Portraiture & Figure Painting in Oil Thomas Torak
Class Description:
Thomas Torak teaches the core principles of classical painting, with stress on the importance of a logical and organized approach. Students learn to use light to create the illusion of form in an atmospheric space on a two-dimensional surface. Elements of drawing, composition, color, and painting techniques will all be discussed. The class works from life, models pose online, poses last two weeks. Torak paints along with the class and explains his process during the model’s breaks. After the model leaves students send images of their work to be critiqued. Students are encouraged to learn at their own pace, all levels are welcome.
“The canvas is an empty space. It is the job of the artist to fill that void with light and form and atmosphere, with wisdom and challenge, with passion, energy, and poetry, and with all the infinite variety and nuance of the human condition.” — Thomas Torak
About the Instructor:
Thomas Torak studied at The Art Students League from 1974 to 1983 with Robert Beverly Hale and Frank Mason. His paintings have been recognized with the American Artists Professional League Medal of Honor, the Audubon Artists Gold Medal of Honor, the Allied Artists of America Silver Medal of Honor, the Academic Artists Association Gold Medal, and the AAPL Frank C. Wright Medal of Honor. He has been elected to signature membership in the American Artists Professional League, the twelfth artist to receive this honor in the organization’s eighty-three-year history. His painting The Artist was purchased by the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, LA, for their permanent collection. Mr. Torak’s paintings have been seen at the Butler Institute of American Art, the Gilcrease Museum, the Springfield Museum of Fine Art, the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, the San Diego Art Institute, the National Academy Museum, the Krasl Art Center, the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, the Wiregrass Museum of Art, and the Chautauqua Art Galleries.
Artist Website: www.thomastorak.com
Thomas Torak teaches the core principles of classical painting, with stress on the importance of a logical and organized approach. Students learn to use light to create the illusion of form in an atmospheric space on a two-dimensional surface. Elements of drawing, composition, color, and painting techniques will all be discussed. The class works from life, models pose online, poses last two weeks. Torak paints along with the class and explains his process during the model’s breaks. After the model leaves students send images of their work to be critiqued. Students are encouraged to learn at their own pace, all levels are welcome.
“The canvas is an empty space. It is the job of the artist to fill that void with light and form and atmosphere, with wisdom and challenge, with passion, energy, and poetry, and with all the infinite variety and nuance of the human condition.” — Thomas Torak
About the Instructor:
Thomas Torak studied at The Art Students League from 1974 to 1983 with Robert Beverly Hale and Frank Mason. His paintings have been recognized with the American Artists Professional League Medal of Honor, the Audubon Artists Gold Medal of Honor, the Allied Artists of America Silver Medal of Honor, the Academic Artists Association Gold Medal, and the AAPL Frank C. Wright Medal of Honor. He has been elected to signature membership in the American Artists Professional League, the twelfth artist to receive this honor in the organization’s eighty-three-year history. His painting The Artist was purchased by the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, LA, for their permanent collection. Mr. Torak’s paintings have been seen at the Butler Institute of American Art, the Gilcrease Museum, the Springfield Museum of Fine Art, the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, the San Diego Art Institute, the National Academy Museum, the Krasl Art Center, the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, the Wiregrass Museum of Art, and the Chautauqua Art Galleries.
Artist Website: www.thomastorak.com
The Art Students League of New York
