New Video Alert! Miguel Gonzalez - Figure & Portrait Instructor at Kline Academy of Fine Art

Listen how Miguel speaks beautiful language of the line in live figurative art....

Miguel Gonzalez

Figure & Portrait Drawing & Painting Instructor

Miguel Gonzalez was born in Penjamo, Guanajuato, Mexico and raised in Oregon where he began to explore his curiosity for creating art. 

In 2010, with the encouragement of his mentor, Gonzalez decided to apply to Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) where he recently completed his Bachelors of Fine Art degree. Gonzalez has studied with several highly respectable artists in the Los Angeles area while participating in several group shows along the West coast. 

Gonzalez, believes that a strong fundamental understanding to drawing and painting will allow students the freedom to create what they desire.

View more of his work HERE...

Lapis lazuli identification in dental calculus???

We found an interesting article about lapis lazuli identification in dental calculus during the  European Medieval Ages...

Read the full article in Science Advances...

Cheryl Kline - Founder of Kline Academy of Fine Art

Hear Cheryl and see her motto...

Cheryl Kline

Founder of Kline Academy of Fine Art

Cheryl Kline, founder and owner of Kline Academy is a working artist whose works are found in the collections of noted individuals and institutions around the world. She has won numerous awards including an Honorable mention from the Portrait Society of America and Salmagundi Club of New York. 

She studied with master artist Jan Saether at The Bruchion School of Realist Art the same building as Kline Academy is located today, and at The Florence Academy of Art in Italy. Kline has a Degree in Commercial Art from Woodbury University.

Message from Cheryl

"Not all art schools are built the same. We are often surprised to find long-time art students, who are still trying to learn how to paint! That's why our founder Cheryl made her motto, "your frustration ends at our front door." 

Many colleges have become focused on teaching art in a conceptual and historical manner, while many smaller art programs are teaching art in a paint by numbers fashion where everyone does the same painting or offering arts and crafts style classes with little, if any, technique.  

At Kline Academy though, you will learn real time tested skills that you can use in your work whether you are taking classes for enjoyment or are working towards a professional career in the arts. 

These skills have been passed down from teacher to student for centuries and our instructors have traveled the world studying under the living masters of our time, so that they could teach them to you."

 

See how she teaches her Classical Oil Painting & Contemporary Painting Curriculums...

Use a Hand for Your Art Making - Passing on Artist's Wisdom by Juri Umagami

Use a Hand for Your Art Making 

Passing on Artist's Wisdom by Juri Umagami

One interesting thing I learnt in college was to use your hand for art making / marketing. 

Art making can be divided into 6 important elements:

Pinkie: Production
You prepare your budget (how much can you spend? how much are you going to sell it for?), tools (canvas, paints, brushes or clay, film...) and get some help (space / equipment to rent or assistants). 

Ring: Context
It's genre. In which genre does your art belong to? Pop? Classical? Expressionism? Setting up this idea helps you see where to distribute your art (*Thumb). 

Middle: Content
The physical aspects of the artwork such as medium, image, symbol, color, value, space... Your decision making on "what are you using" for your art. This is important as art world these days also focuses on investigating "materials" you present. 

Index: Intent
Why are you painting this (or making this)? Your intention in art making can be from "This is a gift for my mother!" to "I want to make the world better!" You may not be realizing but any image you create comes from your personal experience and tells your story or story you want to tell. When you keep your intent consistent that leads you to "a body of work." 

Thumb: Distribution 
Most artists are not good at this... Where are you going to show your art? How are you going to let people know about it? Instagram has become a huge asset to art business. It is probably the easiest way to connect with your audience and sell your art. I am old fashioned and love going to galleries as I believe art looks better and tells more in person. If I were you, I'd start looking for galleries that present the genre you are in. You bring yourself to openings and introduce yourself (as it is rare galleries find and contact artists these days) then use SNS for the invitation for your shows. 

Palm: Documentation
Make sure you document your artwork. Images of your work are what get people interested in what you are doing. I usually have two: one that in high resolution and the other in about 300 You can have a decent camera or just have someone do the job. 


