Still life study in oil.

Watercolor study.

Still life study in oil.
“The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found, it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it.” - Gustave Courbet

The Academy’s painting curriculum includes two important mediums – watercolor and oil paint. Still life is the best way to start the painting experience (as well as drawing) because it is much simpler in form and color than the human body. The Academy believes that using water color is the best way to begin the painting experience within our academic curriculum.

Watercolor demands a sort of partnership between the painter and the medium and helps to develop sensitivity and aesthetics. Oil on the other hand, requires to be told exactly what to do and needs more knowledge and experience from the student. The first year‘s painting studies are done in watercolor and gouache, whereas, all the other years are committed to study oil – the king of all painting mediums. Academic painting combines tonal and color studies, etudes (short studies) and long studies of still life, the nude model, costumed model, portrait and nature. Composition is an important part of the creative process and is studied by advanced students at such time as they are equipped with acquired skills that let their creative juices flow.