This will read as a pretty straightforward plug for the Illustration Academy (http://www.illustrationacademy.com/index.html) and, well, that's fine with me. I think the Academy is something that more aspiring artists should know about.

When I was in art school during the dark days of the early 1980's there were certain illustrators whom we students all looked up to, who were working at the time, and whose names were legend. They were huge and their work was incredibly influential to all of us as students. Mark English, Bob Peak, Bernie Fuchs, Robert Heindel, Alan Cober, Fred Otnes. We heard that they were putting on something called The Illustrator's Workshop and were drooling over the opportunity to study with these talented guys. Unfortunately, there was no way I could afford something like that, but it didn't stop me from wishing. Many great illustrators came out of that program, Anita Kunz and Chris Payne to name a couple.

The original Illustrator's Workshop is no longer around. I'm not even sure how long it actually ran. But the core group got on with their careers and it became The Illustration Academy run by Mark English and his son John.

Several years ago I received a call from Greg Spalenka who I knew in New York and have been good friends with for a number of years. He said he was going to be in my neck of the woods and would love to come stay a few days and hang out. That alone was going to be a lot of fun. Greg and I share the same musical tastes and usually have a blast playing guitar and doing monoprints. I asked him why he was going to be in our area and he mentioned that he was teaching at the Illustration Academy. I knew that this was the new incarnation of the Illustrator's Workshop, and that they had been doing some great teaching. I wanted to see what the thing was all about and asked Greg if it would be okay to tag along and scope out the going's on. Greg was his usual enthusiastic self and said I should come up and maybe do some demos and a slideshow or something. He said he'd talk with John English and let me know what was up.

He quickly got back to me and said that John would love to have me there, only he couldn't pay me or anything, though they'd put me up. I didn't expect to even be put up much less paid, so I was excited to go and get to see the Academy in action, and maybe meet some of my heroes.

The Academy began in Kansas City then moved to Richmond, Virginia, being hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University. How did it get toVCU? Sterling Hundley (http://www.sterlinghundley.com), a student of VCU, attended the Academy in Kansas and was blown away by the education he got there that he began a push to get it to come to VCU. With Robert Meganck (http://www.robertmeganck.com) , a professor at VCU, he was able to get the Academy there.

I showed up the week that Greg would teach. Each instructor teaches for a week, working with the students like an art director on the assignment they've given. Each instructor, as well, gives a slide presentation and performs a demonstration or two. It is a very hands on approach to teaching — and it works.

I was surprised by the caliber of the students at the Academy. These were serious people who wanted to take their education, and their careers, to the next level. They wanted to be there. And if you're in school now and you're one of the student's that is serious about what you're doing, then you know the difference between yourself and other less motivated students.

The thing I don't get at all is the lackadaisical attitude of many art students these days. They don't seem interested in drawing, or even painting, and they only work when they have a class assignment! I just don't get it. I thought they wanted to be artists. Instead they seem to have a major desire to be someone who swills beer, plays video games, watches movies and talks a lot about art, but never does any.

Then there are the serious students that tend to eat, sleep, shit art. They have to, it's part of their makeup. If they quit drawing for any length of time they get nervous. Something's missing from their lives if they aren't drawing or painting. This is the typical student at the Academy.

What's nice to see in the interactions between the students at the Academy is their willingness to work with each other, help each other get better.

Anyway, I showed up at the Academy and met up with Greg Spalenka and Roxanne Villa, John English, Brent Watkinson, Sterling Hundley, and a passel of students. I immediately felt like I belonged there. The energy level was high and the aforementioned instructors were just good people. It was obvious that they were there entirely for the students.

We broke and went to lunch and it was there that I really hit if off with the gang. Lots of good humor followed, some healthy nasty jokes and enjoyable art talk. John et al regaled me with the mission of the Academy, namely to shorten the gap separating student from professional through hands-on teaching.

