Realism vs construction(a guide to choosing the right art education)

[hummel1dane]

Could be interesting to know more about that state academy. Especially now when the standard in Russia and rest of eastern Europe has dropped.

The only thing I've heard about chinese students is that after so many years of hard discipline they end up with the ability to draw everything from life to minute details, fast and with perfect technique - but they have no imagination!
Is it true?

The roots of the Russian system are french and italian schools of renaissance technique(around 1720). Yes we are VERY lucky that they didn't stop teaching the classical stuff in the 20th century!

Mydrako, those are amazing paintings! I definitely will look into that guy.

[JS Neo]

hummel1dane I heard that China has school that churn out brilliant artists technically but then the china's standard of living is rather low in some area that these artists are forced to work in "factory" that reproduce works of art for sale. Hence the lack of freedom in thought and imagination. There is that rare few that "made it" beyond being a copyist. There is one taiwanese, Yim Mau Kun, who is quite amazing, and he studied in Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art. You can check out his works here and he has some books too on drawing.

http://www.yimaukun.com/english/index2.html

forsaken dreams I am not surprised the china trained teachers draw and paint the same way as the russian. Their system of training supposedly came from Russia. Probably thats why they sell all these books about russian taechings.

[hummel1dane]

Updated the list.

Now included :

Articles about academical education :

La Academia dei Desidorosi: A Pre-cursor to the Nineteenth-Century Academy (http://beardedroman.com/?p=342)

Léon Bonnat (French, 1833-1922): The First Classical Realist? (http://beardedroman.com/?p=367)

Books about the old academies and stuff :

Life Class: The Academic Male Nude 1820-1920 (Paperback) by Stephen Boyd (Author), Edward Lucie-Smith (Author) (http://www.amazon.com/Life-Class-Aca...f=pd_rhf_p_t_3)
The Nude in French Art and Culture, 1870-1910 (Hardcover) by Heather Dawkins(Author) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0521807557?...89&camp=211189)

Supplies for the artist

Models of human anatomy (http://www.3bscientific.com/)
Models of human anatomy (https://www.biovere.com/)
Real animal bones for animal drawing (highly recommended) (www.animalskeletons.net)

E-books that costs money....

The Sculptor and Art Student's Guide to the Proportions of the Human Form By Dr. Johann Gottfried Schadow(http://figure-drawings.com/artstudentsguide.html)
The Art Student's Guide to the Bones and Muscles of the Human Body and Lessons on Foreshortening By Dr. Johann Gottfried Schadow (http://figure-drawings.com/bones-and-muscles.html)

[hummel1dane]

Highly recommended anatomy dvds :

There are 6 dvds in the series, however, the artist will probably only benefit from the first 5 (the last covers internal anatomy)

These are the dvds you need if you want to master the human body and you don't want to perform your own dissections.
This is serious stuff, from a doctor who is an expert in anatomy, everything is covered. You will get to understand HOW the human body REALLY looks - not the artificial and incomplete illustrations you see in artistic anatomy books.

If you EVER want to learn how to draw the human body like an old master, you either have to attend REALLIFE dissections, or get these dvds...

The movement and function of bones and muscles is covered, as are veins, blodvessels, joints and ligaments (you can't find joints or ligaments covered in ANY artistic anatomy book) You'll also see the location of fadpats.

In short, if you are serious - GET THESE DVDS!!!

Dvd 1 upper extremity (http://www.amazon.com/Aclands-DVD-At...d_bxgy_b_img_b)
Dvd 2 lower extremity (http://www.amazon.com/Aclands-DVD-At...ref=pd_sim_b_2)
Dvd 3 trunk (http://www.amazon.com/Aclands-DVD-At...d_bxgy_b_img_c)
Dvd 4 Head and neck part 1 (http://www.amazon.com/Aclands-DVD-At...ref=pd_sim_b_3)
Dvd 5 Head and neck part 2 (http://www.amazon.com/Aclands-DVD-At...ref=pd_sim_b_3)

I've made an index of the first 3 videos and beginning of the 4.

