Faigin Atelier

The Faigin Atelier works with a small group of painting students interested in focusing their studio practice on the study of still-life arrangements over the course of a year.

Faigin uses still life as a vehicle to teach the basics of representation, including value, drawing and perspective, as well as paint-specific techniques like glazing, impasto and control of edges.

For more advanced students, studio still-life is a time-honored subject with unlimited potential to act as a stimulus for explorations of composition, color, spatial effects and the perfection of style. No other subject matter offers the artist quite as much control over every aspect of their pictorial effect, and none has as rich and interesting a history.

By designing a studio concentration on this subject matter, you can devote as much time as you wish to creating paintings, without the limitations of model time or weather conditions. A small studio where everyone has the same focus develops optimal conditions for creative interchange and dialogue.

You work toward success in using the still life as a tool for the development of your own artistic voice, creating original, lively pictures that express your ideas and feelings. Additionally the atelier offers an overview of the development of the still life in art history, with an eye to borrowing ideas from the past that have relevance to the present. You also focus on technique and issues of rendering and composition.

 

METHODOLOGY:
Organized using the atelier model developed by the Art Students League in New York, your instructor attends the Faigin Atelier for two half-day sessions a week, while you work work independently the rest of the time on your own schedule. You commit to a minimum of 15 hours a week to your practice beyond the time when your instructor is present. Your instructor may also choose to work alongside his students.

In September, Faigin meets with you individually to set goals for the year, based on a review of your previous work and analysis of your desired trajectory. Your instructor also sets goals for the entire class, with particular months devoted to instructional focus on a specific aspect of the still life.

 

INSTRUCTIONAL FORMAT:
Your instructor is present in the studio two sessions a week. One of those sessions, devoted to a group presentation, consists of a lecture, demonstration, field trip or analysis of masterworks. The other session includes individual critiques or group critiques, reviewing the work in progress. You receive an average of 30 minutes of personal critique time each week.

You are encouraged to devote your still life studies to particular themes, as a way of ordering your work. Possible themes include:

  •     Still life w/self-portrait
  •     Closely grouped colors
  •     Autobiographical
  •     Dutch still-life categories: Breakfast, “feast,” vanitas, floral
  •     Still life with architectural or landscape background
  •     “Monumental” still life

 

STYLISTIC ISSUES:
You are encouraged to explore various approaches to discovering your personal style. Some suggested variations include:

  •     Thick paint/visible brushstroke vs. thin paint/polished strokes
  •     Limited palette vs. exaggerated color
  •     Closed-outline vs. painterly
  •     Simplified planes/values
  •     Amplified spatial recession using blurring, grayed-out colors and values
  •     Chiaroscuro vs. full-light
  •     Panel vs. rough canvas
  •     Large vs. small scale
  •     Different formats of compositions; diptychs; triptychs
  •     Development of thematic and conceptual ideas

 

STUDENTS:
Six students may enroll in the Faigin Atelier. In its first year, application for the Faigin Atelier is self-selecting, although a portfolio review may be required in future years. It is recommended that Atelier students have intermediate to advanced painting experience before registering for this program.

 

DURATION:
You must register for the Faigin Atelier for a minimum of one year. At the end of the first year, the instructor meets with you to assess the efficacy of your continuing in the Atelier for an additional year; this review occurs at the end of each school year. Late spring or mid-summer, all Atelier students participate in a mandatory exhibition of their student work, accompanied by an artist’s statement for each student’s body of works.

[Via Faigin Atelier]

 

School Info
Type: Atelier
Program(s): Full-time
Medium(s) Taught: Painting
Instructor(s): Gary Faigin
Tuition: $4,080 per year
Financial Aid: Yes

 

Contact Info
Email: carol@gageacademy.org
Website: http://www.gageacademy.org/faigin/
1501 10th Ave. East, #101
Seattle, WA 98102
Phone: 206.323.4243

 

Related Links

Wikipedia

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