Drawing and painting
MIFA's drawing and painting classes offer top level instruction in realistic painting and drawing. Whether you are looking for beginner level art classes or an art center that will help you take your talents to the next level, MIFA is your art home.
Our unique curriculum is a blend of the methods used by the famous classical-realist 19th century academies and the two major academies in Florence, Italy. Based on our own experience, we have added some twists that make it more suitable to some contemporary artistic needs!
Mission:
Our mission is to promote a return to discipline in the learning stages of art. By teaching traditional, time-tested methods, we guarantee the aspiring artist will have a strong base in drawing and painting, in addition to extensive knowledge of materials, tips, and secrets of the craft.
Vision:
MIFA envisions artists that embrace creative expression supported by the highest level of craftsmanship. Our teaching methods and techniques provide the tools that students can use to create their own contemporary work and develop a personal artistic language.
Values:
MIFA strives for excellence, mutual respect, integrity, passion, empathy, determination and love for art.
“Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci
Milixa Morón
Carlos Martínez León
Milixa Morón
Studied at the prestigious Angel Academy of Art Florence. Inspired by a diverse and large number of sources, she seeks to synthesize mythology, culture, universal ideas and beliefs with her subject’s personal stories and psychology.
Milixa's paintings are plenty of iconic images with a narrative that transcends time and culture.
For more information about Milixa: www.milixamoron.com
Elkin Canas
Carlos Martínez León
Milixa Morón
As representational painter, Elkin is very interested in human emotions, people, and the truth and beauty that lies beneath every single object and form. His main motivation as a painter is to show other people the way “he sees” life, around and inside him. He moved to Florence-Italy in 2010, to be part of an amazing community of artists, and learning from great painters such as Angel Ramiro Sanchez and Hunter Eddy.
Carlos Martínez León
Carlos Martínez León
Carlos Martínez León
Studied at The Florence Academy of Art, from 2007 to 2010, where he mastered his drawing and painting techniques. After his graduation, he remained in Florence continuing his training in painting under the direction of Ángel Ramiro Sánchez. Carlos captures the essence of his subject, their humanity and soul. His fine technique and bravura are at the service of his art.
For more information about Carlos: www.martinezleon.com
Come and learn the craft, keep figurative painting alive!
Top Level instruction in realistic painting and drawing
Our curriculum is based on the teaching method used by the famous classical-realist 19th century academies. This kind of training provides a solid artistic basis, helping the students to achieve high standards of craftsmanship and technical skills.
Our Mission
Our mission is to promote a return to discipline in the learning stages of art. By teaching traditional, time-tested methods through our art classes, we guarantee the aspiring artist will have a strong foundation in drawing and painting, in addition to knowledge about materials, tips, and secrets of the craft.
“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” ~ Michelangelo
Our Vision
MIFA envisions an art center with artists that embrace creative expression supported by the highest level of craftsmanship. Our teaching methods and techniques provide the tools that students can use to create their own contemporary work and develop a personal artistic language.
“To any artist, worthy of the name, all in nature is beautiful, because his eyes, fearlessly accepting all exterior truth, read there, as in an open book, all the inner truth.” ~ Auguste Rodin
2020 CALENDAR
painting program FEES
CORE PROGRAM
Full Time
The full time program is designed to be completed in 6 Trimesters.
5 days a week (6 hours/day)
Monday to Friday 9:30 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. and 1:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
Tuition fee:
Trimester $3200
Monthly $1150
Save $250 by paying the trimester tuition in full
Half Time
2 days a week (6 hours a day) or 4 half days (3 hours a day)
Tuition fee:
Trimester $2000
Monthly $750
Save $250 by paying the trimester tuition in full
MIFA provides the opportunity for students to study on a half-time basis. You would follow the same curriculum as the full time students, which would give you the opportunity to achieve similar results, but of course, over a longer period of time.
SPECIAL PROGRAM
1 day a week (6 hours/day) or 2 half days (3 hours a day)
Monday to Friday 9:30 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. and 1:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
Or Evenings 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M.
Tuition fee:
Trimester $1300
Monthly $500
Save $200 by paying the trimester tuition in full
MIFA recognizes that it is not always possible for students to enroll in our Full or Half-Time programs. So we have designed a completely new program for those of you who don't have enough time due to work, study or any other reason. This program is perfect for those students who want to start serious drawing and painting training but cannot make a long-term commitment. One day a week!
Drawing and Painting Classes
Painting Core Program
MIFA’s drawing and painting classes are based on a step-by-step systematic progression. As each task is completed and a new skill is acquired, a more advanced task is assigned. The rate at which students progress through the curriculum varies by individual, and normally requires a minimum of eighteen months to complete.