Aclands anatomy dvds

Video 1

Part 1 :
1:40 Bones (clavicle, scapula, humerus and joints.)
5:50 Movement
7:00 Humerus
8:00 Movement
10:00 muscles of shoulder
14:0 Scapula muscles (seratus aneterior, trapezius, rhomboid pectoralis minor, levator scapuli
18:00 pectoralis major, lattisimus dorsi, deltoid
22:00 Vessels and nerves

Part 2

39:00 Arm
41:10 Bones, humerus, radius, ulna
44:20 Joints elbow
47:50 hand joints
49:30 Bones of hand
51:30 Joints of hand
54:50 muscles of elbow, brachialis, biceps, brachioradialis, triceps, anconeus
59:10 muscles of lowerarm pronator teres, pronator quadratus supinator, bicpes, palmaris longus, extensor carpi

nerves vessels

Part 3 (the hand)

1:17:40 Bones of hand
1:19:00 Joints
1:25:00 Bones and joints of thumb
1:28:00 Pullers, flexor retinaculum, extensor retinaculum
1:32:00 Extensor mechanism
1:35:30 Muscles of hand, flexor digitorum profundus, flexor digitorum superficialis
1:39:00 Muscles of extension, extensor digitorum extensor digitiminimi, extensor indicis
1:41:00 Long muscles of thumb flexor pollicis longus
1:50:00 Skin, fingernails

Video 2 Lower extremity

1:50 Pelvis, femur
6:20 ligaments of pelvis and femur
7:10 Joint
8:50 movement
11:20 muscles, short rotaters piriformis
12:50 obturator int. Ext. Etc.
15:20 adductors, abductors
17:41 Gracilis
18:50 muscles of hip joint, gluteus
20:00 fascia lata, iliotibialtract
21:50 flexors, psoras major, iliacus
23:30 rector femoris, sartorius
24:10 quadriceps, sartorius
25:30 gluteus medius, harmstring muscles
28:00 gluteus maximus
28:00 movement anti-gravity
32:00 inguinal ligament
33:00 femoral triangle

nerves vessels

Part 2 knee

46:00 bones, femur, tibia, fibula
49:00 patella
50:00 joints
54:40 movement
55:00 patella joint
56:00 capsul
58:30 muscles of knee joint
59:30 quadriceps
1:01:40 movement
1:03:10 adductor canal
1:04:10 flexors, harmstrings, movement
1:05:20 popliteus, plantaris, gastrocnemius

nerves, vessels

Part 3 lowerleg ,foot

1:15:00 Bones movements
1:17:00 joints
1:20:20 tcn joints, more bones
1:23:00 movement eversion inversion
1:24:00 deltoid ligament, calcenea ligaments
1:26:00 retinaculum
1:28:30 muscles of lowerleg
1:29:30 tibialis anterior
1:31:00 gastrocnemius, soleus, plantaris
1:33:00 calceneus tendon, archileis tendon, movemen
1:34:00 deep fascia
1:35:00 fibris, transvers septum
1:38:00 tibialis posterior
1:39:20 peroneus brevis, peroneus longus, peroneus tertius, movement

nerves vessels

1:52:00 rest of food, bones
1:55:00 joints and ligaments
1:56:40 plantar aponeurosis
1:58:00 mp joints
2:02:40 extensor hallucis longus, extensor digitorum longus
2:05:00 action of extensors
2:06:00 flexors
2:09:00 small muscles
2:12:00 muscles of big toe
2:14:40 muscles of little toe
2:16:00 plantar fascia
2:26:00 skin

