Unless you have tried to learn or improve your drawing and painting skills elsewhere it is hard to appreciate the uniqueness of what Mission: Renaissance provides. However, if you have tried elsewhere, you will quickly grasp that here is a treasured oasis in the middle of an almost desolate desert of art education.
In the late l940’s, I was a young student in one of the very best art schools. In order to be accepted, I had to already know how to draw and paint. I soon understood why.
While a student there, I wasn’t taught one single thing that helped me to paint better. Today, this is still typical in art education. The emphasis is on “creativity,” not skills.
When I first began teaching, after a successful career as an artist, I looked at books on art instruction for a method that would obtain immediate results for my students. But although they all had some good tips, they also all had some strange ideas. I soon discovered that there was no step-by-step approach that actually worked. Not one. I finally realized that there was no place where a person could be taught from the beginning basics to gain the skills needed to paint beautifully. If I wanted such a place, I would have to create it.
Perhaps the only reason Mission; Renaissance is such a place today is because of our stated purpose: “To enrich the lives of others”. Because of this, we care enough to make certain that people learn. People, who want skills, deserve results. Now, at Mission: Renaissance, anyone with the desire can learn to draw and paint beautifully. Step-by-step we can provide the skills a person needs.
Vast numbers of people don’t believe it is possible to learn drawing and painting without special gifts. Perhaps you are one of them. The myth that one must be born with talent to succeed in any field is very old. One of my greatest pleasures is to see the myth die in such a skeptic—usually during the first class al Mission: Renaissance. It is replaced by relief and joy, and the knowledge that even as an artist, one can learn to succeed. Why not? People can learn. So can you.
