The first year of the Certificate Program in Drawing & Painting is dedicated to building a strong technical foundation in observational drawing, emphasizing precise measurement, value control, and structural accuracy. This stage of training is highly methodical and disciplined, ensuring students develop the ability to see and analyze form with clarity and precision.

Through Bargue drawing studies, cast drawing, and long-pose figure drawing, students refine proportion, contour, learning to translate three-dimensional structures into two-dimensional representations with meticulous attention to shape accuracy and tonal relationships.

By the end of the first year, students are expected to demonstrate a disciplined approach to drawing, mastery of fundamental proportion and gesture, and the ability to render form with clarity and depth—laying the essential groundwork for the transition into painting in the second year.

Beginning Drawing (15 credits)

This foundational course introduces students to the fundamental principles of drawing, focusing on proportion, line quality, shadow shape, and value organization. The goal is to establish a disciplined and systematic approach to visual analysis.

Course Structure:

• Bargue Drawing Studies:
  • Initial exercises involve copying simplified lithographic plates by Charles Bargue, allowing students to focus on shape accuracy, proportion, and line control.
  • Progression to more complex Bargue drawings in charcoal, emphasizing value transitions.
• Material Handling Techniques:
  • Students learn pencil and charcoal control, experimenting with different paper textures, pressure variations, and eraser techniques to achieve crisp, clean results.

Learning Outcomes:

• Ability to render accurate proportions, contour lines, and shadow shapes.
• Development of clean, disciplined drawing technique.
• Sufficient knowledge of sight-size methodology, to enable self correction.

Beginning Cast Drawing (7.5 credits)

This course transitions students from two-dimensional exercises to the study of three-dimensional plaster casts, further refining their value perception and light analysis, as well as ability render form in space.

Course Structure:

• Introduction to Cast Drawing:
  • Selection of simple plaster casts, gradually advancing to more complex portraits and figures.
  • Emphasis on understanding sense of light and volume representation.
• Focal Point Creation & Value Compression:
  • Students are taught to select focal points in sharp detail and heightened sense of form, while allowing peripheral areas to remain atmospheric and suggestive.

Learning Outcomes:

• Proficiency in translating three-dimensional objects into two-dimensional representations.
• Strong understanding of value compression and atmospheric depth.
• Ability to manipulate edges and focus within a composition.

Beginning Figure Drawing (25.5 credits)

A comprehensive long-pose drawing course that applies the principles learned in Beginning Drawing and Beginning Cast Drawing to live models.

Course Structure:

• Long-Pose Studies:
  • Models hold consistent poses for 4–6 weeks, allowing for an in-depth study of gesture, proportion, and anatomy.
  • Encourages observational refinement and accuracy.
• Gesture and Structural Drawing:
  • Focus on capturing the gesture, balance, and movement of the human form.
  • Students develop a linear approach (accurate outlines and shadow shapes) and a mass approach (light vs. shadow relationships).
• Anatomical Integration:
  • Students incorporate anatomical knowledge into their drawings, ensuring an accurate representation of weight and balance.

Learning Outcomes:

• Ability to create accurate, well-structured figure drawings.
• Mastery of edge transitions to create the illusion of depth and volume.
• Understanding of gesture, proportion, and movement dynamics.

The second year of the Certificate Program in Drawing & Painting serves as a critical transitional phase, guiding students from precise, value-based drawing into oil painting. This year reinforces advanced draftsmanship skills, deepens anatomical understanding, and introduces the complexities of paint handling, color theory, and value organization.

The excercises are designed to develop a painterly mindset, beginning with grisaille and tonal painting before gradually introducing a limited palette. Cast drawing and figure drawing become increasingly complex, incorporating toned paper and white chalk techniques to strengthen value compression and form modeling. By the end of the second year, students are expected to demonstrate fluency in monochromatic painting, a refined sense of anatomical accuracy, and a heightened ability to translate three-dimensional forms onto a two-dimensional surface with naturalistic light and shadow relationships.

