Earthshine Atelier is a project designed to help artists, aspiring artists, and hobbyists to reach their potential in visual art. The approach is unapologetically traditional and we explicitly reject the use of digital drawing tools or AI. Humans are creators, machines are not. We use a mostly traditional methodology that has stood the test of time, and has been used throughout the ages and long before the Internet era. What that means is, simply, using observation of Nature (reality) and the study of Art and Tradition. Another way of putting it is by using the time-tested order of "standing on the shoulders of giants", we can build a bountiful and beautiful aesthetic future. It is our philosophy that to go forward, we must re-engage with Tradition. All art — and that means everything that you can think of as being “Art”: what humans create and make via intuition and skill, etc. — has always been learned anew by every generation going back as far as we can imagine. Art is what is created and made by a human being, based on intuition, learning, knowledge, lore, etc.. That is to say that what is built by learning, knowledge, lore and creativity, is not something made by instinct or merely by accident. No-one is born knowing how to draw and paint well any more than knowing how speak a particular language: all of it must be learned from scratch, so to speak.

Each generation can create within itself a true Renaissance. If not preserved, skills are simply lost and may then have to be re-invented in some distant future who knows how far ahead. At Earthshine Atelier we intend to help maintain and rebuild that tradition within art and art-training in a way that is practicable and accessible starting, of course, locally. What that means, first and foremost, is for it to be an in-person experience. But, rather, we wish to engage with people primarily in North Texas since that is where we are located. There are artists everywhere and always have been. We will use technology to some degree, of course — at least to communicate with anyone interested, or to explore artwork resources from around the world, for example. In previous eras, before even the advent of photography, there were many good artists — of course people recognize names such as Rembrandt and Michelangelo — but how did they and their many contemporaries learn their craft? These are the types of questions that we ask of ourselves and our students today. Our primary tools will be studying art and studying Nature (i.e., reality).

In older times, artists were trained studying earlier artworks and doing sketches and “master copies” of either paintings or sculptures and, secondly, by drawing directly from reality. At first this was drawing from statues or "casts" of statuary and, later, from live models, etc.. In the case of the various European atelier and academy systems of the 19th century, besides the aforementioned casts, some of their early study was copying lithographs (printed drawings) which were prepared for the express purpose of training artists. Today, most “traditional” art schools (often called ateliers & academies) use a set of 19th century lithograph plates known as “Bargue Drawings” which are named after the French artist who prepared them (ca. 1865), Charles Bargue. These are excellent resources and are now widely available, and Earthshine will use them, too. The other basic practice, working from reality, was normally started by drawing statues or plaster casts and  eventually evolves to working from live models, either figure or portrait or both. We will use still life subjects and in particular, landscapes as part of our curriculum.The intention of Earthshine Atelier is to offer training and instruction in all of the foregoing, depending on a student’s individual needs or expectations, as well as on his or her own experiences, goals, etc. Juan Martinez, who is an experienced artist in these genres and a highly regarded instructor and educator. Over time, we expect that the program, such as it is at present, may evolve and change as students & teacher evolve and change. One thing that Earthshine will strive for throughout a student’s tenure is to avoid dogma, even though we will be “traditional”. (There is a lot of dogma in the “art world” that is also traditional, unfortunately). So, within Tradition, there is definitely room for innovation, and certainly there is in art and its teaching. However, innovation is not valuable for its own sake but is so if it is based on a rational foundation built on skill and training, in other words, on a classic Tradition.

Here are some of the stypes of studies students will be doing at Earthshine Atelier

Bargue Drawings

Perspective Practice

“Light logic” practice

Cast DrawingsMaster Copies — Including Old Master and Contemporary masters

Landscape studies plein aire and from photos

Landscape master copies

Still life paintings

Still life drawings

Portrait drawings

Portait paintings

Figure drawing

Figure painting