Blog: http://angelacademyflorence.wordpress.com/Angel Academy of Art
Dedicated to the Continuance of Classical and Realist Painting
The Angel Academy of Art, is a private institution that teaches drawing and painting in the old master tradition. While this tradition has its roots at least as early as 14th century Italy, the curriculum and the teaching techniques are grounded on those of the 19th century European academies and are the result of over 30 years of research and experiment by the school's founder, Michael John Angel. This successful, step-by-step process teaches the student to thoroughly appropriate the skills needed for representational painting.
M.J. Angel, born in England in 1946, has been painting and studying art since his mid-teens and has himself studied under the great Italian master, Pietro Annigoni. Through Annigoni, Mr. Angel was made aware of the lack of an effective method of teaching in the universities and public art schools. Even in Europe, where some vestiges of the old methods of cast drawing and still life remain, the official schools lack the knowledge to effectively teach Realism and frustrate the student by trying to apply various 20th century concepts to a pre-20th century discipline. At the Angel Academy, on the other hand, the principles involved in these disciplines are found to be concretely describable and, through a series of exercises over a four-year period, the student learns how to master them.
Staff
Lynne Barton, co-founder of the Angel Academy of Art. Ms. Barton co-founded the Angel Academy of Art, Florence, in 1997 with Mr. Angel. She is presently its Director of Admissions and the Angel Academy Annual Summer Workshops Programme.
Michael John Angel is the studio director, senior instructor and co-founder of the Angel Academy of Art, Florence.
Mr. Angel is regarded as one of the foremost classical painters in Europe and North America: his paintings and portraits hang in both public and private collections on both sides of the Atlantic. While he has few peers in portrait painting, where his commissions read like a Who's Who of corporate North America, Mr. Angel's real passion is painting myths and allegories. Currently, he has been concentrating on these, painting murals and altarpieces in a number of churches and villas in Italy, and in private residences in the United States.
Known to his students as "maestro," Mr Angel is considered one of the most inspiring and successful artists in classical and traditional art today.
Mr. Angel has taught workshops at the American Academy in Chicago, in addition to lecturing at the Florentine campuses of several American universities and various private schools in Canada. 1982-1989 Director of the National Portrait Academy in Toronto 1992-1995 the Assistant Director of the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. 1997 Co-founded Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy
Films:
90-minute documentary by Artatak Films of Toronto and Rainbow Films of Florence entitled Annigoni: Portrait of an Artist The Road to Castagno, profiles the work of Mr. Angel (viewed at Cannes Documentary festival and Montreal's 12th Festival International du Film sur l'Art).
Jered Woznicki, senior instructor and the maestro's personal assistant, was born in Chicago. He studied at the American Academy of Art, from which he graduated in 1994. In Chicago, he worked with the noted painter Warren Prindle. Jered Woznicki's art has won various awards throughout the United States, as well as in Italy. In 1999 he took fourth place in the prestigious Florence Biennale, an international assembly of over 500 recognized artists. Mr. Woznicki's work is to be found in private and public collections in Europe and in North America. Although busy with teaching, he works with Mr. Angel on large scale commissions and on his own figure and still-life paintings.
Martinho Isidro Correia, instructor,graduated from the University of Calgary with a Batchelor of Fine Arts in painting, and from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Education in art education. His murals and easel paintings are represented in both private and public collections.
Inga Loyeva Inga Loyeva received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The New World School of the Arts, Miami, and is subsequently a graduate of the Angel Academy of Art, Florence. She has worked as a teaching assistant in both institutions, as well as offering private instruction to students who wished to advance their understanding of the principles of traditional drawing and painting.
Ms. Loyeva has exhibited her work in a range of events across Europe and America. Her most acclaimed show to date was centered on a reconstruction of Caravaggio's Taking of Christ for the city of Odessa, Ukraine, after this masterpiece was stolen from the prestigious Museum of Western and Eastern Art.
Mandy Boursicot Mandy Boursicot is the main drawing instructor for new entrants to the Angel Academy, Florence. She gained her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University in Vancouver, Canada, in 1999. She has been a professional artist since then, exhibiting widely in Canada and internationally. She first studied with Michael John Angel in 2008, and completed the diploma programme in 2011.
