The ARA Boston On-Line educational curriculum is designed to emulate as closely as possible the curriculum of our In-Person Certificate program. More assignments will necessarily utilize printed material like master copies but will be complemented with instruction for students on how to set up home studio assignments that mimic the academy experience.

Our On-Line program is comprised of two complementary streams, each containing drawing and painting assignments. One stream utilizes sight size and the other employs comparative measurement. This combination is a dynamic training regimen and while our strong recommendation is to matriculate in both streams, students may opt to pursue a certificate of graduation in one stream only.

Supply List can be found here.

“The ability to see and hear critiques of other students, who may be at different stages of development (and often from around the world), is enormously valuable. I have the flexibility to keep working at my own project and still be able to clearly hear a critique or a discussion of a problem, or to stop what I’m doing to watch and listen. That is difficult to do with in-studio instruction.”
— Pat - online student

Stream 1: Inanimate Sight Size

Sight-size Bargue drawing:

Bargue, Cast and Still Life assignments are completed utilizing the sight size method as practiced by artists such as Sargent and Reynolds. Students will complete exercises which progress from study of the “flat” through to composed inanimate objects.

Drawing

  1. Bargue Construct Exercises and completed cartoon

  2. Fully Rendered Level 1/2 Bargue: Graphite

  3. Fully Rendered Level 3 Bargue: Graphite

  4. Fully Rendered Level 4 Bargue: Graphite

  5. Fully Rendered Cast and Value Study: Charcoal

  6. Fully Rendered Cast and Value Study: Charcoal

  7. Chalk and Charcoal Cast and Value Study

Painting

  1. Monochrome Cast Painting and Value Study

  2. Limited Palette Cast Painting and Color Study

  3. Full Palette Cast Painting and Color Study

  4. Red, Shiny White and Green Still life Painting and Color Study

  5. Themed “Tenebrist” (Extreme Lighting of dark and light zones) Still Life Painting and Color Study

  6. Perishable Object Still Life Painting and Color Study

  7. Personal Expression Still Life Painting and Color Study

Stream 2: Figure Lessons From The Masters

Historically artist’s first figure study was copying paintings and drawings done by the masters that came before them. On Line students will take a similar approach to learning figure drawing and painting while using the ARA Boston atelier methods of drafting a proportional figure, doing a construct using comparative measurement, and rendering a realistic figure in both drawing and painting mediums. Most assignments will be master copies but will also include self portrait and learning to translate information from photographs of figure models.

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Cartoon Construction: Learning how to construct a figure

  1. Figure Drawing: Graphite

  2. Figure Drawing: Carbon Pencil

  3. Figure Drawing: Red Chalk

  4. Figure Drawing: Charcoal and White Chalk

Painting

  1. Figure Painting: Grisaille

  2. Figure Painting: Warm/Cool Palette

  3. Figure Painting Limited Palette

  4. Figure Painting: Underpainting For Glazing

  5. Figure Painting: Full Palette

  6. Independent Assignment

Student Testimonial:

In general, one of the great advantages of the type of online learning that ARA Boston provides is that each session is a live, online experience through Zoom with Eric Johnson, our teacher, and all the students in the class. All teaching is done live, and the demos that Eric conducts to illustrate certain principles or techniques are also done live (but they are also recorded for students to review later).


The biggest advantage is the ability to study with Eric Johnson, master artist and master teacher, even though he is hundreds of miles from where I live. The instruction I am receiving with Eric at ARA is at a far more comprehensive level from what I previously experienced. Specifically: His knowledge of techniques, materials and the Old Masters is awesome. He’s a technology geek totally comfortable with the online teaching environment. He has a wide range of interests that inform and inspire his personal work and instruction. He is a master at sharing his experience and expertise – always authoritative, but never condescending. He will cheerfully answer any question. I have never heard a question go unanswered. And the answers are always explanations that are highly informative. He is welcoming, patient, and devoted to helping each student develop and grow during their individual artistic journeys. And he is a kind person!

With the addition of its innovative online atelier program, ARA Boston offers a distance learning experience that continues to uphold its rigorous standards.