The typical progression of assignments are as follows; Charles Bargue lithograph copy, cast drawing in pencil, charcoal, and charcoal and white chalk, still life oil painting in grisaille, oil painting in limited palette, and finally students use a full oil painting palette.

By copying Bargue references and drawing from antique casts students become proficient with accuracy and technique. It also teaches the core elements of classical realism, in order to create beautiful relationships and harmonies within the visual art of drawing. As students advance, they are challenged on more complex ideas, such as intention and composition. The Sight Size Method is used in all the exercises.

Figure Drawing
Class size is kept to a minimum to allow students ample room to work using the sight size method. Students progress in the figure class the same way they do in the Bargue/Cast class, moving from simple to more complex challenges with the highest regard to proportion, gesture, outline and shadow shape. In the beginning, poses are held for a minimum of three hours and students work in pencil. Once they become skillful at this level they advance to working from longer poses and using the more complex mediums.