Video 3 Trunk

2:00 Spine bones
8:30 movement of cervical bones
10:30 movement of lumbar bones
13:00 : sacrum
15:00 intervertebral disks, ligaments
22:00 bones, ribs, muscles inner, rotator
24:40 erector spinae
26:00 movement
26:40 neck, splenius, longissimus, semispinalis
37:00 front rib
38:00 sternum
42:00 ribjoint
43:00 1. ribjoint
52:0 breathingmuscles
56:00 intercostals
58:00 scalene muscles
1:00:20 rectus abdominis muscles, transversus abdominis, external obl.
1:22:00 breasts(skin/fat)
1:24:00 abdomen
1:25:30 pelvis
1:32:00 inguinal ligament
1:33:00 muscles, erector spinae, quadratus, lamburum, psoas major, iliacus
1:39:00 rectus abdominus, ext. Obl. Transversus
1:45:00 ext. Obl.
1:47:00 movemen
2:10:00 Pelvis
2:17:40 obturator internus
2:19:00 coccygens, cevatorani

Video 4 Head, neck (partly)

Part 1

1:00 bones of skull
9:10 atlas and axis(spine bones of head movement)
11:00 cervical vertebrae and difference.
14:20 other bones
16:00 ligaments
26:00 muscles, fine movement of head, rectus capitis oblique capitis
27:20 longus cervicis, longus capitis, weak flexors
28:00 3 scalene muscles(elevating upperribs, deep inspiration)
29:00 semispinalis(extension) splenius(rotation) levator scapuli, trapezius(upper part)
31:40 Sterno Cl. Mastoid

[hummel1dane]

Here are some screenshots from the first dvd.

[hummel1dane]

More anatomy!!!

For you anatomy freaks out there I just found a working online version of Gray's anatomy (if you look up muscles at wikipedia the photos are usually from Gray's anatomy!!)

The link :

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2536371/An...the-Human-Body

The drawings from Gray'ss anatomy show all muscles of the body including their origins and insertions.

[hummel1dane]

With what has been said in this thread it may seem as if the french academy of the 19th century was a perfect institution. This is not the case.
There were shortcomings in the education, and those shortcomings were the main reason they had such a strong focus on copying the works of renaissance masters(as well as ancient greek and roman statues)

What they lacked in the french academy was the exact understanding of the proportional systems of the past.

In short there are two ancient systems of determing idealist proportions in figures(as well as buildings)


* The geometrical system of ancient Egypt/Greece/middle ages.


* The musical system of Pythagoras



The geometrical system of ancient Egypt/Greece/middle ages.

The first system has always been viewed as the most perfect. It evolved over a period of thousands of years.
It is also the most complicated and most secret. It was taught within strict secret societies(Egyptian priesthood/Greek priesthood, Christian secret societies(knights templar?).)
To breach the code of secrecy resulted in instant assassination.

This system did not use numbers(measurement), it relied on geometrical symbols and design alone.

This system was used to determin proportions in statues, buildings, and objects. It was used in the egyptian pyramids, as well as greek temples, ideal greek statues, greek pottery design, some roman temples, and later in the gothic cathedrals. Perhaps in the composition of medival wall paintings as well.

This system died out sometimes between the end of the gothic building period in the late middle ages and before the beginning of the renaissance.
A fraction of it did survive, and can be found in the design of church portals, as well as in the composition of paintings.


The musical sytem of Pythagoras.

The use of the musical system of Pythagoras(the divition of the string using harmonic ratios such as, the octave ½, the fifth 3/2, the fourth 4/3 etc.) in figure design was made popular by the greek sculptoris Polykleitos.
Perhaps Polykleitos was denied initiation into the sacred and secret societies of the time, and thus took Pythagoras as his guide. He thought of numbers and harmonic ratios as expression of the divine.

This system of numbers and harmonic ratios was later rediscovered by the renaissance artists. Most famous of these were Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, Michelangelo. etc.

In architecture this musical system was perfected by Palladio and Alberti. At that time it was the norm to study musical theory alongside architecture.

This system was questioned in the age of enlightenment(1700-1800) and most likely abandoned(in the name of reason and logic).
Thus proportion and design was now entirely the choice of the artist, and was judged by the feeling it avoked. This was the birth of aestheticism and the modern understanding of art.


Back to the french academy

However, with the birth of romanticism and neo-classicism sometimes in the end of the 18th century there was a renewed interest in the ideals and "art" of the ancients and this lead to the situation in 19th century french academy -

* They believed that the achievements of the greek and renaissance artists were the "ideal" art

* They didn't have a clue of how to attain this ideal(the systems of proportion)

Thus all they could do was to copy the works of ancient masters and try to magically recreate this "idealism" in their own work.