The Programmes
The Fundamental Programme evolved from a combination of Mr. Angel's research and that of a number of students of the great American painter, R.H. Ives Gammell, whose pedigree, in turn, goes back to the French Academy. The programme begins with work from a specially prepared set of lithographs, which quickly teach the student the basic skills of accurate rendering (the Angel Academy of Art uses the best set of instructional drawings: that made by Charles Bargue in the 19th century, at the behest of Jean-Leon Gerome. The studio owns many of the originals). With these new-found skills, the student progresses to cast work, first in charcoal, then in oil paint, and from these to still life, the best arena in which to learn colour, texture and the illusion of three dimensions. Work from the live model begins immediately and is central to our programmes.
To acquire the utmost in accuracy and execution, the school uses the venerable 'sight-size' method. Beyond this, the Angel Academy of Art, teaches a system of comparative measurement in which the student learns to incorporate the conceptual with the realistic. This system is unique among modern-day Realist ateliers.
The Graduate Programme comprises two electives: Portrait Painting and Composition, (both Form and Colour). Work from the live model continues.
The Working Studio
Beyond the Graduate Programme is a Working Studio, based on Renaissance and Baroque principles and open to all our graduates. The student works on actual commissions, such as mural panels (figurative and decorative) and portraits (drapery and backgrounds). Angel Studios is unique in offering this on-the-job introduction to the realities of professional painting and the techniques involved in large-scale work. Every so often, the studio creates a show for New York or London.
The studio emphasizes the importance of professionalism for those who intend to pursue painting as a career. Contrary to popular belief, the profession of artist is a very real one; a properly trained painter can expect to earn a salary equivalent to that of a doctor or lawyer. Study with us should be seen as a career investment.
Only half our students are professional trainees, however. The rest are gifted amateurs with a genuine love of this fine old art and a determination to learn how to do it. We welcome them!
The completed curriculum will allow the graduate to confidently approach and overcome the most difficult projects in drawing and painting. Using the skills, techniques, knowledge, and approach that are taught at Angel Studios and the Angel Academy of Art, works of art of the highest possible quality are attainable.
A Final Word
The school's method is that of individual instruction in a group setting. That is, each student is evaluated on an on going basis and advances largely in accordance with the time and effort he or she can invest. Since the programme is a succession of carefully designed projects, a student's prior training and experience do not influence the assignments given; only the speed at which instruction is absorbed. In general, the atmosphere at the Angel Academy is relaxed and convivial. Competition is friendly, and there is an air of support and respect among both students and instructors: their goals are, after all, mutual.
The Angel Academy of Art, Florence, is also pleased to announce its annual Summer Workshops for 2012:
Methods of the Masters: Caravaggio
Instructor: Inga Loyeva
June 18th to June 29th
The painting methodology of the Angel Academy of Art is a culmination of many centuries' worth of old masters' methods. In this two-week workshop, students will gain hands-on familiarity into the techniques of one of these masters, Caravaggio, and the best way to facilitate this is through a faithful reconstruction of a painting-in short, making a copy.
Working from a choice among several high-quality reproductions supplied by the school, students will have the opportunity to thoroughly study how Caravaggio created his extraordinary works. All stages of a painting, from the drawing to the final nuances using glazes, will be discussed and put into practice. Further topics will include: colour, in both it's theoretical and it's practical application; edge treatment; paint quality; the relationship of light to form, and many more.
The workshop will begin with a slide presentation introducing Caravaggio and his work, along with a step-by-step overview of the painting process. Apart from daily working time with both group and individual instruction, several demonstrations will be given throughout the workshop to help illustrate the various procedures.
Inga Loyeva is a principal instructor at the Angel Academy of Art, and a short biography of her can be found in The Faculty section of the Angel Academy of Art's website. She has previously completed a full-scale grand copy of the Caravaggio painting Kiss of Judas for the city of Odessa, Ukraine.
Sight-Size and the Art of Still-Life Painting
Instructor: Martinho Correia
July 2nd to July 13th
TThis unique workshop offers an introduction to two disciplines that provide opportunities for the students to gain a number of valuable skills. After the opening lecture, students move quickly to the studio and prepare their canvas for the project. Work begins with a cartoon from a simple still-life set-up that introduces the principles of sight-size. After transferring the image, the student will be led through all stages of the painting process: dead-colouring, 1st-painting, 2nd-painting and final glazing and toning, all of which will be explained through demonstrations, with group and individual critiques, in 60 hours of studio time.
