Become an Accomplished Artist: Master These Tools and Techniques
FOUNDATIONS contains exactly the same in-depth art instruction that Famous Artists Courses have been offering for more than 60 years—now available in an updated online format! Get one-on-one instruction in all the tools and techniques you need to access the artist within you. [Click Here for Master Courses]
FOUNDATIONS is the one-of-a-kind creative art course created by 12 famous artists, including the renowned Norman Rockwell and Albert Dorne. If you want to draw, paint, or design, either as a serious hobby or professionally, then this course is the one you need to get started, guaranteed. (Sign up for a FREE PREVIEW and get a coupon code for $100 off your enrollment! Take a look at our brochure.)
- Online and print delivery format: enables you to study and work on your own time, and progress at a pace that’s comfortable for you. Draw, paint, and study in your pajamas, at the corner coffee shop, in the morning or at night—it’s up to you. PLUS: you also receive our beautiful printed two-volume textbook when you enroll, giving you complete control over how and when you study!
- Individual attention and guidance from a professional Artist/Instructor: receive one-on-one guidance from one of our professional Artist/Instructors who help lead you to total skill mastery. Instructors provide hand-prepared, detailed critiques of each and every assignment. You can read an actual instructor’s feedback letter to a former student below. (This is possibly THE most unique aspect of our program and one of the most valuable!)
- World-class curriculum: this extensive art course boasts an impressive 60-plus-year history; originally conceived and developed by 12 world-famous artists who believed that giving student artists instruction in the fundamentals of artistic expression was like giving them the keys to the kingdom.
- Free Preview: no obligations, no upfront credit card information, just you test-drive our course “sampler” so you can see for yourself how clear and comprehensive the lessons are, and how easy it is to follow along and stay engaged.
- Beautiful online textbook: 10 huge chapters. You start with the very basics of pencil, charcoal, and ink, followed by watercolors and oils, and then a deeper dive into design, composition, color theory, perspective, textures, and patterns. The textbook is filled with instructional artwork, how-tos, and tips and tricks for using your tools the way the pros do.
- Gorgeous printed two-volume textbook: you’ll also receive our full-color print edition when you enroll. This offers you the ultimate in flexibility. Want to unplug and curl up in an easy chair to study? Our textbooks provide you that comfort. Over 200 pages of full color instruction you keep forever. Spiral-bound binders lie flat for easy studying and reference. Plus, you’ll have them to keep and refer to for years to come.
- Ironclad money back guarantee: You have 15 days after enrolling in the course to ask for a full refund, no questions asked. We believe strongly that you will find this course incredibly valuable, but we don’t want you to take it if you’re not completely happy with it.
Do you want to try out a lesson to see how it works?
Try our Introductory Painting Lesson for just $39.50 (an $80 value). It includes everything you need to try out the FAS method. Send your completed painting back to us for your personal evaluation by one of our Instructors AND a coupon for $39.50 to apply to any FAS Course. LEARN MORE
Once you enroll you get immediate access to all 10 chapters of the online textbook. We’ll ship you the printed two-volume textbook and supplementary course materials (including special artist paper, artwork mailer, and mailing labels). You’ll also receive in-depth critiques and hand-prepared feedback from your Artist/Instructor for every assignment you complete, and access to an online community of artist students like yourself.
FOUNDATIONS course with one-on-one instruction and guidance from professional artists is the only one you’ll find that gives you all the tools and techniques you need to become an accomplished artist, and that includes surprising and delighting your family and friends—all for $795 (or $895 if you select the convenient installment plan!)
Our convenient payment plan makes this course affordable for everyone! Sign up for our free preview or find out how you can enroll now and get started as an artist, fast. Take a look at our printable brochure (PDF).
(Take a look at the complete Curriculum. Learn more about How It Works. Take a look at a Sample Critique. We have an ironclad Guarantee. You can proceed with confidence and Enroll Now or you can sign up for a Free Preview!)
FOUNDATIONS Provides a Rock-Solid Base to Build On
Our Foundations curriculum will enable you to master the tools and techniques you need to express yourself as an artist.
