Australian Art schools: Julian Ashton

[Rohan]

Has anyone been to or know anyone with any direct experience of the julian ashton school in sydney, or traditional schools like it?. As far as my knowledge goes it's the oldest continuously running traditional school in australia and I've been seriously looking at going there for some time. Only it involves me relocating and living in an expensive city, not to mention the costs of the school itself.

Many Australian/european artists from the nineteenth century studied there at some time, including John longstaff, Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts ie 'heidelberg school' of painting and I have admired their works my whole life. I recently made a trip to melbourne to see some works by these artists and it has piqued my interest in them and the school even more.

Any experience of traditional art schools in australia would be helpful. I have personally studied at the claremont school of art where I focused on oils and traditional drawing(until it closed down and re-opened privately) and WASAD(both Western Australian) , but decided it wasn't the place for me to complete my formal education, since new health and safety regulations brought about because of public liability insurance, meant we were no longer allowed to study in oils :nohope:

Btw

[briggsy@ashtons]

Thanks Rohan for the chance to say a few things about my favourite art school, where I studied, and where I have been teaching for about ten years.

The first thing to note about the Julian Ashton Art School is its fabulous location in the historic Rocks region, virtually on the spot where the city of Sydney was founded. In the Rocks there are about five hotels that claim to be the "oldest pub in Australia", and its a bit like that with art schools. Ashtons' claim rests on the fact that it has operated virtually continuously in inner Sydney since its foundation in the 1890's. It has been in the Rocks area since 1933, and in its current studios since 1973. This central location is important because it means that ex-students (and others) can come in regularly from all over Sydney to our "sketch clubs" (untutored life drawing), held every week night and all day Saturday and Sunday. This greatly contributes to the feeling of historical continuity about the place.

Ashtons has a very strong commitment to life drawing, and there are models posing in the School seven days and five nights a week. This in itself is probably unique in Australia. Teaching at the school owes a good deal to the Bridgman-Hale-Loomis-Nicolaides-Vilppu et al. plexus, but as most of our teachers did at least some study here there is a strong homegrown oral tradition as well. Probably every teacher who has passed through the school has added something to this tradition, but I suspect few more than the remarkable George Lambert, and the founder, Julian Ashton himself. About a dozen teachers teach during term, and a few more join these to give five-day and weekend holiday courses in each of the term breaks. Details are available on the pdf enrollment form available on the school website (http://www.julianashtonartschool.com.au).

I have to confess that the artists you mention by name actually didn't study at Ashton's, although Julian strongly supported Melbourne artists like Streeton, and was instrumental in convincing the NSW Art Gallery to make its first purchases of their works. There are plenty of Ashtons' students who have found some measure of fame over the years, however, especially considering that fine draughtsmanship was not particularly valued during much of the middle and late twentieth centuries. In fact, enrollments dwindled to almost nothing in the late 1980's, and the School survived only through the efforts of the great-grandson of Julian Ashton, Paul Delprat, who took over as principal in 1988. The school is particularly proud of the record of its students in the completely independent Melbourne-based A.M.E.Bale competition, Australia's biggest art prize specifically for traditional painting and drawing. Since Paul revived the school, seven ex-Ashtons students have won this biennial prize. Three of these winners (and several future winners) are currently teaching in the School.

A very special thing about the school is that it is a registered not-for-profit organization, and all of the teachers and support staff work for nominal payment, or in some cases as complete volunteers. This keeps fees relatively low (less than $US1000 to enroll full-time for a ten-week term, which entitles you to attend six days and five nights a week if you want). Furthermore, there is a system of scholarships in place whereby the top four or five students in the school each year win free full-time enrollment for the next year. Many impecunious students have also been generously helped in other ways. The down side is that some things (advertising, for instance) are done on a very low budget. Fortunately the central location and a strong local reputation provide a steady trickle of enrolments, but with a little more effort the school could easily run at full capacity. If I ever sound a bit heavy handed in promoting the school on this forum, please bear in mind that I am trying to make up for this problem.