That was how I got to work for the Academy and I've been a regular ever since. What impressed me about the full-time faculty, and the visiting faculty of the Academy is the honest love and belief in what they're doing. Everything is for the students. Everyone that teaches at the Academy puts it all out there. They don't hide anything, or pull the old "give you enough info to hang yourself" routine. They talk straight about how they do what they do and how they run their business.

Besides the intense working hours, there is equally intense fun times. Pranks and laughter are common.

The Academy is now hosted by the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. Students come from all over the world to study.

THE WAY IT WORKS
Each week of the Academy brings a new working illustrator who will be the main instructor of that week. The list of visiting faculty is fairly illustrious: Mark English, Gary Kelley, Chris Payne, Anita Kunz, Natalie Ascencios, Barron Storey, Fred Otnes, Greg Spalenka, Robert Meganck, Josh George, Alexander Klingspor, Jim Burke and Brian Hubble. Some come for the lecture week which takes place in the middle of the Academy, others for their whole week. Among the faculty are illustrators as well as gallery artists.

A typical week consists of, say, Gary Kelley arriving and giving a slideshow lecture of his work. At the end of this lecture he will field questions from the students. He will then deliver his assignment and students will go to their various work stations and begin work on their thumbnails. Quite a bit of the Academy is about process, developing solid working habits that have worked well for the various faculty. Thumbnails are essential, the development of solid idea generation. Students work, and are critiqued, relentlessly on their thumbnails.

The next day Gary critiques the first set of thumbnails, getting fairly in-depth about the strengths and weaknesses of the ideas, compositions, etc. This constant working over of sketches in the thumbnail stage is essential.

Students continue to refine their ideas and sketches throughout the week. Gary and the other full-time faculty are generally always there answering questions and brainstorming with the students. The faculty to student contact hours are very high, higher than any school can deliver, simply because we have four full-time faculty who are always there working with the students. Add the visiting illustrator and that makes 5 instructors each week. Sometimes we have more. Nice.

Another amazing thing about the Academy is the students' willingness to work incredibly long hours. We usually arrive at 9AM and leave around 9PM, though many of the faculty return after dinner and stay till much later. Students routinely stay until 2 or 3AM, then get up and start all over again the next day. We have to sometimes force students to leave and get out of the studios.

Tuesday and Thursday evenings are our drawing nights. We have two large rooms for drawing the figure. The Academy teaches a way of drawing that Mark English found was beneficial to students while he was teaching at the Kansas City Art Institute. It involves working with two tones on toned paper, establishing the silhouette of the figure and building volume through light and shadow. It's very effective in getting students to see form, mass and light. It's also effective in learning to simplify what you're seeing. Near the end of the Academy John let's me push a little of my speed drawing exercises which you can find described in detail elsewhere in my blog.

Thursday (I think) we bring in pizza and sodas after the drawing session. Lots of engaging talk and jokes ensues.

At the beginning of the next week, another illustrator/teacher will arrive and he/she critiques the last assignment. It's a fresh pair of eyes on the labors of the week before. Very effective.

In addition to the straight Academy curriculum there are also various impromptu clinics that take place. Brent Watkinson gives incredible lectures and demonstrations on color, lighting, composition, etc. Gary Kelley has an unbelievable lecture on how he approaches putting together an illustrated book, loaded with original sketches and thumbnails as well as the finished books. This last year I did an impromptu demonstration on how to do monotypes, as we were given access to a small etching press there at the school. The action just never stops.

WORTH LOOKING INTO
I look forward to the Illustration Academy every year because it's a place to recharge my batteries. As John English is fond of saying, you have to be at the top of your game there because everyone is bringing their best. Mark English, Gary Kelley, Chris Payne, Anita Kunz, Natalie Ascencios, Greg Spalenka, Sterling Hundley, Brent Watkinson, Robert Meganck, everyone there is at the peak of their form. To bring anything less than that won't do.

Again, check out the site and dig around. I think the Illustration Academy is one of the best programs going. Quite a number of students tell us that they feel they get their money's worth in the first few days. That's pretty wild. Many students also come back and take the Academy a second or third time, always learning something new. I know I learn something from everyone there. It's a great place to be.