Advanced Cast Drawing (7.5 credits)

An advanced continuation of cast drawing, introducing toned paper and white chalk techniques.

Course Structure:

• Tonal Paper & White Chalk Application:
  • Students utilize the natural tone of the paper to establish mid-values.
  • White chalk is reserved for highlights, reinforcing a hierarchy of values.
• Value Organization & Compression:
  • Focus on halftone structures, ensuring a unified and structured drawing.

Learning Outcomes:

• Mastery of value relationships and optical depth.
• Proficiency in highlighting, form definition, and subtle tonal shifts.

The third year of the Certificate Program in Drawing & Painting is dedicated to full-color painting techniques, advanced compositional decision-making, and refining anatomical precision in the depiction of the human figure. Students are expected to synthesize all previously acquired skills—from accurate proportions to value organization, chromatic relationships and advanced understanding of light, form and space—to create highly resolved paintings that convey both technical mastery and artistic expression.

Advanced Figure Painting (25.5 credits)

In this culminating figure painting course, students work with live models in sustained poses, developing paintings over multiple weeks to achieve a lifelike representation of form, color, and atmosphere. The focus is on the harmonization of figure and background, creating spatial depth and compositional unity with a convincing representation of skin and human form.

Course Structure:

• Full-Color Palette Mastery:
  • Progression from limited palette (earth tones and primary colors) to a full chromatic range.
  • Study of temperature relationships, simultaneous contrast, and reflected light.
• Advanced Flesh-Tone Mixing:
  • Emphasis on subtle shifts in hue, saturation, and value to create naturalistic skin tones.
  • Understanding color temperature shifts within shadows and highlights.
• Coordination of Figure & Background:
  • Integrating the figure into its environment, ensuring consistency of lighting and atmospheric depth.
  • Lost and found edges are employed to guide the viewer’s eye through the composition.
• Edge Control & Form Modeling:
  • Refining transitions between light and shadow to create convincing depth and dimensionality.
  • Mastery of soft and hard edges, ensuring naturalistic form rendering.

Learning Outcomes:

• Ability to render the human form in full color with anatomical accuracy.
• Mastery of complex color harmonies, reflected light, and atmosphere.
• Proficiency in integrating the figure into a cohesive pictorial space.

Still Life & Portraiture (25.5 credits)

This course challenges students to develop strong compositions, control lighting conditions, and capture the essence and personality of their subjects. Students engage in both charcoal and oil portraiture, culminating in a final portrait with hands as a graduation requirement.

Course Structure:

Still Life Painting

• Composition & Object Selection:
  • Arranging objects with varied textures and surfaces (glass, metal, cloth, organic matter).
  • Exploring narrative and symbolic composition choices.
• Light Control & Value Hierarchy:
  • Working with single light sources to enhance form modeling and cast shadows.
  • Studying chiaroscuro and other techniques to create depth and atmosphere.
• Material Representation & Texture Rendering:
  • Learning to depict different surfaces realistically.

Portraiture

• Charcoal Portrait Studies:
  • Initial exercises in charcoal portraiture, ensuring strong value structure and likeness capture.
  • Focus on planes of the face, skeletal structure, and musculature.
• Transition to Oil Portraiture:
  • Application of grisaille and underpainting techniques before developing into full-color portrait studies.
  • Refining subtle shifts in color temperature within the skin.
• Final Graduation Piece:
  • A fully rendered oil portrait incorporating hands, demonstrating the student’s control over anatomy, composition, and lighting.

Learning Outcomes:

• Mastery of compositional planning and object arrangement in still life painting.
• Ability to capture likeness, expression, and character in portraiture.
• Strong understanding of material representation and color nuance in still life and portraiture.

Technical Demonstrations & Material Studies

Pigment Grinding & Paint Mixing. Students learn to grind their own pigments, exploring the chemical properties of oil paints. Emphasis on understanding pigment permanence, transparency, and oil mediums.