In the later part of the 19th century they slowly abandoned the quest for idealism and started to focus exclusively on realism. In 1905 Bonnat became the head of the academy - (he didn't give a damn about idealism.)

Fortunately enough, today we have a wealth of information about the old proportional systems - I can name a few books(there are a thousand more) -

The secrets of ancient geometry and its use, Tons Brunes
Sacred geometry, Robert Lawlor
Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks
Albrecht Dürers notebooks
Architectural princicples in the age of humanism, Rudolf Wittkower

[Jasonwclark]

I’ve had Bouguereau on the mind lately, since his work came up quite a bit in JM’s Color Theory class, and this thread seems as good a place as any.

I know this all been hashed out before at length, but I think its entirely possible that Bouguereau's work will always have a lasting appeal for at least two groups of people (despite whatever else might happen) - straight men and people who like angels. Likewise, it’s probably equally possible that straight women, and people who don’t like angels, will always find it somewhat distasteful. That may sound messed up when I say it, but to divorce his work from the sexual element and pretend that it isn’t influencing anything, is kind of just being dishonest with ourselves. I can say with some confidence, that if it were a bunch of nude men swinging around in the forest instead of young women, the painting would not hold the same interest for me. I might still appreciate it in other respects, for a quality of stillness, or levitation, or something of that sort, but would it really command my attention for an hour like 'Les Oreades' or ‘Evening Mood’? Probably not.

When I look at a Russian figure drawing of an elderly man’s nether regions, I don’t say to myself “damn that’s gorgeous!” before any other thought enters into play... So, in an important respect, its easier to see what’s actually happening in the drawing, (or to put it into the Loomis formulation: to see what I specifically like/dislike about ‘how’ something is drawn, as opposed to ‘what’ it is.) I don’t think its at all odd that something like this should happen, its really the same sort of thing as Degas having an immediate appeal to people with an interest in dance. If you enjoy the Ballet, there’s a strong chance you’re going to enjoy Degas, independent of what’s actually going on with the paint. You just have that immediate in, which someone with no experience of dance might miss. Of course we know that what’s going on with the paint is the whole point, and that he certainly tackled subjects beyond dance, but that might still take a back seat to other considerations, when the interest/disinterest in the subject matter is strong enough.

Its always easier to be analytical about something when you’re more detached from it, when the impact and the analysis is happening on an intellectual level instead of an emotional one. They say for example that Rembrandt has a way of becoming more relevant and powerful with age, whereas someone still preoccupied with youth might not see it, and thus be more critical of his work. Bouguereau too, is expressing himself as much in his choice of subject matter as he is in the execution, so it seems hard to separate the one from the other.

One of the things that worked well since the time of David, is for art students to choose a role model from a master of the past. One with whom the student has a temperamental affinity, regardless of subject matter.

I find this interesting as well - I heard that Goya once said we each get two masters. We can learn from many more, but two will always stand out from the rest in terms of influence and adoration. He claimed Velasquez and Rembrandt as his. I always thought that was a cool idea, that we each get two shades from the past to help guide us along the way. He never mentioned anything about enemies though...

I wonder if we each have a pair of malevolent ghouls chasing us around as well, always trying to trip us up and confuse us.
Billy B the Zombie, and some other undead goon out to get Maxine. Or my own personal nightmare staring Duchamp and Rothko.
Aim for the head!




Anyway, thanks for the great read here -
5 stars for sure

[forsaken dreams]

I’ve had Bouguereau on the mind lately, since his work came up quite a bit in JM’s Color Theory class, and this thread seems as good a place as any.

I'm curious what aspects of Bouguereau's work came up in the class?

