New course of "Stroganov Centre" educational programme on the history of the world art is over. For three days, the students and teachers of children art schools, Magnezit veterans and youth as well as the people interested in art were obtaining deeper knowledge of the painting techniques and the art of various epochs. 

Internal Freedom 

Anastasiya Ivanovna Arkhipova is an illustrator, a Distinguished Artist of the Russian Federation, a correspondent member of the Russian Academy of Arts, an associate professor of S.G. Stroganov Moscow State Art and Industrial Academy, vice-president of the International Council of Children’s Books. She has been creating water drawings for the books of the world’s fine literature for many years. Her works are elaborated masterpieces. Starting the work on each illustration, she deeply analyses the writing, the epoch depicted by the author, the historical context and the situation. 

“On the one hand, it is a complicated task. On the other hand, it is very interesting, because you penetrate the author’s vision, create the image, which is connected with your own thoughts,” said the artist introducing the master class for the students of Yu.M. Rozum Children Art School No. 1. She proposed the participants to think about a character and implement the image in a water drawing using the main idea of "The New Dress of the King" fairy tale – dependence on illusions and the public opinion. The young artists analysed their environment and the perception of it, broadened the understanding of the creative work and created unique images. Anastasiya Ivanovna pointed out, “Some of you have created quite realistic dreams. Others, to the contrary, have a dream which will be never fulfilled. Good job everyone. All of you have created interesting pieces. Cultivate your internal freedom. Put other tasks for yourselves... It is not a classical drawing but a process developing thinking to make you feel your individuality.”

Anastasiya Arkhipova answered the questions about her evolution as an artist and approaches to work during the meet-the-artist session in Magnezit museum hosting the exhibition of her illustrations. 

She told that she had been born in a family of artists and started drawing from the early age. “There were always a lot of friends coming and discussing the issues connected with fine art. It seemed it is the most interesting thing in the world, and an artist is the main profession in the world. I had no doubt I would choose it.”

Anastasiya Ivanovna illustrates mainly children’s books. However, her works include illustrations to not quite fairy stories, including "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Goethe, Moliere plays, books about war. She also creates covers. “It is a special task. It is important to find a quintessence of a writing to make the illustration on the cover immediately attract the attention, reflect the essence of the story, match the font.”

There were questions about the process of selecting a subject, the time required to make a drawing, special tools used to draw small details. Some people brought the books kept in home libraries for many years and read to children of several generations to receive an autograph. “I have just signed a book, a very very old one, small, thin, in two colours – one of my first editions. It was Clever Hans by the Brothers Grimm. An unexpected and pleasant encounter.”

At the end of the meeting, Anastasiya Arkhipova thanked everyone and noted that she had not been able to visit the opening of the exhibition. “Unfortunately, I had an impression about it only by photographs. It is totally different to see it personally. It is nearly the same as to know that millions of people will see your works in books and to see the faces of the people looking at them right now.”

Gaining Proficiency

Ink wash painting requires skill mastery. The tradition of this technique dates back to 300-200 B.C. It is difficult to become a master in the ink wash painting. The features of the style allow no mistakes. The artists learn and practice for a long time. Before the work, the artist has to imagine the painting in details. It is impossible to change anything as we can do on a canvas. To avoid mistakes, the artist works ‘in one breath” without breaks. The participants of the master class held by Lu Tzy Yuj, a Chinese artist, a teacher of S.G. Stroganov Moscow State Art and Industrial Academy, tried to grasp the subtle art of Chinese ink painting. 

The subject of the master class was a natural genre typical for the ink wash painting. The participants drew a plate full of cherries. The specificity of the technique allows to make a finished image of a berry with one stroke, and the rice paper, water and ink – to vary the colour density and the texture. “Chinese painting is not as simple as it may seem,” noted the master of the class. “Lines are much more important in it than the colour. There are 18 methods to draw lines.” 

The theme of painting was continued by Irina Miklushevskaya, an associate professor, an art history PhD of S.G. Stroganov Moscow State Art and Industrial Academy. Two master classes for the children of art departments of Satka district Children Art Schools were devoted to the technique of multilayer watercolour painting. 

Within the first class, young artists polished up their skills painting a still-life with a bunch of green grapes. “Just a month ago, your art school hosted the master class by Lu Tzy Yuj, a Chinese artists, a teacher of our academy. Its participants, including some of you, also painted grapes. I thought it would be interesting for you to compare two different art techniques,” explained Irina Nikolayevna the choice of the subject. The second master class was devoted to another subject – a sea sketch. 

Irina Miklushevskaya gave detailed comments, showed the nuances of the work with paper, shades, contrast and colour, shared her valuable advices and methods to elaborate on each work. The experience was adopted not only by young artists but their teachers as well.

A Sketch for the Native Town

A unique master class was held for the children of Yu.M. Rozum Children Art School No. 1 by Moscow artist and architect Alexey Luchko (Luka). 

“Lots of factors must be taken into account when making a sketch. Think of the things bringing the most joy to you, what you would like to see every day and what, as you think, people would like, what would look good in your town,” addressed Alexey the participants before the work. “The most important is to imagine that one day your idea might be implemented in life, your work might decorate one of the buildings.” The children cut magazine pictures and pasted them on foam board forms of buildings, drew and designed. The resulted sketches were distinguished, had a deep meaning encouraging to take care of the nature and the people around you.

Under his direction, the young artists could submerge into street art, feel and get through the stages from making a concept to creating a sketch for a particular building and for a particular audience in a form of a game. 

“I have been surprised by quite unusual approaches of the authors. Children think beyond any boundaries. They were only limited by a shape of the building,” noted Luka.

Stalls installation – a massive sculpture composition made from wrecks of former street structures – was also presented at the same time. This object d'art is both an echo of Satka history deconstructed and recreated in a new form and a marker of the town transformation, its new forms and events, a tribute to the memory and a beacon for changes.

Photo by Vasily Maksimov, organisers.