Canvas Preparation & Ground Application. Instruction on traditional gesso application, oil priming, and canvas stretching.

Composition, Master Studies

One night a week is spent on studies of excellent examples of works from the past, preparing for the next stage of their training by following in someone’s footsteps. Within this course studies in composition is also conducted. Fundamental concepts and approaches are presented with the aim to support students in their artistic endeavour.

Anatomy and Écorché

Year 1: Visual Anatomy. This course combines the study of anatomy with the observation of light falling on the human form. Students will complete at least two drawings each evening from a live model, focusing on individual parts of the body. In addition to working from the live model the students will draw from the human skeleton and do anatomical studies of master paintings and of their own model room drawings. The purpose of this course is to understand very well the various muscles, bones and tendons which lie just below the surface of the skin and how they affect the shadow shapes, light shapes and contour lines of the body.

Year 2: Écorché Sculpture. In this course the student will construct a 75 cm 3D anatomical model of the human body in clay, starting by making a complete skeleton and then adding deep muscles, surface muscles and tendons onto one side. The process will both deepen the students understanding of human anatomy and at the same time strengthen the ability to understand the contours, light shapes and shadow shapes of the body as they appear in the model room. The écorché program is available primarily to 2nd year students who have completed the first year Visual Anatomy curriculum. It is also available to 3rd year students and alumni.

Year 2 & 3: Advanced Anatomy. In the second and third year of studying anatomy at FAA Sweden the students will have sufficient fundamental anatomical knowledge to do in depth investigations of particularly interesting features of the body. The exercises in sculpture and drawing are directly related to the painting curriculum and therefor focus heavily on portraiture and facial anatomy. Towards the end of the year the ambitious student will have the opportunity to plan and carry out a personal final project.

Completion of All Assigned Projects

To be eligible for graduation, students must successfully complete all coursework and practical assignments, demonstrating proficiency in:

• Anatomical & Structural Drawing
• Figure Painting in Full Color
• Still Life Composition & Material Representation
• Portrait Painting, Including Hands

Accreditation & Degree Credits

The Florence Academy of Art is accredited by NASAD, allowing all students to earn credits toward a U.S. degree.

The Certificate Program in Drawing and Painting at The Florence Academy of Art / Sweden is officially recognised by the Swedish National Board of Education and the education is overseen by Myndigheten för Yrkeshögskolan (Konstnärlig yrkesutbildning i Klassiskt/Realistiskt Måleri och Teckning, KK0117). Swedish and Norwegian students are eligible for study assistance through CSN (B1) and Lånekassen respectively.

Advanced Standing for Experienced Students

Applicants with prior atelier-based training may apply for advanced placement. However:

• All students must complete an introductory cast drawing in charcoal and white chalk to assess alignment with the academy’s teaching approach.
• Final entry point into the curriculum: Cast drawing evaluation.

Mentorship & Teaching Structure

Faculty are selected from top graduates, ensuring a consistent instructional language and shared artistic philosophy. Graduates are invited to serve as teaching assistants, developing into Principal Instructors and Program Directors.

Studio Environment & Learning Philosophy

• Natural North Light Studios ensure that students perceive and translate form with utmost accuracy.
• Extended Long-Poses (4–6 Weeks) allow for deep observation and problem-solving.
• Studio projects of increasing complexity enable a systematic progression.
• Traditional painting and drawing methods provide students with a classical foundation while encouraging artistic individuality.

The Certificate Program in Drawing & Painting at The Florence Academy of Art / Sweden offers an uncompromising, methodical approach to classical realism and represantational, figurative painting. Through this rigorous and immersive training, students develop a profound technical foundation while learning to observe, interpret, and express nature through drawing and painting.

This program is ideal for serious students seeking professional-level skills, bridging the gap between traditional atelier training and contemporary representational art.

Further reading on what makes The Florence Academy of Art / Sweden a unique place to study drawing and painting.