Chapter 1—The Basic Art Materials: Pencil and Ink
Pencil drawing • How to get different effects with pencil • Drawing in ink with pen and brush • Experiment with your pens • Drawing with brush and ink • Different tools, different effects
Chapter 2—The Basic Art Materials: Watercolor and Oil Painting
Tools for wash (transparent watercolor) painting • Basics of painting in wash • Demonstration: Painting still life in wash • Tools for opaque (non-transparent watercolor) painting • Various techniques of opaque painting • Demonstration: Painting landscape in opaque • Advice for watercolor painting • Handling oil paint • Arranging colors on your palette • Mixing colors • Using varied brush and knife strokes • Three steps for painting in oil • Painting in acrylics
Chapter 3—Basic Design
Design has many functions • Design is everywhere • Circle and square • Shape in terms of viewpoint • Giving variety to negative shapes • Design and observation • Design and imagination • Composition and action • Experiments in composition
Chapter 4—Composition
The four main elements of composition • Picture area • Applying common sense to composition • Depth • Use depth in an interesting way • Design in depth • Line • Using line to full advantage • Value • Plan with a few simple values • Creating a center of interest • Controlling values in a composition • Seven hints for composition
Chapter 5—Observation and Perspective
Light and dark shapes • Aerial perspective • Shape, value, and edge • Vantage points • Forms in depth • Two-point perspective • Drawing the circle • Compound forms • Reflection • Great artists and perspective
Chapter 6—Basics of Picture-Making: Form
What is Form? • How to Draw the Illusion of Form • Objects Have a Basic Form • Drawing the Basic Form • Combining the Basic Forms • Light and Shade • Solid
Forms Make Good Pictures • Creating Realistic Forms • Creating Form in Space • Flat Shapes Show Form • Form Drawing Step by Step • Form in Perspective • Arranging Forms in Space • Making an Accurate Drawing
Chapter 7—Reproducing Texture
Creating Texture and Pattern • Variety of Form is Everywhere • Variety in textures • Repeated Forms • Texture and Mood • Effect of Distance • Pattern and Texture • Handling Texture • Applying the principles • Controlling Texture • Contrast in Textures • Drawn Textures • Contrast in Approaches • Five Artists Draw an Eagle • Texture Balance
Chapter 8—Effect of Color
An Introduction to Color • Three Dimensions of Color • One Color Affects Another • Color in Different Lights • Advancing and Receding Colors • Varied Effects of Color • Using What You Have Learned • Collage as a Trial Sketch
Chapter 9—Drawing the Human Figure
The Human Form • Contour Drawing • Gesture Drawing - Drawing Hands and Heads • Balance • Proportions • Form and Bulk • Modeling Weight and Bulk • The Basic Forms • Using the Gesture Drawing • Working with a Model
Chapter 10—Drawing the Head and Hands
Drawing the Head • Forms of the Head • Basics for Drawing the Head • Light and Shade on the Head • Male and Female Heads • Drawing Children • Gallery • The Expressive Hand • Construction and Action • Blocking in the Hand • Gallery • Hands in Pictures
Now take a look at How It Works!
You Get Direct Feedback from Your Artist/Instructor
Throughout your Course you’ll have your personal Artist/Instructor working with you—showing you how to improve and how to build on your skills and experience as you progress through the ten Foundations lessons.
After you’ve completed your online enrollment, you will receive a package that includes Student Information, Assignment Instructions, and Assignment materials including special papers for use in certain Assignments, as well as a mailer and labels for sending your assignments to your instructor.
It Works Like This
You complete the Assignment work for the Lesson, having studied the appropriate section in your textbooks and worked on the home assignments and practice projects.
You send your completed Assignment to Famous Artists School, where it’s logged in and allocated to the appropriate Instructor.
In his or her own studio, your Instructor evaluates your work. Depending on the subject matter of the Lesson, and the medium called for, he or she will place overlays on top of your work. Sometimes these are tissue paper, sometimes clear acetate sheets—sometimes both. On these overlays, your Instructor makes notes and indicates changes and suggestions for improvements. On the clear acetate sheets, he will actually paint his suggestions, such as a change in color to indicate depth, or a possible rearrangement of the items in your composition. With this approach, you can easily see, by lifting and lowering the acetate sheet, how your painting would be improved by these changes. (See an example)
Your Instructor writes a thorough and descriptive letter about your work for this Assignment, pointing out strengths and weaknesses, and describing techniques and approaches for improving your results. He’ll also answer any questions that you may have raised about this Assignment or other more general art issues. (See an example)
Digital photographs provide a record of your Assignment and your Instructor’s comments and suggestions. Before returning your Assignment to you, we take digital photos of each phase and keep them on file so that you and we both have a record in case of future need. If you wish, we can put all this material on a disk or chip for you when you complete your Course.
With this kind of personalized individual attention, you’ll make rapid progress in your confidence and skills.
To learn more, take a look at a Sample Critique or Enroll now.
