Academic education system
Education at the Imperial Academy of arts lasts 6 years. After graduation we get a diploma of specialist. The Russian education system has bachelors, masters and specialists.
6 years of education are divided into a few stages: 1st-2nd years in one group of 15 students, 3-5 at the workshop of about 30-50 students, 6th year- in the special studio for diploma with about 5-6 classmates.
For 1st year students there are about 5 workshops, where 2 teachers work, one for painting and one for drawing lessons. And 5 more studios for the 2nd year. Students have to change teachers and studio in the 2nd year of study. It is not allowed to choose in which studio and group to study for the first two years.
So one master teaches painting and composition, another -drawing. This is for each workshop.
There are different purposes for first-years and sophomores.
Students work more on portraits in their first year. The year of education is divided into two terms: from October to January and from February to June.
First-years draw head and shoulders portraits in the first term. They study anatomy, draw the skull from 3 different angles. And in parallel with this draw a model from 3 different angles, too. To feel the construction of the skull in a real model’s head.
Portraits are quite simple at the beginning. Backgrounds are plain and monochromatic. Masters use different colours for backgrounds: yellow, red, blue or green and etc. In order to let the students learn how the background colour influences on the skin tone, what complementary colours appear.
The main purposes are: composition of the subject within an artwork, colour and tonal relationships. In addition, students are always trying to reflect the character of a model. And it’s a success if they can.
An absolutely necessary phase of work is the creation of sketches before starting work with the canvas. This is what every teacher at the academy will require from students.
Students learn how to achieve those main purposes in their future artwork while they are creating sketches. The same situation with drawing, the only difference is that there are no colour relations.
In the second term students purposes are starting to become more complicated. The artwork sizes increase from about 50x60 cm up to 1 m high. Now they paint “portraits with hands” and draw heads from more complicated angles, in perspective.
Teachers decide on what techniques their students will work on their drawings. One requires more delicate and constructive drawing, the other teaches more tonal and expressive techniques.
In the 2nd year students change their teachers and workshops, but stay in the same groups. The main focus in the second course is on studying nude. In one term students paint and draw several nudes and portraits.
The painting and drawing techniques which students learn depend on the preferences of the teachers. But main goals are the same for everyone at the academy: learning how to compose well, how to make accurate tonal relationships, and create colour harmony, using warm and cold colours.
My master taught me to use natural colours like white, ivory black, ochre, English red, cobalt blue and so on. There are many recipes, each artist has his own.
The main purposes are: composition of the subject within an artwork, colour and tonal relationships. In addition, students are always trying to reflect the character of a model. And it’s a success if they can.
An absolutely necessary phase of work is the creation of sketches before starting work with the canvas. This is what every teacher at the academy will require from students.
Students learn how to achieve those main purposes in their future artwork while they are creating sketches. The same situation with drawing, the only difference is that there are no colour relations.
In the second term students purposes are starting to become more complicated. The artwork sizes increase from about 50x60 cm up to 1 m high. Now they paint “portraits with hands” and draw heads from more complicated angles, in perspective.
Teachers decide on what techniques their students will work on their drawings. One requires more delicate and constructive drawing, the other teaches more tonal and expressive techniques.
In the 2nd year students change their teachers and workshops, but stay in the same groups. The main focus in the second course is on studying nude. In one term students paint and draw several nudes and portraits.
The painting and drawing techniques which students learn depend on the preferences of the teachers. But main goals are the same for everyone at the academy: learning how to compose well, how to make accurate tonal relationships, and create colour harmony, using warm and cold colours.
My master taught me to use natural colours like white, ivory black, ochre, English red, cobalt blue and so on. There are many recipes, each artist has his own.
In the 3rd year, students choose a master who will teach them for the next 3 years, and then will be the diploma advisor. And then the students change their workshops for the third time. Now the 3,4 and 5 years students work together in one big studio.
There are easel painting and monumental painting workshops at the academy. Each of them has a different specificity of education. I will talk about the studio I studyed in- Y. Kalyuta’s workshop.
Teachers stage about 5 setups with models for the whole class. 3 and 4 course students can work on the same setups. It can be nudes, models in costume or in their ordinary clothes. 3rd year students work on 80cm in high canvases, 4th- on 120cm high. And there is an individual setup for the 5 year students. It’s more complicated, there can be 2or 3 models. They work on the canvases up to 150-160 cm high. All setups are created by the master and assistants, they change them once in a month.
There are easel painting and monumental painting workshops at the academy. Each of them has a different specificity of education. I will talk about the studio I studyed in- Y. Kalyuta’s workshop.
