Becoming an Artist

What students learn in Russian art academies

The skill to draw realistic portraits and figures does not necessarily make someone an artist. To become a fine artist at a high level, students must enter one of the best art academies in Moscow or Saint Petersburg, where they will spend another 4 to 6 years, depending on the course. There, they will take part in more advanced tasks than just drawing proportionate portraits with likeness. Now, a student will learn how to portray personality and describe moods in portraits and figures. A student will learn how in simple drawing of a head to tell the story about the person, his life, his thoughts, and his moods. The same applies to drawing a foot or a full body. Students will portray single sitters and do multi-figure compositions on given topics. >Every new cycle of life drawing assignment will be more difficult and demand higher levels of skill.

In the Stroganov Art Academy in Moscow, where I teach, students become not only fine artists, but also industrial or graphic designers, illustrators, sculptors and so on.

Russian Art School - What makes it different?

Every art school has its worldview and methods that have been developed over many years and even centuries. It is easy for me to talk about Stroganov Art Academy (Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and Industry) because I studies there and now I teach at the school.

When it comes to the fundamental core of this art academy, it is constructive drawing. In this academy, we have drawings that teach artists to think constructively and three-dimensionally, to understand construction of any object. That is why in drawing, tonal rendering is secondary; it serves the purpose of describing a construction of an object, its cross-sections, volumes, and three-dimensional nature of its shapes and contours.

I have to say that all Russian art schools have similar points of view; they all have strong constructive drawing in place. The difference between schools is what they superimpose on such drawing. For example, in Surikov Art Academy (Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture), they put emphasis on making works of art similar to literature that tell stories, describe different moods, where every artwork is designed to portray emotions, states of mind, and hold a deeper meaning.

On the other hand, at the Repin Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg (Imperial Academy of Arts), which I like so much because it is the pinnacle of art schools in the world, they combine all the best systems of drawing and deliver the best art education possible. Art students there are learning constructive drawing as well as drawing styles similar to literature, drawing that is close to painting, easel drawing, monumental drawing, and so on. This is an ideal example how constructive drawing is used as the foundation for all other types, genres, and methods of drawing.

The higher the level of classical art education, including academic drawing and painting, an art student receives, the richer and better their art will be. The same applies to graphic and industrial designers, sculptors, and architects.

To learn good drawing techniques, enroll in the Life Drawing Academy course: