Our Methods

SARA values working directly from life and experiencing the subject in person, whether it be another human being, a landscape or an object. Painting is far more than just image making. Painting is a physical record of a personal, human response to a subject. That response is never more pure, true and sincere than when it comes directly from life. At SARA, our heartfelt desire is to foster, in our students, a love for working from life and a true appreciation for having that direct and deeper connection with one’s subject in the creative process. Working from life, unlike copying from photographs, has its challenges, such as lighting and subject matter that moves or changes over time, and converting three-dimensional subjects to two-dimensional images. The demanding process of learning to convert something three-dimensional to a two-dimensional surface and still have it look three-dimensional is a skill set that requires a very specific type of training and takes time to master. In an ever increasingly digital and AI based technological age, it has never been more important and meaningful to work from life and to exercise our own imagination rather than outsourcing it to generative artificial intelligence. SARA is dedicated to preserving, supporting and developing the craft and humanistic value of hand-made drawing and painting forward in the 21st-century.

SARA’s three-year education is designed as a systematic progression that breaks down the complex challenge of learning to draw and paint realistically from life into manageable, practical stages. At each stage, the student must acquire and demonstrate specific skills before advancing to the next more challenging stage. Students progress from drawing with a graphite pencil all the way to free and confident oil painting by following a logical, step-by-step program. Along the way, students also learn a wide variety of practical studio skills, including hand grinding oil paint, preparing wood panels and other supports for painting; stretching and gessoing raw linen canvas as a support; mixing mediums and grounds, using varnishes, and more.

In fact, students of SARA can trace their training in a direct and unbroken line of descent, from their instructors as far back as the 14th century. They have a genuine connection to numerous old masters such as Andrea Del Sarto, Leonardo Da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Jacopo da Pontormo, as well as François Boucher, Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and many other masters.

Have a look at our faculty page for the direct lineage of artists and teachers of SARA all the way back to the 14th century.