I know this all been hashed out before at length, but I think its entirely possible that Bouguereau's work will always have a lasting appeal for at least two groups of people (despite whatever else might happen) - straight men and people who like angels. Likewise, it’s probably equally possible that straight women, and people who don’t like angels, will always find it somewhat distasteful. That may sound messed up when I say it, but to divorce his work from the sexual element and pretend that it isn’t influencing anything, is kind of just being dishonest with ourselves. I can say with some confidence, that if it were a bunch of nude men swinging around in the forest instead of young women, the painting would not hold the same interest for me. I might still appreciate it in other respects, for a quality of stillness, or levitation, or something of that sort, but would it really command my attention for an hour like 'Les Oreades' or ‘Evening Mood’? Probably not.

I think it's very over-simplistic and narrow to reduce all of Bouguereau's work to "naked women" and "angels". With the number of naked cherubs in his paintings, you might as well add that Bouguereau's paintings would attract men or women with a sexual affinity to chubby, naked babies also.

Many of Bouguereau's themes feature Greek mythology and religious matters, which of course is often populated by young virgins, angles, cherubs, satyrs, nymphs and other assortments of creatures.

In my experience there have been many more men than women who are attracted to his work due to his sometimes "sappy" and over-sentimental/over-romanticized themes.
Perhaps some viewers may find his content offensive if they are easily offended by nudity, but I would hardly call his paintings sexual. Off the top of my head, I would think of more modern works by an artist such as Boris Vallejo or Luis Royo.

There is a lot to admire in Bouguereau's work, from his treatment of mythical subject matter, to the posing, treatment of light, to his technical skill with flesh and cloth.

For me if it were a bunch of well painted men with Bouguereau's level of draftsmanship and skill, it may capture my interest for far longer than a group of nude women. Pectorals, abdomens, biceps and other muscles are amazing when done well. And for a nude man not to be painted with yet another shriveled penis, or modestly covered with some composition breaking twig, now that would be a wonder to behold.

As a guy I've seen more than my fair share of both nude men and women, but I will notice and admire if a portion of the body is well executed in a painting/drawing and would definitely study it in detail regardless of the gender.

It would be curious to find out how cultures with less of a hangup about nudity and sex would view Bouguereau's work.

[Elwell]

I know this all been hashed out before at length, but I think its entirely possible that Bouguereau's work will always have a lasting appeal for at least two groups of people (despite whatever else might happen) - straight men and people who like angels.

And foot fetishists.

[Jasonwclark]

Yeah, I was being intentionally crass and overreaching with my generalization just for emphasis.

There are many reasons why I like him that go beyond what I said above. But I also think Maxine and Hummel1dane are both justified in feeling the way they do, which is why I thought is worth throwing my two coppers into the well.

I'm curious what aspects of Bouguereau's work came up in the class?

It was mainly to do with the foundations of light stuff he was talking about in the beginning; value, temperature, and things of that sort. Asked point blank - Manley said that Bouguereau was one of his favorite artists, if not the favorite, because of his figure work and the way he handles the interaction between light and flesh. I don't want to go into it too much, but you should definitely check out the class if you have chance. It was well worth the cost, and think he's going to do it again next month if there's enough interest.

Anyway, sorry if I threw this one off the tracks a bit there.
Someone needs to follow up with more Reilly or Michelangelo, so the conversation doesn't drift too far afield.

[JS Neo]

hummel1dane Those video really look too gruesome for me. I cant stomach it haa...Guess I know why i never take an interest in being a doctor.

Originally posted by Jasonwclark
Anyway, sorry if I threw this one off the tracks a bit there.

I dont think u are going off track that much. I find that point on choosing two master quite an interesting, though it is really hard to choose just two.. I think I need to reexamine my own likes and inclination and narrow down what sort of painting excite me.

And I think the discussion over Bourgeareau will go on for generations. His works really leave a lasting impression on people thats for sure, for good or for worse.

Btw, I just got a few of the chinese books on Russian drawings I mentioned earlier in the thread. When I have time, I will take picture of a few pages and post it here. I must say, they are gorgeous. They are full of energy and unity at the same time.

