Blog

Drawing guides, art history, and the real academic methods behind the masters.

A three-dimensional color space seen at an angle, its hues fanning out from a white center into separated blades of green, cyan, blue, magenta, red and yellow.

The Many Problems with Color (and Why It Never Looks Quite Right)

A limited palette can only mix so much. What a color gamut really is, why the flat color wheel is a lie, and what color really looks like once you understand its three-dimensionality.

Jake Taplin August 14, 2026

Charcoal portrait of a man in a fur hat — a self-directed study from before the author’s academic training.

The First Year of Charcoal Figures

Jacob L spent a year doing twelve-hour charcoal figure drawings the 19th-century academic way. Here's what it did to his draftsmanship.

Jacob L June 2, 2026

Split image of painting by bastien lepage

Essential Books & Guides for Training Like a 19th Century Master Artist

A curated list of essential books on 19th-century French academic art, from École des Beaux-Arts history to practical guides on classical drawing and painting.

Ramon Hurtado August 13, 2025

Students riding their easels like horses Ecole des beaux arts

A Fieldtrip to the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts in Paris!

I recently went to Paris and had a chance to see some amazing academic drawings in the collection of the École des Beaux-Arts

Ramon Hurtado August 13, 2025

Bargue Drawings: Facts, Fiction and How to Do Them!

The real history behind Bargue drawings and how to learn from them without wasting hundreds of hours. Includes free plates and a drawing guide.

Ramon Hurtado August 10, 2025

How Great Artists Actually Learned to Draw (And Why It Was Fun)

Discover the fun, practical method that trained history’s best artists, and why it still works for beginners today.

Ramon Hurtado August 10, 2025