Detailed individual feedback from your Artist/instructor is by far one of the most unique features of the FOUNDATIONS course and one of the most valuable.
By providing you with written evaluations and hand-prepared critiques, you know your instructor has dedicated a significant amount of time to your work providing his or her professional insight. You’d have little chance of capturing this type of informative feedback in a traditional classroom.
Sample Critique:
Below is an example of an actual assignment turned in by one of our Famous Artists School students. Click on the links to see the original turned in by the student, the overlay prepared by the Instructor, and the overlay with Instructor’s comments. Then, below that, is an example of the letter your instructor writes for each assignment.
Below is an actual Instructor’s critique of an assignment turned in by one of our Famous Artists School students:
August 25, 2011
Assignment 9
Dear XXXXXX,
The purpose of this assignment is to let you show how well you understand and use the basic principles of picture composition. As an artist, you must feel free to select and organize the objects and areas in your picture to create the effects you want.
This assignment is a real challenge, but you should not be discouraged. We don’t expect masterpieces, but rather your honest efforts at doing the best you can. The important thing is that you work hard to apply my suggestions in each succeeding painting you do. Now let us review the major points of my criticism.
I’ve used acetate over your work to show some changes that would help you. Raise and lower the acetate so you can compare my suggestions with your work.
Your tendency to use so much detail breaks up the large areas and weakens your composition. Adding too much detail in a picture is just like adding too much salt and pepper to food! Just a little bit goes a long way.
See how I’ve suggested simplifying areas in your picture to strengthen the overall composition.
Feel free to redesign and reposition natural objects and areas to build a stronger compositional structure.
Look for ways to vary the sizes of objects, shapes and divisions of space in a picture.
Your ability to handle your paint will improve if you learn to control the amount of paint on the canvas. The areas of the picture in shade should be kept relatively thin. The areas in light should be thicker. The combination of thick and thin can give a feeling of richness to your picture.
Your tendency to paint very thin will make it difficult for you to make corrections. The nice thing about oils is the ability to “correct” an area by simply painting over it. It’s good to start thin, but use thicker paint as you develop the picture.
There is an indication here that you have not worked through your painting procedure properly, which results in a loss of form and value contrast. Be sure to establish the darker shadow areas of the subject first, keeping your paint thin. Then move on through your lighter tones and finally to the lightest values, where your paint should be the heaviest. Although you can work back and forth between light and dark areas as your picture develops, you should start with this basic approach.
The pattern of light and dark in a picture can be used to give it balance, strength and interest. A good way to try out effective patterns is shown on page 13 of Section 9. As you plan a picture composition, experiment with several small pattern sketches before you start to paint.
At times, nature sets before us a wide array of colors, but you don’t need to faithfully record each and every color. The colors in your painting stand out to the extent that each area becomes more important than the “picture.” The colors can be modified to better relate one area to another. On my visual I’ve demonstrated one way to create this unity.
At every opportunity, study the colors in landscapes around you. Notice that colors further away appear cooler and less intense (less brilliant) due to atmospheric haze. You can use this principle to give depth to a picture even when the distance is not great. In fact, this same principle can be used in painting a still life.
You must continue to develop your sense of concentrated observation. We tend to take nature too much for granted—looking but not really observing. As you draw or paint, look carefully—study each shape—the range of light and dark values in your subject—the lighting of each object. Only by this careful observation can you learn to draw and paint well.
Right from the start, you must study the major values (light and dark tones) of your subject and keep them constantly in mind as you work. It isn’t necessary that they be a precise match of nature or a photograph but they should relate to it and profit by careful observation and thoughtful planning.
Although we are primarily concerned with composition in this assignment, I’d like to compliment you on your sense of form. Your objects have a convincing solidity, a feeling of reality. Especially in your mountain painting!
To capture the fluid quality of the water, actually paint wet into wet. First, put in a base tone for approximate color and value and work back into this wet paint with subtle variations to show the directional action of the water. While this is still wet, add the reflections or details.
Your sky has been handled only fairly well, but you’ll do better as you develop your sense of observation and take advantage of nature’s effects. You’re probably saying, “But the sky is such a simple thing!” It is, but for the painter it is very important to think of the sky in relation to the rest of the picture in terms of color and value and to achieve a feeling of space.
In my analysis of your work I have concentrated mainly on picture composition. Effective design and organization of your pictures will make them strong and satisfying.
You may feel I’ve been somewhat severe in my criticism of your assignment. This is to acquaint you better with procedures you will want to develop as you progress. You’ll move ahead very nicely if you concentrate on the suggestions I’ve made.