For a less biased view you might contact Form, alti, Happy Camper, rodrigo! or matt elder, all of whom have done classes at the School in the last year.

David Briggs
Julian Ashton Art School

[Form]

Thought id throw in my two cents from a student perspective.

Id have to start with an honest observation of my own time there - - that being at Julian Ashtons is exclusively the most inspirational time of the week for me. I did a full term a while back when i had time and have being going back when possible to lifedrawing in the evenings. And honestly, the atmosphere in that place is electric. Of all the schools ive been to and learned at this is the only one that really makes you feel excited to learn.

You walk in and you know you are in an ART SCHOOL. the way it should be. Its not pretentious and it has nothing to hide - its just the bones-bear dedication to lifedrawing and painting that lends that kind of art its beauty and power.

The teaching is fantastic. It is individualised, specific, friendly and reinforced through encouragement. SOme schools are often too lenient in their teaching, and many are too ignorant to the various approaches different people have to a topic. Julians has a fantastic mix of both. The teachers are open to your perspective on your piece and also offer and encourage you to apply practised and proven principles.

And the cost. Damn, 4300 for a whole year of TEN CLASSES A WEEK?? thats unheard of!! Im paying 15000 a year for 7 classes a week (and theyr shorter classes too). Ive learned so much at julian ashtons, and i really look forward to going back every time.

Great atmosphere, great people, great learning. I love it. And ill probably be changing to julians full time next year if i dont go to europe. So ill see you there :D

[Rohan]

thanks for the info guys, I really appreciate it. I really feel I want to focus on life drawing, unfortunately the course I am currently enrolled in (a uni degree) only has six weeks of life drawing in it's first year. I am frustrated by the lack of focus on traditional art technique in our colleges and universities. I feel I have been somewhat ostracized while studying at contemporary art schools because of my strong interest in traditional art.

I was hoping to make it over for a short course over the holidays but unsure of which one. My first instinct was to do the oils masterclass, and the figure in oils class with sam wade was recommended when I contacted the school some time ago, but then I'm sure I could benefit from the some of the more fundamentals classes, colour tone, composition, or colour theory. Would you guys be at all able to expand on any of the short courses that are offered?

thanks

Rohan

[briggsy@ashtons]

Sorry to hear of your frustrations with your university course, though the problem seems to be nearly universal. My only advice is to focus your energies on the things that your course does teach well, and pick up your drawing and painting skills at a private atelier like Ashtons or perhaps overseas. In fact more and more I think that this sort of combined education has a lot to be said for it, and should be regarded as normal for artists. The formal education system, which necessarily involves exams, assignemnts, grades and so on, and set course durations, is OK for teaching things like Art history and theory, business practices, etc.. But for developing your technical skills a private art school is a much better environment, where you are motivated by healthy competition with your peers, rather than by fear of being failed, and where you are in complete control of the duration and direction of your studies. After all, with your technical skills the aim is to get them to the point where they are satifactory to you, not to some examiner. Having said all that, however, I admit it would be nice if more academics in the university system had some clue about what is involved in learning to draw and paint.

As for the Ashtons holiday courses, there have been a couple of small changes recently, so the first thing to do is to get a copy of the current enrolment form:
http://www.julianashtonartschool.com.au/holiday_enrolment.pdf

That has the most up to date written description of all the courses, except that for my own two workshops there are also some posters around that go into a bit more detail:

FUNDAMENTALS OF LIFE DRAWING

"Trained artists do not passively “copy” the model - they have learnt to observe their subject in a series of different ways, in order to collect different kinds of information at each stage of their drawing. This structured, exercise-based workshop will teach you more about these ways of seeing, with the emphasis on developing a sound, dynamic, gestural- constructional foundation. The course does not assume previous knowledge, yet is challenging enough to benefit even very experienced students. David Briggs has been teaching life drawing for ten years at the School, and for six years as the Life Drawing instructor for Disney’s Sydney studio."

Fundamentals of Life Drawing five day workshop 16-20 January
Fundamentals of Life Drawing weekend workshop 21-22 January

COLOUR, LIGHT AND VISION

"The Colour, Light and Vision course (CLV) is the most comprehensive course in light and colour at the School. It covers in detail a wide range of topics including lighting, the relevance of brightness and colour perception for the painter, pigments and their technical properties, the different colour “wheels” and their respective applications, and the use of a colour solid as a frame of reference for solving colour problems. Throughout the course, however, the focus is to equip students to see and represent colours in the context of the whole image, rather than, like most beginners, to try to copy each colour in isolation. This way of seeing is the essential key to creating powerful effects of light and atmosphere. The five-day workshop begins with two days of theory lectures, followed by three days of painting exercises; the weekend course consists of the theory lectures only.

Colour, Light and the Figure is a special version of the CLV course that runs once or twice a year, with a life model holding a five-day pose. This allows previous students of CLV to begin work with the model at the start of the week, while new students or those wanting a refresher course can work through the lectures and colour exercises, moving on to figure painting later in the week if they want."

Colour, Light and Vision five day workshop 19-23 December and again 9-13 January
Colour Light and Vison weekend workshop 14-15 January
Colour, Light and the Figure five-day workshop 23-27 January

For the other courses there isn't any additional written information available apart from what's on the form, but I'd be happy to try to answer any questions you have about specific workshops here. I don't want to single any out ahead of the others, though if I did I would certainly second the recommendation made to you of Sam's figure painting course. At the same time I would have to say that when dealing with art schools in general, it's always a much better idea to just ask for information rather than advice, and to make the decision for yourself. Bear in mind that for a small, struggling art school, it's more financially viable to run one large workshop than three small ones. For some individuals, this can create a temptation, not always resisted, to try to "steer" students in a particular direction. For example, you might be told well in advance of the course that "We're not sure yet if that workshop will get the numbers to run or not, but this other one in the same week is definitely running", or some such thing. This doesn't mean that the first workshop necessarily can't get the numbers,though it does tend to be self-fulfilling, as you can imagine. So choose for yourself the workshop you would most like to do, and if you like put down the course you are being steered towards as a second choice in case your first choice really can't run, but only if you actually would like to do it. I can honestly say that all of the courses at Ashton's are excellent in their own way, and you are highly unlikely to go away disappointed by any of them.

Oh, and a belated thank you for his kind words to my former and hopefully future student form, who was the one who got me into conceptart.org in the first place.

David Briggs

[conundrum]

After reading through this thread i just wanted to give some background and ask some questions (mainly directed at Briggsy or anyone else familiar with the school)

I'm going into year 12 next year and hope to eventually get into the illustration/concept industry. I'm also in Perth (like rohan) and i've been looking at possible options for learning after school (i would like some form of tuition).

I'm tentative about going into a uni course for the reasons which Rohan gave above. I've heard people complain about his problems a lot and don't want to fall into that trap. As such, i'm interested in schools like Julian Ashton which sounds a lot more traditional and closer to my interests. Before hearing about it i had been looking at atelier type schools overseas but given that this seems significantly cheaper (even compared to uni courses) and closer to home its quite appealing.

First of all, i was wondering if you get many students straight out of highschool studying at the school fulltime?

If not, whether you would recomend me doing this?

And finally, I was curious as to the average number of full time students you would have each term?

Thanks a lot to anyone who read through all that

[Rohan]

Thanks David that went a long way to helping me understand the course content. I intend to get over there either during xmas break.. or semester holidays next year. are there any places close by to the school that are inexpensive to stay at short term that you know of? there is also the issue of storing wet painting boards/drawings does the school allow you to leave stuff there? thanks very much again
kind regards,

Rohan

[Rohan]

Hi conundrum, just a quick note to say.. I wouldn't try to disuade you from a uni course as there are different skills to be gained through them..they are just not the ones I enjoy as much!. I know a guy from perth eg drew morrow who has a career as a concept artist(currently works for blue tounge games in melbourne) and he studied design at curtin(drew's gallery at pen n ink (http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/list.pl?gallery=1301) , so with the right mindset there is no reason you cannot succeed in these environments(or any another). I have also studied architectural drafting briefly along with a cert 4 in fine art at tafe, short courses in both digital and trad animation at the fremantle television institute along with countless hours doodling, painting, playing to get a more rounded perspective on different approaches. I am having a great time at uni but it does have it's limitations which are forcing me to be more creative!. Mind you I am very much looking forward to studying at julian ashton (finances permitting) in the future. perhaps I'll see you there?! btw your sketchbook is showing real promise and that lw model is rockin! would be great to see the wireframe. and more sketches of course.

regards,

Rohan

[conundrum]

thanks for the reply rohan,

i'm not certain about what i'll choose just yet (i've still got another year to make my decision). And if i was to study at a uni it would probably be Curtin because their courses seem to be more practical than UWA (that was what my brother found when doing his Architecture degree).

What i had been thinking was to definately apply to a uni course over here then defer for a gap year. During that time i could come over for a term or so and see how i find the school. If its not to my tastes i can start a uni course the following year, if i think its right then i'll try to study their full time. This seems to be the best way to keep my options open.

thanks for the comment on my sketchbook as well, i should be adding some schoolwork (oils) when i get it back in a while.

[sciboy]

I'm just beginning as an artist and i was wondering whether you would recommend the Arts courses at TAFE?
I recall having read somewhere that you have to be over the age of 18 to apply for Julian Ashton?

[briggsy@ashtons]

Sorry for the delay guys.

Rohan

It's an expensive city, but there's plenty of backpacker-style (shared room) accomodation, if you can handle that. They advertise rates "from" around $120 to $150 per week, probably higher in summer. No problem with storing wet paintings and equipment at the school.

Conundrum

There isn't a huge number of students of school-leaving age, or any other age, really. Basically it's a small school with a pretty even spectrum of ages, so more or less recent school leavers are a small but generally consistent presence. Not being a formal educational institution (there are no exams, assignments, etc - just practical drawing and painting), the school is not accredited for AUSTUDY purposes, which naturally tends to limit the number of school leavers. However the school awards two annual prizes of one year's tuition, one as part of the Mosman Youth Art Prize, and one as part of the NSW Art Express exhibition, so that's two youths for a start. One of them this year will be rodrigo! of conceptart fame - yay!.

At any time there are about ten or fifteen fulltime students actually paying fees, but there are also about as many again who are allowed to attend for free because they have won current scholarships or are former scholarship holders. This is pretty generous on the part of the principal, as it includes access to all the facilities of the school, including life drawing seven days and five nights a week during term. Part time students bring the total number to about a hundred.

I definitely think that you should think of your atelier training, whether at Ashton's or overseas, as something to do in addition to your formal training, rather than as an alternative. It's tough to say which to do first though: you'll get more out of Ashton's if you come with some background in art history, but you'll get a lot more out of your degree course if you already have your practical skills up and running.

Sciboy

We used to have a lot of young students at Ashton's, but for the last few years you have to be over 18. This is entirely because of changes to Child Protection laws and insurance arrangemants, which now make it almost impossible for private schools to have a mix of under-18 and over-18 students. So I'm afraid you're going to be well-protected from learning to draw until you're 18. I don't know much about the TAFEs, although I would guess that the quality of teaching there probably depends a lot on the individual teachers.

[rodrigo!]

I recall having read somewhere that you have to be over the age of 18 to apply for Julian Ashton?

Not if you call up and get them to give your parents some form thing to sign, that's what I did and I managed to get into a weekly life drawing course when i was 17. :D
I just finished year 12 and I'll be going to Julian Ashton full time this year through a scholarship. :D