Find the perfect session to advance your fine art training with our proven, step-by-step system. Academy of Realist Art's fine art workshops include drawing, painting, figure, portraiture, and landscape, as well as special art travel and tours. Scroll down to see the current workshops.Group sizes are kept quite small, so each participant gets lots of one-on-one attention from our superb instructors. ARA instructors teach year-round so, unlike many artists who offer summer/holiday workshops, our teachers are professional teachers as well as successful, award-winning artists.Workshop Hours & Schedules:Most workshops are scheduled five days per week, Monday to Friday. The hours are usually 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., but will occasionally go to 5:00 p.m. If you are coming from out of town and need local accommodations, we have a list of inexpensive places to stay near the Studios.Workshop Fees (in Canadian dollars):One-Week Workshops: $600, 7 Day Workshops: $750, Two-Week Workshops: $975, with the early-registration discount. Full price for late bookings is $1,050, so please register as soon as you can confirm your plans.To enrol or get more info: click a link under your selected workshop to pay an immediate deposit (the best way to ensure you get a place!) or just get more information. Please note: registrations are not guaranteed until a deposit has been paid.

Workshop T11-02
March 28 - April 1, 2011
Location:  Toronto
Instructor: Juan Martinez

This new one-week workshop is designed for artists who want to learn the alla prima technique working from live models. Alla prima - which means "at once” - is a painting style that is done in a quickly-executed wet-into-wet fashion for faster results. Artists of all skill levels will have an opportunity to develop a good "vocabulary" for sketching from life, as well as delve into paint and brush handling for achieving a representational, realistic portrait in a more immediate way. Painters already using alla prima methods in other genres such as landscape, will also benefit from this workshop.

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 Workshop T11-03
April 11 - 22, 2011
Location:  Toronto
Instructor: Fernando Freitas

Academy Director and Senior Instructor Fernando Freitas takes students through the stages of the Ingres approach to oil painting in this two-week workshop. Similar to the much-loved “In the Studios of the Old Masters” workshop, this program teaches the French Academic approach used by such artists as Jacques Louis David and his student Jean Baptiste Ingres. Working from a selected study, students learn the specific step-by-step process to achieve an exact copy, as well as gain a clear understanding of the principles of oil painting, and the best techniques and materials to use. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience.

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Workshop T11-04
May 21-27, 2011
Location:  Toronto
Instructor: Juan Carlos Martinez

Working with a live model, this 7 day workshop takes students step-by-step through aclassic, wet-on-dry layering method to achieve a realistic portrait. Topics covered include composition, colour harmony, photography, studies, proportion, sketches, palettes and more. Much of what can be learned at this workshop can be applied to all areas of painting. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience.
 

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Workshop T11-05
June 6-10, 2011
Location:  Toronto
Instructor: Juan Martinez

This new five-day workshop focuses on creating a painted portrait using a photo reference (subject to instructor approval). Participants learn the key principles of what information to keep and what to omit, as well as covers such areas as form, value, shape and finished processes. Students of all levels are welcome. However, beginners will use a very limited palette while the more advanced students will use a broader palette. A handout will be provided prior to the start of the workshop to outline photo requirements.

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Workshop T11-06
July 4-15, 2011
Location: Toronto
Instructor: Fernando Freitas

Working directly from the nude figure, this two-week direct painting workshop teaches students the basics of gesture and proportion using a dry-brush application of oil paint. Time is also spent on basic drawing techniques, and the properties of oil paint and their mediums. Starting with execution of light and dark patterns, students then move on to working with a limited palette to apply the dominant colour notes, followed by big form modeling, small form modeling and final detailing. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience.

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Workshop T11-08
August 1-12, 2011
Location:  Toronto
Instructor: Fernando Freitas

Academy Director and Senior Instructor Fernando Freitas takes students through the stages of the Tenebrist approach to oil painting in this two-week workshop. Similar to the much-loved “In the Studios of the Old Masters” workshop, this program teaches the chiaroscuro approach (which means light/dark, or light and shade) used by such artists as Rembrandt and Caravaggio. Working from a selected study, students learn the specific step-by-step process to achieve an exact copy, as well as gain a clear understanding of the principles of oil painting, and the best techniques and materials to use. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience.

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Workshop T11-09
August 20-26, 2011
Location:  Toronto
Instructor: Juan Martinez

This intensive, 7 day still life workshop explores the use of light, colour, and texture in a style similar to the Dutch and Flemish masters. As students learn to paint a beautiful still life using classic methods, they are introduced to valuable Old Master concepts such as massing of tonal values, chiaroscuro, "selective focus”, and layering to achieve a luminous picture.

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Workshop T11-10
September 12-16, 2011
Location:  Toronto
Instructors: Juan Martinez

This five-day workshop explores the fundamental principles needed to execute a comprehensive landscape painting. Working Plein Air, students will create a number of small painted works, analyzing principles such as structure, colour, light, and movement. This workshop is recommended for individuals with at least some background in oil painting.

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Workshop T11-12
October 15-21, 2011
Location:  Toronto
Instructor: Juan Martinez

Working with a live model, this 7 day workshop takes students step-by-step through a classic, wet-on-dry layering method to achieve a realistic portrait. Topics covered include composition, colour harmony, photography, studies, proportion, sketches, palettes and more. Much of what can be learned at this workshop can be applied to all areas of painting. A second Classical Portrait workshop will be offered in the winter. However, space is limited so reserve a place early. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience.

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