A lesson in five parts
Paint the Mona Lisa with us, one layer at a time.
Scroll, and watch the most famous portrait in the world come together the way it was actually made: proportion, line, value, underpainting, then colour.
Scroll to begin
Lesson 01 / 05
Proportion
Before a single line, find the big shapes. A vertical axis, the head as an oval, the whole figure inside a triangle.
Leonardo set the two horizons at different heights. It makes her seem to rise out of the landscape.
Lesson 02 / 05
Line
Now draw what you see, not what you know. Start where the viewer will look first, the face, then the hands, then everything else.
Keep the charcoal loose. Lines are questions until the value answers them.
Lesson 03 / 05
Value
Squint until the detail disappears and only light and dark remain. Build the shadows in layers, following the form like a hand following a cheek.
Sfumato means 'gone up in smoke': edges that melt, never lines that stop.
Lesson 04 / 05
Underpainting
Masters laid in the whole picture in one earth colour first. It settles every value before colour can confuse them.
Raw umber dries fast and stays warm under every glaze.
Lesson 05 / 05
Colour
Thin, transparent glazes, dozens of them, each one barely there. Colour doesn't cover the drawing, it tints it.
Leonardo worked on this panel for well over a decade. You can take your time.
Every masterpiece is five simple lessons stacked on top of each other.
The method
We teach the way Renaissance workshops did: proportion before line, line before value, value before paint. You'll copy the masters, then leave them behind.
10 weeks · Beginner
Foundations of Drawing
Proportion, contour and value, from cast drawing to the live model.
12 weeks · Intermediate
Old Master Painting
Umber underpainting, glazing and sfumato, in oil on panel.
6 weekends · All levels
Copying at the Museum
Sketchbook sessions in front of the originals, with a tutor beside you.
8:1
Students per tutor, at most
5
Lessons behind every painting
6hrs
Of north light a day
∞
Patience included
You can have no dominion greater or less than that over yourself.Leonardo da Vinci, notebooks