Design, Anatomy and Landscape Painting
|
|