Teachers stage about 5 setups with models for the whole class. 3 and 4 course students can work on the same setups. It can be nudes, models in costume or in their ordinary clothes. 3rd year students work on 80cm in high canvases, 4th- on 120cm high. And there is an individual setup for the 5 year students. It’s more complicated, there can be 2or 3 models. They work on the canvases up to 150-160 cm high. All setups are created by the master and assistants, they change them once in a month.
Techniques
In Kalyuta workshop they respect vibrant and clear oil painting. And they teach students to use big brushes and work confident and quickly, like alla prima, with big amount of paints on brush in order to make painting more fresh, colourful and picturesque. More expressive. They show different tips to make the painting surface more interesting. For example, different ways of applying paints to skin and clothes. For backgrounds and costumes, you can use liquid paint, mostly mixed with thinner, so that even if it runs it's fine, but thicker, impasto strokes can be applied to convey skin color, smoothness of the skin.
In Kalyuta workshop they respect vibrant and clear oil painting. And they teach students to use big brushes and work confident and quickly, like alla prima, with big amount of paints on brush in order to make painting more fresh, colourful and picturesque. More expressive. They show different tips to make the painting surface more interesting. For example, different ways of applying paints to skin and clothes. For backgrounds and costumes, you can use liquid paint, mostly mixed with thinner, so that even if it runs it's fine, but thicker, impasto strokes can be applied to convey skin color, smoothness of the skin.
Composition
Compositional tasks practically do not change throughout the entire training period. Students simply gain their experience by working on composition with teachers. Each semester, students are given three themes for composition. They can choose. They may complete one painting by the end of the semester or more. Once a week, all students at the workshop bring their composition sketches and lay them out on the floor. Then teachers give them some advice. Everybody can see how the compositions develop during the semester from sketches to the final piece.
Compositional tasks practically do not change throughout the entire training period. Students simply gain their experience by working on composition with teachers. Each semester, students are given three themes for composition. They can choose. They may complete one painting by the end of the semester or more. Once a week, all students at the workshop bring their composition sketches and lay them out on the floor. Then teachers give them some advice. Everybody can see how the compositions develop during the semester from sketches to the final piece.
Drawing
In big workshops (there are 6 at the academy) the drawing is taught by other teachers and assistants. On the final exhibition at the end of each semester there is an independent drawing commission which judge only students’ drawings. They almost don’t cooperate with painting teachers. They create their own setups and organise the studying process as they find most appropriate. They rarely comment on the students’ paintings which they can see hanging on the walls as they enter the studio.
For the 3rd year students drawing lessons start from “portraits with hands” and nudes in a more static poses.
Gradually, the tasks get more difficult. Like 2 figure drawing for the 4th year students, and 2 figure nude-for 5th. Lying nude figure drawing is the task for all 4th year students in every workshop at the academy. Drapery study drawing is the task created by V. Mogilevtsev. Every year it is drawn by 4th year students.
There is one more task every student from the 1st year of education must carry out- it’s copying. They start from portraits in the 1st year, then copy figure drawing in 2nd year, and then from the 3rd year the choice depends on the teachers’ tasks. While working on the copy, students constantly show the results to their teachers. And they control the work that needs to be done right. Students work on copying in their free time.
In big workshops (there are 6 at the academy) the drawing is taught by other teachers and assistants. On the final exhibition at the end of each semester there is an independent drawing commission which judge only students’ drawings. They almost don’t cooperate with painting teachers. They create their own setups and organise the studying process as they find most appropriate. They rarely comment on the students’ paintings which they can see hanging on the walls as they enter the studio.
For the 3rd year students drawing lessons start from “portraits with hands” and nudes in a more static poses.
Gradually, the tasks get more difficult. Like 2 figure drawing for the 4th year students, and 2 figure nude-for 5th. Lying nude figure drawing is the task for all 4th year students in every workshop at the academy. Drapery study drawing is the task created by V. Mogilevtsev. Every year it is drawn by 4th year students.
There is one more task every student from the 1st year of education must carry out- it’s copying. They start from portraits in the 1st year, then copy figure drawing in 2nd year, and then from the 3rd year the choice depends on the teachers’ tasks. While working on the copy, students constantly show the results to their teachers. And they control the work that needs to be done right. Students work on copying in their free time.
To the end of the education students need to know anatomy and be able to use their knowledge in drawing people, both in clothing and nude, from any angles. They must to know how to compose any subject within the artwork according to their idea, or a group of subjects, reflect characters and emotions of portrayals.
Then they can use their knowledge in working on the diploma.
Then they can use their knowledge in working on the diploma.