If you are taking my drawing & painting classes, you know that you learn real time tested skills, the skills have been passed down for centuries. 

Now what will you draw and paint after Bargue drawings and master copy paintings? 
The answer is in your hand... 

My messy note from college!

Juri UmagamiOctober 2019

New Video Alert! Juri Umagami - Classical Drawing Instructor at Kline Academy of Fine Art

Absolute beginner? Juri will take care of you! 

Juri Umagami

Studio Manager / Classical Drawing & Painting Instructor

Juri Umagami is the rock of Kline Academy!

She started oil painting at Usukubo Yuji Art Atelier in Tochigi, Japan when she was eight years old. In 2009, she moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue her goal to be an artist and art instructor. 

She is an avid student of classical technique and a focused artist. She received a BFA at Otis in May, 2017. While pursuing Masters in Fine Art, Juri is working to become an accomplished artist and doing some commissioned work. 

She teaches her classical drawing and painting classes.

Stitching - Passing on Artist's Wisdom by Thomas Garner

Stitching

Passing on Artist's Wisdom

The stitching in many of my paintings is a signature artistic statement. It goes back to my earliest formation as an artist in Italy where I studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and lived for 24 years.

One of the things that impressed me the most was the surface quality of the old master paintings that could be seen everywhere, not just museums, that truly showed the ravages of time like a fine vintage wine. When I started painting I incorporated this idea for three reasons.

First was the historical reference to antique canvases that were stitched together because the looms were only so big.


Second, at the time no one was painting in the traditional style. Everything was about modernism which in a sense was all about analyzing the art marking process, taking it all apart. I wanted to try to put it all back together again, a synthesis symbolized by mending or stitching back together.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the stitched seams create a visual tension between the content of the painting and the surface of the canvas, forcing the eye to go back and forth and drawing attention the sensual, material presence of the painting as an object representing a subject.

Specific to this painting of a reclining nude, the seams draw attention to the symbolic simplicity of the canvas as fabric representing, the fabric of drapery, and the sensual fabric of the flesh, the axis between the subjective and objective realms.

Thomas Garner 
October 2019

New Video Alert! Scott Yeskel - Abstract Painting Instructor at Kline Academy of Fine Art

If you ever want to take a jump into the beauty of deconstruction, Scott Yeskel is the man to guid you through!

Scott Yeskel

Abstract Painting Instructor

Scott Yeskel was raised in the suburbs of Orange County, California after his parents moved from New Jersey when he was a child. The mild weather and suburban sprawl fueled Scott’s interest in the landscape. 

After graduating from high school, he moved to San Francisco to pursue an education in the arts. Yeskel graduated from the Academy of Art College in 2002 where he won first place in the Landscape category at the Academy’s Annual Spring Show. 

He was quickly picked up by galleries in Philadelphia, Laguna Beach and San Francisco. Since that time, Scott has been the subject of over a dozen solo shows, countless group exhibitions and has been featured in over 20 magazine and newspaper editorials. 

His work speaks to those who identify with the California lifestyle – often romantic but sometimes plagued with fustration. His love/hate relationship with Los Angeles’ freeways, boxy apartments and urban sprawl feed Yeskel’s desire to paint his environment as he sees – a jumble of mixed emotions. Recently, Scott’s work was purchased by prestigious corporate collections including Microsoft and NBC/ Universal.

Read more about Scott Yeskel!

New Video Alert! Lana Gloschat - Color Pencil Instructor at Kline Academy of Fine Art

Hello! Kline Academy of Fine Art Blog is finally back with new design and exciting news!

Let's celebrate this re-launch with the interview with..

Lana Gloschat

Color Pencil Instructor

Lana Gloschat is an award winning colored pencil artist recently relocated to Southern California. She was most recently recognized by the Colored Pencil Society of America with an Award for Exceptional Merit in their 26th International Exhibition (2018). 

Lana received a BFA in drawing and painting from the University of Utah. 

She excels as a colorist and has an extensive anatomical knowledge which she utilizes to render highly realistic portraits and figurative works.

Click HERE to read more about Lana!