For this assignment I’ve given you a grade of B-.
Sincerely,
Hank McLaughlin
Preview FOUNDATIONS
Preview Foundations for free, with no obligation!
by FAS Alumna Pam Rice
Just click here to sign up for a free preview. You’ll get access to a “Sampler” of the ten lessons of the Foundations Course, including the full introduction and table of contents, typical pages from each lesson, and excerpts from the Assignments. You’ll see how easy it is to use the “flipbook” format, which allows you to move freely from page to page or between chapters, and to zoom in on particular sections. By browsing this Sampler, you’ll be able to see clearly how the Foundations Course works and what it contains. In addition, you’ll get a coupon code for $100 off your enrollment!
And when you decide to join the FAS art community and enroll for a Foundations Course, you’ll have our guarantee of access to the full complete Course for 15 days. If you’re not completely satisfied, we’ll refund your payment.
Full access includes total immersion in pencil and charcoal, pen, ink, and markers, oil and watercolor; composition, design, perspective, form, texture, color, pattern, and advanced techniques in handling figure drawing and, especially challenging, head, face, and hands.
Sign up for the free preview or enroll now. FOUNDATIONS is priced at a very affordable $795, or $895 with the easy installment payment plan. The affordable cost and 15-day money-back guarantee makes this a no-brainer. We urge you to check out the preview and see if you don’t agree.
Going for it all: Master Courses
What if you want to commit to going as far as you can go when you embark on your study of art? A Master Course is what you need!
In the Painting Master Creative Art Course, beyond all of the Lesson and Chapters in the Foundations Course, you will study, in detail, various aspects and techniques of painting. Topics include motifs (still life, portrait, landscape), creative expressions, and the technical points of anatomy and clothing in oil, watercolor, and acrylic. Your FAS Artist/Instructor will evaluate each of your 24 Painting Master Assignments (10 Assignments in the Foundations segment and 14 Assignments in the Painting segment).
Coming Soon
Illustration and Design Master Creative Art Course: In this Course you’ll learn to create mood and tell a story by studying some of the masters of story illustration.
Cartooning Master Creative Art Course: Enter the wonderful world of cartooning with lessons from legendary cartoonists including Rube Goldberg, Milton Caniff, and Al Capp.
Enroll Now—Build Your FOUNDATIONS to Succeed as an Artist!
Sign up for FOUNDATIONS now—the ONLY art course created by 12 Famous Artists, including Norman Rockwell and Albert Dorne, so they could ensure that each and every student gets a rock-solid grounding in the principles and techniques they need to become an accomplished artist!
When you ENROLL, you’ll not only receive access to the full online Foundations Course—you’ll also be entering into a relationship with your own personal Artist Instructor.
by FAS Alumna Christina Cooper
by FAS Alumnus Gary Lessord
In addition, you’ll be joining a community of artists—people like you who are learning and growing as they nurture their artistic skills and talent. We’re planning an online forum and demonstrations by established artists, as well as links to a variety of websites and resources to add to your enjoyment of the world of art. Get involved after you’ve enrolled and LET US KNOW how we can help you!
Remember, you have our ironclad guarantee: if after 15 days you’re not completely satisfied with your Foundations Course, you may cancel and receive a full refund.
The FOUNDATIONS course goes far beyond most other non-university art courses. If you take advantage of the free preview we believe you’ll see the expansiveness of this curriculum. And no other can boast our history—12 world-famous artists who all believed that putting the right tools and techniques into a serious student artist’s hands was like giving a priceless gift.
If you were to take a course like this through a college or university, it could easily cost you several thousand dollars, but FOUNDATIONS is priced at only $795 ($895 if you select the convenient installment plan).
An installment payment plan makes this outstanding curriculum affordable for everyone so you can work confidently toward your artistic goals.
Why wait? Enroll now.
Our 15-Day, Ironclad, No-Risk Guarantee
We guarantee you’ll be satisfied with your Famous Artists School course!
by FAS Alumna Sherry Leach
Within 15 days of receiving the textbooks and materials, if you are not completely satisfied with your Famous Artists Course, you may return the textbooks and materials to us. Upon their receipt in good condition, we will refund your Course payment, cancel your enrollment, and you will owe us nothing.
FOUNDATIONS course with one-on-one instruction and guidance from professional artists is the only one you’ll find that gives you all the tools and techniques you need to become an accomplished artist—all for $795 ($895 if you select the convenient installment payment plan).
The 15-day money-back guarantee AND easy monthly payment plan makes this a no-brainer for those serious about becoming artists.