I have a questions for people here. We sort of know where to learn how to draw the figure. What about the most important aspect of art, design, composition, picture making? Are there any system to learn it. For me, this aspect of art is the most abstract and intangible, and hardest to learn in my opinion. Maybe the very nature of it makes it hard to create a systematic process to learn it, but I have not seen a "system" for learning it. We all know all the masters have great compositional skills but where and how did they learn it?

[forsaken dreams]

Yeah, I was being intentionally crass and overreaching with my generalization just for emphasis.

Haha, well I admit I've always wanted to get down and dirty with Bouguereau's angels, satyrs and purple thistle plants

It was mainly to do with the foundations of light stuff he was talking about in the beginning; value, temperature, and things of that sort. Asked point blank - Manley said that Bouguereau was one of his favorite artists, if not the favorite, because of his figure work and the way he handles the interaction between light and flesh. I don't want to go into it too much, but you should definitely check out the class if you have chance. It was well worth the cost, and think he's going to do it again next month if there's enough interest.

Cool, I thought about it, but am a bit short on funds currently and am not sure about how basic or repetitious the class would be. For the masters of flesh, my favorites are Bouguereau, Sargent and Rembrandt. They paint human flesh in a way that looks like you could reach out and squeeze it! I guess those would be my top 3 I look to for figure anyway. Having only 2 masters seems much too limiting for me Especially since no artist is a master of all subjects, one really has to look towards different artists for figure vs landscape vs etc, etc.

[PieterV]

hummel1dane Those video really look too gruesome for me. I cant stomach it haa...Guess I know why i never take an interest in being a doctor.

Might add this too, it's less... explicit.
http://www.visiblebody.com/

[lena murray]

Excellent forum, thank you guys. However, there is no need of reinventing the bicycle. The Repin Academy is still around and carries all of these traditions. It is somewhat true, that the level has been going down since many of the major studio heads who were in their 80-s have passed away, but the place has all the resources including the anatomy room, the drawings of the former students (many of them are on this forum) on view in the classrooms, in the academy museum. And there are still many young teachers in their late twenties who are real virtuosos when it comes to academic drawing. Here is a video of the academy which I have on my page of the russian version of facebook. Hope you guys can view it. There are now three students from America who are studying at the Repin Academy, two of them studied at Bridgeview in New York for many years before going there.

http://vkontakte.ru/video9768849_129671344

[hummel1dane]

Thank you for your post, but I couldnt get the video working!!

Comparing the paintings from the Repin with those of other academies today, they still seem to be more rough. Is this just artistical preferences?

Im at Angel Academy myself at the moment, and I know that they only uses top quality products and that they paint many many layers and uses a lot of different varnish techniques and etc. (I dont know much, havent made it to the painting program yet...)

Could you really learn the exact same techniques at the Repin?

[lena murray]

I apologize about this video. I guess you need to be a member of vkontakte.ru to open it. This is the Russian version of facebook. Unfortunately I could not find it on youtube. If anyone could tell me how I could download it, it would be great.

Hillem1dane: About your question regarding the Russian paintings being more "rough". Generally the easel painters paint more alla prima, but it is also a matter of personal taste. Those at the restoration department do more of the real glazing techniques. You'd be surprised to see some of their old master copies, some of them could pass for real forgeries. So, if you are interested in glazing, there are professors who teach that. However, they don't even start glazing until the second or third year, I believe. The Repin Academy has the following departments: architecture, sculpture and painting. Painting department has the following specializations: easel, monumental, church and restoration. The first two years all the painters work together drawing and painting from the models. In addition they have their other subjects such as anatomy, perspective, art history, conservation technologies (for restorers, for example) and etc. It is during the third year when they join a particular studio headed by a particular professor. The sixth year is a diploma, one large multi-figure painting based on a subject, usually historical (Russian history is a typical subject). There are many chinese students there and they usually do Chinese warriers, large battle scenes. I will post some photos soon.

[lena murray]

These are some recent student work at the repin academy.

[Jonas Heirwegh]

wow amazing, thx for these pictures! I'm seriously considering to attend the repin academy for a while now. But I heard its hard to get accepted and you also need to learn the language. Do you have more info on how to get accepted?