Our school is based on the atelier system, which represents a great advantage to the beginner and intermediate students. By sharing the studio space with more advanced students and working artists (instructors), they have the opportunity to see future projects they will work on, listen to other's critics, receive advice from advanced fellow students and watch professional painters developing their works.
The student graduates when all the assigned projects are successfully completed. After this, the student has the opportunity to study for three more terms to specialize in advanced portraiture, still life or figure painting.
Our curriculum is designed to be completed in six terms, and is divided in three major programs:
- Intensive drawing program (approx. two trimesters)
- Intermediate program (approx. two trimesters)
- Advanced painting program (approx. two trimesters)
Intensive Drawing Program
The beginning classes are designed to help the student understand proportions, shapes, value relationships, line quality and form. Drawing plates are copied in order to prepare the student for the challenge of drawing from life. Sight Size and comparative measurement methods are taught in this program. Anatomy and perspective classes will be taught every week.
•Geometric Shapes Drawing: This basic exercise will help the student to understand principles of drawing, value scale and tone relationships. Starting by drawing basic shapes such as sphere, cube, cylinder and pyramid, the student begins to understand light, form, edges, and transitions in the simplest way. All this knowledge will be apply to the Drawing Plate copies later on.
•Copying Drawing Plates: these exercises are designed to strengthen the student's ability of reproducing two-dimensional forms to help them confront three-dimensional subjects in future tasks. The simplified forms of the Drawing Plates allow students to learn how to separate light from dark and the importance of values in a turning form.
•Figure Drawing Master Copies: This exercise allows the student to apply the acquired knowledge to the human figure. Reproducing Drawings by 19th Century artists, the student can develop drawing skills by copying the Masters’ technique.
•Charcoal Cast Drawing: Moving from a flat image to a three-dimensional object, students begin to draw plaster casts, reproductions of classical statuary, using charcoal over white paper. In these exercises they learn to use the sight-size method, how to compress values, to create a focus, and how to create the impression of depth, distance and atmosphere among parts of the drawing.
•Figure Drawing: Each day students spend three-hour sessions drawing from the nude model. Long poses are sustained for 4 to 5 weeks, providing the student with ample time to study the figure in depth, and to complete drawings to a high level of finishing. Our students learn to translate nature in a way that is both anatomically accurate and artistically beautiful. Pencil and Charcoal are used for these exercises, however sanguine and silverpoint are introduced during special lessons.
After completing the Intensive Drawing Program students will be able to draw from life, with great command of shapes, value relationships, form and proportion.
Intermediate Program
The exercises in this program are extremely valuable for the student, as they mark the transition from drawing to painting. Theory and practice are combined to help the student with the task of learning how to see and simplify the natural world into a readable painting. Concepts like color mixing, temperature, depth, edges and atmosphere are strengthened at this point. Anatomy and perspective classes will be taught every week.
•Advanced Figure Drawing: In this long pose figure drawing exercise, the student applies the same technique and principles learned in the Cast Drawing on Toned Paper to the human figure.
•Geometric Shapes Grisaille Painting: By using just white, black and umber, the student is introduced to the principles of oil painting.
•Limited Palette Cast Painting: The student paints the plaster cast in oils, using just white, Ochre, Red and Black. In these exercises the student continues to understand how to compress values and temperatures, how to create a focus and how to create the impression of depth, distance and atmosphere among parts of the painting. Students have now the opportunity to apply all the knowledge and drawing skills acquired on the intensive drawing program.
•Limited Palette Still Life Painting: The student is introduced to the world of painting objects and fruits, starting with a pear and progressing into 3 object compositions. These exercises will provide experience and techniques that will help a great deal with the figure painting in oils.
•Limited Palette Figure Painting: All the previous exercises provided the student with the necessary knowledge to be used in this long pose project. Using limited palette is a great way to master the relations between values and different temperatures, as well as the background-figure relationship.
Advanced Painting Program
•Full Palette Figure Painting: Using full palette will help the student to experiment the full range of color and temperatures. Value and color relationship between the skin tones and surroundings are increasing the difficulty level.
•Still Life Painting: Still life painting will teach the students how to reproduce different surface qualities, deeper comprehension of form, atmosphere, color and composition. A five-object composition will be the first assigned, this time in full palette. Then a Light background composition will increase the value relationship difficulty level.
•Portrait Painting: The student usually depicts the sitter head-and-shoulders; the picture is specially composed in order to portray the character and unique attributes of the subject. Planes of the head, anatomy of the head, features and skin tones are developed in this stage. Frontal and ¾ views will be used.
Lectures and Art history classes
MIFA offers a free and open to the public art history class every month. Our art center director Elkin Canas will conduct this journey through the fascinating periods of art evolution.
“The only road to freedom is education in art. Art is not a luxury for any advanced
civilization; it is a necessity, without which creative intelligence will wither and die."
― Camille Paglia