Our Curriculum
Every art school in the world qualifies you on your artistic ability.
We don’t. We built a program anyone can follow.
The only thing you need is the time to do it.
No portfolio.
No audition.
No interview.
No degree.
No experience.
The Fundamentals
Our curriculum breaks down art creation into easily digested parts, so you are confident in your skills before each new technique is added. Everything rests on three moving parts — value, edge, and color. The blocks teach them in that order: grayscale first, until light and form are second nature, then color, then the control to combine them in realistic and finally painterly work.
Intro to Grayscale
Founder Kevin Murphy starts every student in grayscale for a reason: in grayscale you can paint an entire figure — a ball on a table, or the Sistine Chapel — using nothing but how light or dark something is, and the edge that connects one value to the next. Strip color away and painting stops being a guessing game. Master value and edge first, and when color arrives later it is the same decision you have already learned to make, with more choices.
This is a structured introduction to painting and to thinking like an artist by understanding what you see. You will make your first paintings, and begin to see the world in terms of shadow and light as well as take the first steps in learning to control the brush.
Feedback is delivered live (or via recording if you can't attend) to make sure you have a chance to ask questions and see the other students succeeding around you. High quality materials are included to ensure you get the results and follow along seamlessly.
About 7 weeks: one week for your box to arrive, then six weekly assignments.
What’s in the box
- Canvas Pad 9″ × 12″
- Intro to Grayscale Transfer Packet
- Intro to Grayscale Reference Packet
- Carbon Paper 9″ × 12″ (5 pieces)
- Palette Paper 9″ × 12″
- Grayscale Brush Set
- Old Holland Grayscale Paint Set, 40ml
- Palette Knife
You supply: Bar of Ivory soap, Easel (tabletop or standing), Painter's tape.
Block 1: Grayscale Fundamentals
Continuing right where Intro to Grayscale finished, you will go all the way to creating realistic paintings by learning four core skills: identifying sharp and soft edges, making gradients, painting reflections and highlights, and depth. This is a complete overhaul of how the program was taught in the past, making the learning progression easier and even more structured. By the end of Block 1 you will be well on your way to mastering two of the three key components of any realistic art: value and edge.
What’s in the box
- Palette Paper Pad 12″ × 16″
- Canvas Pads 9″ × 12″ (2 × 10 sheets)
- Carbon Paper 9″ × 12″
- 105 Transfer Packet (28)
- 105 Reference Packet (26)
- Fine-tip markers, blue and red
- Old Holland Titanium White and Mars Black, 18ml
- 5H and 2H graphite pencils
- Angelo 410 sable brushes #8, #6, #4
- Evolve stiff brush set (9)
Block 2: Color Fundamentals
With the fundamentals learned in Block 1, the next step is adding color. You will learn to mix colors with extreme precision, so you are comfortable mixing any color you need.
Block 3: Hyperrealism
Go beyond what you ever thought possible with your art as you create your first hyperrealistic paintings. These assignments will show you that yes — you really do have the ability to paint at an extremely high level. In this block you will develop the quality-control skills necessary to create high quality, realistic art. Be prepared for the art you create to be mistaken for actual photographs!
Block 4: Making Paintings
With all of the fundamentals learned, it’s time to loosen up and create art that looks like paintings.
How long will it take to see results?
Use our calculator to plan your progress through Evolve based on how many hours you work per week.
60 hours of painting in total.