I really prefer this style much more then the angel academy's style. There is much more feeling to it, more structure.

[lena murray]

Yes, I have all the information about how to get into the academy and I'd be happy to share it with everyone. Just don't want to get too tedious here, so if anyone interested, just write me a personal message. Language is not a huge problem, since language courses are part of the program. Currently the academy has a lot of Chinese and Korean students who are learning Russian at the same time as taking the art classes.

[JS Neo]

To be frank, I was hoping you can write the information here so that everyone have access to it! I am sure alot of people would want to know mroe about the school frmo someone who have went before. I might be interested in the future (if my life situation permits it), so it would be good to know more information first. Thanks !

[Jonas Heirwegh]

Yes, I have all the information about how to get into the academy and I'd be happy to share it with everyone. Just don't want to get too tedious here, so if anyone interested, just write me a personal message. Language is not a huge problem, since language courses are part of the program. Currently the academy has a lot of Chinese and Korean students who are learning Russian at the same time as taking the art classes.

You could make a new thread about the Repin Academy. I'm sure alot of people want more info on it because there is little know on the internet.

[hummel1dane]

Yes you could just post all of it here, that would be great! You could also make a new thread about the Repin, or do both!

[lena murray]

Yes, I will write about the academy here soon, just need a little time, since it is a lot of information.

[lena murray]

I decided to write this in several emails. My computer tends to lock up a lot lately. Anyway, here are a few samles of work done during the entrance exams by two of my friends. The figure drawing did not get a really high grade, but she did better on her portrait and composition. I will be posting compositions in the next posts hopefully.

[lena murray]

1. Passing entrance exams.

Entrance Exams take place every year in July and last for about one month. I will concentrate here on the painters's exams, since probably this is what this forum is about. So I will omit Sculpture and Architecture.

Those applying for easel painting have to complete the following assignments: Portrait and Figure Drawing, Potrait and Figure Painting and two compositions (one on a given subject one on your own). Each assignment is given about 16-20 hours. Illustration students are allowed to use watercolor instead of oil and restoration students have to make an old master copy instead of composition.

[lena murray]

Even to be allowed to take the exams applicants have to have a high school diploma and a portfolio of figurative work from life (not from photographs). The admission committee selects perhaps 500 students to take the exams. These students are competing for about 150 seats. Most of the Russian students come from three year art colleges or from specialized art schools (like the academy has its own boarding schools for children). Those two girls whose work I've posted both completed 3 year colleges. For one of them it was her third attempt (the first year she was not even allowed to take the exams) and for the other girl was a second attempt (she came from a better college).

These girls are Russian citizens who compete among themselves. Their education is completely free of charge, and they even get free painting supplies once they are accepted.

For the foreign students it's a little bit different. Foreign students are competing only among themselves. Foreign students do pay for their education at the academy (about $5,000 per year), but they have fewer seats than the Russians. Like in each group of say 10 students there would be 3 foreigners. So, in some way the competition among the foreigners is tougher, but also their level is not as high as among the Russians, so it is good that they compete only with each other.

[lena murray]

How can foreign students be allowed to take entrance exams?

A few years ago the Academy started a preparation course for the perspective academy applicants. This is the course that I took myself even though I was not going to apply to the academy because of my family situation. My friends whose exam work I've posted were also taking this course even though they already graduated from an art college.

The Russians and international students are split into separate groups. There are much more international students taking the preparation courses, so their groups are somewhat larger, up to 30 students per class. Their schedule consists of 2 hours of drawing and 3 hours of painting five days a week from October to June. They finish right before the entrance exams. The first month they work on casts and still life settings, and then it's all portrait and figure. Last year tuition was 500 euros a month, it's probably the same this year.

To get into the prep course you need to send a CD with images of your work. They are not too strict about accepting students into the prep course, since this is their money-making group. But, every few months the committee of the academy professors comes and grades the work. If you get two bad grades (which are 2s) you can be expelled. Also, it is a good opportunity for the applicants to expose themselves to the committee and get noticed, since these are the same people who grade at the exams. In addition to drawing and painting, students work on composition (theme-based). This is mostly homework which is brought to class and then presented for grading. Composition is probably the most important part of the exam because it really shows the applicant's personality and all of his technical skills since it's done without any models or props (all from memory).

