Academic Methods, Part 2: Russian Art Academy

There are several different approaches to an academic art education. Yesterday, Michael John Angel of the Angel Academy of Art presented his teaching methods and philosophy.

A somewhat different approach is offered by Professor Sergey Chubirko, who teaches at the Russian Art Academy, which is also in Florence, Italy.

Rather than try to summarize Professor Chubirko’s method myself (I have not visited his school) or to presume to draw comparisons to other academies, I thought it would be helpful just to look at his drawings and to ask him a few questions about the thinking behind his work.

Gurney: Do you draw what you see or what you know?
Chubirko: I try not to copy unconsciously what I see. The most important point about the model for me is that the model must be inspirational; it must provoke my imagination for the creation of an image.

That is why I never start drawing before I see clearly the image, which I would like to show, through the model. Knowledge of anatomy and the laws of form are certainly necessary as they help me to work independently and to render my thoughts freely and quickly.

Such knowledge must be automatic so that it does not distract, does not bound imagination and, at the same time, introduce independence to the hand. This is the automatic skill that provides an artist with freedom and fluency when he works. An artist should only care about “what” to express not about “how” to do it.

Gurney: How does the knowledge of anatomy shape the way you interpret what you see?

 Chubirko: For academic drawing, knowledge of anatomy and the rules of the form need profound studying at the initial stages of art education. Such knowledge should not be ignored as, for instance, knowledge of the alphabet cannot be ignored when one wants to learn to read and write.

When we learn to read and to write we start with A, B, C, after that we put letters into syllables; later we learn how to compose simple sentences, then finally – complex sentences. And, as soon as we have learnt to express ourselves freely in complex sentences, we do not need to go back to the alphabet again. We do not think about letters any longer because they are just tools for a very creative process of reading and writing; for expressing our thoughts and feelings.

Same is in drawing. Knowledge of anatomy and the laws of form is just a tool necessary for an unlimited work of imagination and creation of the artistic images.

 
Gurney: What do you change when you draw?
Chubirko:  Selection in drawing is very important and this is the artist who selects what to show and what not to. Any model always has in itself the essential and the supplementary, secondary things.

The aim of the artist is to see what is really important and to emphasize it. The author’s selection in this case should be convincing for the viewer.  That is why when I am drawing a live model my personal vision as well as the image I would like to create is much more important than a model itself. Every model has its particular features, which, in fact, define artist’s choice of the main and the secondary points.

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I am very grateful to Sergey and Irina Chubirko and Dorian Iten for helping me to learn more.
For more information, check out the following websites:
Russian Academy in Florence
Sergey Chubirko portfolio
Academic Methods, Part 1: Angel Academy
Atelier Stockholm: Sight Size and its Disadvantages
More discussion and examples of Russian Academy & Repin Institute work