Level: All

July 9 - Aug 20, 2026

Thursdays

10am - 1pm

7 weeks

Instructor: John Grieco

Fee: $340 (incl all model fees)

This class is geared toward teaching students three different methods of approaching a figure drawing: the Riley Method, the Bridgeman Method and the Nicolaides Method.  John will explain and demonstrate one of these techniques in each figure drawing class.  We will start off with short poses and progress to longer poses similar to the Open Sketch Class Rowayton Art Center offers on various Sundays.

On alternate weeks, John will demonstrate how to work on a portrait from the model with an emphasis on massing in the bones and features of the face. During these sessions the model will do one long pose.

This class will emphasize drawing because most problems with painting the figure or head are drawing problems.  (More advanced students can paint during the portrait sessions if they prefer.)

Note: This class meets every week from July 9 to August 20.  Every class will feature a live model;  JULY 9, JULY 23,  AUG 6, AUG 20TH for figure drawing, July 16, July 30, and Aug 13 will be a portrait model.

Supply List:

  • Medium vine charcoal
  • White conte drawing pencil
  • General charcoal pencil (HB or 2b)
  • Kneaded eraser
  • Sharpening blade
  • 18×24” Borden and Riley Sketch Vellum .  This is for figure drawing.
  • Blending stump (used for smoothing and blending)
  • Paper towels
  • Drawing board (at least 18×24)
  • A piece of Stonehenge Hot Press paper (18X24″) or a 11″X14″ tablet of it (if you have a tablet of other good paper you can bring that to work on.). This will be used for portraits.

NOTE: image above by Tracey Dinkin, one of John’s long time students.

John Grieco is an award winning Portrait Artist from New York.  He won “Best in Show” at a 2010 Exhibition at the Salmagundi Art Club in New York City and received the Randolph Chitwood Award in the 2010 Greenwich Art Society Members Exhibition. Grieco is also a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant.  John has been teaching art and portraiture for over 25 years.