A Year with the Figure

A year long program, from novice to mastery, of the human figure.

It’s with great excitement that I’m pleased to announce the launch of my new program, “a year with the figure”

this year long program is an opportunity for complete beginners and advanced artists alike, to dive deep into the practice and science of drawing and painting the human figure.

Born out of student feedback and 7 years of instruction at the Art Student’s League of Denver, this course offers a unique opportunity for students to recreate a 3 year atelier education, into a compressed one year study, aimed at equipping students with the tools and skills needed to master the study of the human figure.

Starting with intro courses in September, and ending with advanced classes in May, this program moves students through a progressive curriculum that prepares them for each subsequent class.

much like a “hop on, hop off” bus tour, Students get a Birds Eye view of the year-long curriculum, and can pick and choose as many or as few classes to sign up for in advance, that fit their goals and needs. It also allows for the complete beginner to start at the beginning and move through the year knowing each class is tailored to advance them along to the next course and series of skills.

There are two tracks: drawing, and painting. Beginning with intro courses for both, students will start with mastering the art of the start - learning the skills of shape, gesture, and limited color, and advancing to longer poses, advanced structural investigations, and full color. For a full list of class offerings, click below:

FAQ

  • The program as designed is one academic calendar year. Starting in September, and finishing at the end of May. Classes run Monday and Wednesday evenings. and Friday afternoons. Each class is 3 hours long.

    Students sign up for the desired classes at the beginning of each semester: fall, winter, and spring, on the ASLD website.

  • Not at all. By taking a look at the full list of classes offered over the year, you can plan in advance which courses you want to take that are relevant to you and your stage of development. For complete beginners or those who have not studied with me before, it is encouraged to start at the very beginning to get the foundational methods that will be used in subsequent classes throughout the whole year.

  • Students can choose to take drawing classes, painting classes, or both. If it’s your first time studying the figure, I recommend getting a solid foundation in drawing first, and then tackling painting classes later. If you have experience working from the figure, I recommend taking both a drawing and a painting class at the same time.

  • Registration is available through the Art Student League of Denver’s website. For links to the current semesters classes, simply visit my clases pages here: https://www.alexsoukas.com/classes

  • While the program is intended as one year long, I have offered the drawing courses to reset at the beginning in spring to allow those who weren’t able to sign up in the fall to get another chance to take the course without having to wait an entire year. This also gives students already enrolled a chance to go back to foundations courses if they want a refresher, and allows students to take more advanced subjects like anatomy, a second time, which often require continual study.

    Because of how involved painting is, the courses progress from start to finish over the academic year and do NOT repeat, so please plan accordingly.