Early reservations are recommended, as student numbers are purposely limited to allow for a high degree of individual attention.
Painting the Human Figure from Photographs
Instructor: maestro Michael John Angel
July 2nd to July 14th
From Jan van Eyck, through Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Canaletto, Reynolds and Gainsborough, to Norman Rockwell and the present day, painters have always used the best technology available to them. Such technology includes the camera obscura, mirrors and photographs, and is extremely convenient, but it is often used incorrectly.
In this two-week workshop, maestro Michael John Angel will teach the class the proper use of photographs when painting the human figure in oils. The course begins with a few basic exercises and includes various illustrated lectures in proportion, gesture, under-drawing and oil-painting materials. In the main part of the course, each student will produce an oil painting in full colour, using photographs.
Students will also receive various pdf handouts, with illustrations, that encapsulate the method of drawing the human figure accurately. Other pdf handouts will explain the different grounds, materials and mediums used in oil painting and describe the various layers used in a classic underpainting-overpainting oil technique. There is also a one-hour lecture on the proper use of the camera when photographing the model.
Painting the Portrait from Life
Instructor: Martinho Correia
July 16th to July 27th
Painting the Portrait from Life is a two-week workshop that introduces students to portrait painting from life using the sight-size technique. Sargent, Carolus-Duran, Velasquez and many others used sight-size to capture a perfect likeness of their sitters.
The first week comprises drawing and colour studies. During the second week, students will focus on the painting stages. All stages of the painting process will be explained and practiced: dead colouring, 1st- and 2nd-painting, as well as final glazing and toning.
Early reservations are recommended, as student numbers are purposely limited to allow for a high degree of individual attention.
Painting the Live Model
Instructor: Jered Woznicki
July 16th to July 27th
In this intensive two-week workshop, senior painting and drawing instructor Jered Woznicki will illustrate a cohesive step-by-step procedure designed to enhance the student's ability to render the human form.
The first week will be devoted to shorter exercises, chiefly in monochrome, that will serve to strengthen the student's understanding of the gesture, proportion and construction of the figure. The second week will encompass a single sustained pose in which the subtlety of modeling and the delicacy of flesh tones will be addressed.
This workshop includes brief demonstrations given by Mr Woznicki on topics such as drawing with the brush, the creation of volumes, the use of a set palette and the mixing of flesh tones for full-colour painting.
Early reservations are recommended, as student numbers are purposely limited to allow for a high degree of individual attention
Landscape Painting Techniques
Instructor: Kresten Smedemark
June 18th to June 29th
In this two-week intensive course, Kresten Smedemark will guide students through the creation of several landscape studies, employing the traditional practices used at the Angel Academy, coupled with the vivacity and spontaneity inherent in painting en plein air. Students will spend the workshop in various scenic locations in and around Florence, drawing and painting directly from nature.
The workshop will cover the technical side of painting, both material and procedural. The students will be taught a highly successful approach to painting through a series of studies. Subjects such as composition, the creation of various textures in nature, colour and more will be covered. These studies will all lead to a more complete final landscape study, utilizing the techniques learned.
This workshop is open to students of all levels and will be a wonderful opportunity to employ fundamental methods taught at the academy while working outside the studio in the enchanting, visually rich cradle of the Renaissance.
Please note that some locations will require a fair amount of walking while carrying your painting equipment.
Early reservations are recommended, as student numbers are purposely limited to allow for a high degree of individual attention.
Click Here for the Angel Academy 2012 Workshops.
For more information on all of the above, please visit us at www.AngelArtSchool.com or e-mail Lynne Barton at info@AngelArtSchool.com
John Angel recently wrote to Fred Ross, Chairman of the Art Renewal Center:
"What you have done (are doing) for this wonderful art of ours is beyond thanks. Sei forte! You are the best!
John Angel"
Last updated on 2011-10-28
Atelier Canova is situated in the heart of Rome's historic city center, just a few blocks from the Spanish Steps and the legendary Via Margutta, known for it's antique shops and art galleries. We are located on the second and top floor, of a landmark building where the famed neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova once worked. The studio has perfect north-lit windows, high ceilings with a skylight, a small balcony, and can comfortably accommodate a maximum of five students per class. The atelier offers a study program which suits a full time or part time schedule and caters to all levels of experience. We are the only art school in Rome that offers classical training and instruction and critiques may be given in Italian or English.