Currently the majority of the prep course international students are from China and Korea. There is a handful of europeans. That is why europeans and americans might be given some preferential treatment just because right now they are a minority among foreign students.

I welcome any of your questions and I can help you to make the connection with the foreign students administrator. He does not speak English so I have served initially as an intemediary.

Like I said before, currently two of the Bridgeview students from New York are the academy students (both have done the prep course), and the third one from California is joining the prep course this year (conceptart connection).

I forgot to mention. The prep course also includes 3 hours of Russian every day.

They don't care very much how good your Russian is if your art skills are good at the exam. Many chinese and korean students who have been there for 6-7 years and have graduated speak very bad.

The actual degree program at the academy is 6 years, the 6th year is the diploma project (multi-figure composition).

[Jonas Heirwegh]

Thank you so much for the info. I'm really considering this. Especially if you can take a prep course first, would be so awesome.
The guy from California joining in, are you talking about Francis Vallejo?
http://francisvallejo.blogspot.com/2...institute.html

Anyway few questions...

- I assume all the lessons are taught in russian right? but how will foreign students understand what the professors are saying in the first few years when you are still learning the language?

- Also what didnt they like about the figure drawing that got bad grades?

- How about living in st petersburg? Is it expensive, does the school help you find a place to rent? How are the average rent prices?

- Do you get alot of individual guidance from the professors or will they rarely give you personal critiques?

- last one. Do you have more work from beginning students as well as more advanced students. If you do have alot of work you can always put it in a rar file and upload it to my rapidshare account so its easier then to manually upload every image. I'll email you if like to upload it to my rapidshare account.

Thx in advance!

[lena murray]

Hi jonas,

1. about images of work. I have tonns, a whole disk full of photos, they are huge. They were taken during 2007-2008 end of semester grading from many of the painting studios. Images are several mb each, so what do I do to upload? You tell me.

2. Yes, it is Francis Vallejo who is going to petersburg to join the prep course.

3. At the prep course they have a Chinese interpreter since most of the students speak Chinese, not much help for Europeans and Americans. The teachers don't speak much. Basically they go from student to student and correct their drawings and paintings. They do all of the teaching by drawing a diagram in the corner of your sheet. Actually this is how they teach the Russian students as well. It is so clear that no need for words, believe me. Also, some younger teachers do speak some limited English.

4. The teaching style at the academy is personal critique only. They go from person to person correcting everyone's work. Believe me, they work really hard. In Russia in general there is no such thing as lecturing, unless it's a lecture-type of class like art history or perspective study. It is all totally hands on. Also, they always bring the examples from the Fund of the best work done before you as demonstrations. These examples are very specific, like if your setup with a female figure is in the blue color harmony scheme, they will hang a painting of a similar or even the same model in the same color scheme.

5. The figure drawing grade was not so bad, just average. I guess, compared to other applicants' work it was not as good. I personally see some problems with it like not being treated enogh as a whole, the head is done sort of separate from the body.

6. Living in St. Petersburg. There are dormitories at the academy, they are cheap, but the conditions aren't great, very crowded rooms. Also, I think they are hard to get into, but you can ask once you decide to go. Commercial rents are not bad right now. Our american students are sharing a large 3 bedroom apartment right near the academy for about $1000, so each pays about $300 a month. Because of the crisis ruble is much lower now than a year ago. If you are willing to live on the outskirts of the city, you can probably get your own place for about $500 a month, may be less. Basically, I put Francis in touch with our guys and I think they are helping him to get a place. You should speak to him.

I think that's about it as far as your questions. Also I have a page on the bridgeview site from the prep course that I took. http://www.academicart.com/repinnew.htm

My friend Sveta, whose work from the exam I posted in my previous message is featured on that site, but that was the year when she did not get in. Actually, none of these girls whose work is on that page got in the first time, but some of them did get in the second time.