A still life painting by Toronto art school alumnus David C. Hancock is featured on the cover of the October issue of Art and Antiques. The painting is an example of the curriculum at Academy of Realist Art, where classical painting and drawing techniques are taught.

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) October 29, 2006 — A still life painting by Academy of Realist Art Alumnus, David C. Hancock, is featured on the cover of the October Issue of Art and Antiques Magazine. Read more about –> Toronto Art School Alumnus Featured on Cover of October Art & Antiques Magazine

A still life painting by Toronto art school alumnus David C. Hancock is featured on the cover of the October issue of Art and Antiques. The painting is an example of the curriculum at Academy of Realist Art, where classical painting and drawing techniques are taught.

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) October 29, 2006 — A still life painting by Academy of Realist Art Alumnus, David C. Hancock, is featured on the cover of the October Issue of Art and Antiques Magazine.

"Now that life study is making a comeback we are beginning to see paintings and drawings originate as studio exercises and then, chrysalis-like, burst out and fly. A recent example well worth closer examination is David C. Hancock's Still Life, which was a finalist in this year's painting competition sponsored by Fred Ross, the noted New York art collector," says art critic John T. Spike.

David C. Hancock's still life is a result of intense academic training in classical painting and drawing which is part of the curriculum taught at the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto. The program at ARA originates from some of the traditions taught by the old masters with a focus on drawing from life.

Read the rest of the news here.

Listen to the Podcast of Fernando discussing Evelyn Choi and the Academy of Realist Art program, live  with a PRWeb interviewer!

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Evelyn Choi, a student at Toronto's representational fine art school Academy of Realist Art, has won multiple art contests with cash prizes totalling $2,700 USD, from The Artist's Magazine and the Art Renewal Center competitions.

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) August 16, 2006 — Academy of Realist Art (ARA) student Evelyn Choi has won two prestigious art prizes recently, from The Artist’s Magazine competition and from the Art Renewal Center’s scholarship competition, for a total of $2,700 USD in prizes. Choi has been studying traditional "classical" drawing and painting in Toronto at ARA for only two years.

The Artist’s Magazine said they are "pleased to announce that Evelyn Choi has won two prizes in our annual student art competition. She’s placed first in the Portrait and Figure category for her painting Catia, and third in the Still Life category for her painting Bittersweet. Look for Choi’s work, along with the work of other student competition winners, in the January/February 2007 issue of The Artist’s Magazine."

ARC wrote to Choi directly, saying: "You have been awarded Second Place for your entry in the Art Renewal Center’s 2006 Scholarship Competition. As a result of the very fine work included in your submission you will receive $2,500.00 to continue your studies at the Academy of Realist Art. Also, to highlight this achievement, all winners will have their name and a selected work from their submission posted in a special section of the ARC's website."

Congratulations to Evelyn Choi from her teachers and fellow students at Academy of Realist Art.

Read the complete press release here.

Toronto fine art school Academy of Realist Art supports suspended New York fine art teacher Peter Panse in his conflict with Middleton school board on the issue of drawing from the nude model. Good art training requires nude Figure Drawing classes, which are not prurient, says Academy.

(PRWEB) January 26, 2006 — Academy of Realist Art (ARA) (http://www.AcademyofRealistArt.com), a private fine art school in Toronto, Canada, has voiced support for suspended art teacher Peter Panse, who is in conflict with his district school board (Middleton, NY) over the issue of encouraging young art students to draw from the live nude model.

Panse had encouraged his students to take Life Drawing classes outside their regular curriculum, in order to create better portfolios to compete for scholarships at post-secondary art schools. He has been suspended in what appears to be a backlash related to an earlier, real sex scandal in the district.

In a letter for Panse’s lawyer, Academy Director and senior instructor Fernando Freitas cites the long history of drawing from the nude as part of a traditional art training, beginning with the ancient Greeks and continuing through the Renaissance and into today’s classical representational-art curriculum.

Says Freitas, "This is serious art training, the students work very hard. Even the youngest teens are mature and focused in front of the model."

Drawing the figure is absolutely fundamental to a successful career in portraiture and fine painting, according to modern classical-realist art instructors like those at ARA. High-school students are not considered too young for the experience; Renaissance apprentices are known to have worked from the nude at a very young age without apparent trauma.

The full text of the letter is posted on the school’s weblog at http://www.fineartschoolstory.com/blog/2006/01/academy_of_real_2.html

About ARA:

Academy of Realist Art (ARA) (http://www.AcademyofRealistArt.com) is a private fine art school in the classical tradition, modelled on the great 19th-century Academies. Located in Toronto, Canada (near Buffalo, NY), ARA offers a proven curriculum of step-by-step, self-paced fine art study in a group environment. Students can learn to draw and paint at ARA full- or part-time and during periodic workshops. After completing the rigorous four-level (approximately four-year) program — which includes the famous Bargue/Gerome Design Course and the painstakingly reconstructed curriculum stemming from Renaissance roots — students receive a diploma transferable toward a degree at accredited colleges and universities via portfolio evaluation and credit banking. Academy of Realist Art is one of the few fine art schools to be accredited and recommended by the Art Renewal Center (http://www.artrenewal.org) for excellence in drawing and painting instruction in the classical realist style.

Senior artist-instructors Fernando Freitas and Juan Carlos Martinez (http://www.academyofrealistart.com/faculty.asp) are both prize-winning contemporary realists. Freitas' exceptional draftsmanship and teaching style are evident in the recently released DVD, Drawing the Figure (http://www.fineartvideos.com ). Martinez' artwork and method are currently featured by _International Artist_ magazine, in a six-part article, "The Academy Way."

Living Masters and other art experts enrich the ARA curriculum with special demonstrations and lectures every semester.

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See the full text release and attached images or download a PDF version here.