Dear Atelier Community, I discovered Classical Realism in 2007, and it changed my life.  I had gone to a 4-year art school to get my undergraduate degree in 1993, but it wasn't until my early 30s that I discovered classical art training. Within just a couple years of focused study, I found my skills had dramatically improved, and issues I had struggled with for years were no longer a barrier. I was so enthusiastic about the classical drawing methods and old master painting techniques I was learning that I wanted to share it, and I began to teach private students in my studio.  I ..read more

There have been two major inflection points in my adult life that suddenly changed almost everything about my personal life, my art life, and my professional life. One of these inflection points happened almost 20 years ago. The other is happening right now. 20 years ago, in my young 30's, I broke free from a 10-year artist's block that had me completely artistically paralyzed for the decade since I'd graduated from art school. How I broke free is probably a book I will write someday, but in short: I did The Artists' Way, set up a little studio in my kitchen, quit my career, found some life-ch ..read more

When it comes to creating artwork, the vision is what is important. Sadie Valeri | Copy from a painting by Jan Van Huysum | 9x12 inches | graphite on paper Focus on the vision: The intense flash of sensation and inspiration. Everything else flows from there. Jan Van Huysum's "Bouquet of Flowers in an Urn", 1724 Capability, technique... none of that matters. Four stages of the drawing in progress: Straight-line block-in, shadow mapping, form shading, and using glassine paper to avoid smudging Do you have a vision? The answer is always yes. Focus on the vision, meditate on it, allow it to tak ..read more

I thought it would be interesting to share a glimpse into our Online Atelier Mentorship Program. This is an example of a student's recent post to our Atelier Feedback Forum, and my response to her. Joy Lemon is an advanced student who has progressed through all my Classical Drawing with Graphite and Charcoal courses, my Intro to Oil Painting and Mastering Value and Color courses, and is now working through the first Indirect Painting course. Joy has been enrolled in the program, submitting course work weekly, since June 2020. Hi Sadie, Another color layer was added, done in three multi hour se ..read more

In Paris last month I did some sketching at one of my favorite spots, the Medici Fountain in the Luxembourg Gardens. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/60926d_ae24c09b746c46fe9209291c43fe1440/1080p/mp4/file.mp4 The full 10-minute video sharing the process of creating these two sketches is a free bonus course available to my atelier Members on the Courses page. The statues on the fountain are by Auguste Ottin, and represent the giant cyclops Polyphemus, in bronze, discovering the sea-nymph Acis with her human lover, Galatea, in white marble. In the Greek myth, jealous Polyphemus kills Acis, so G ..read more

While my husband and I were staying in The Hague we took a daytrip up to Amsterdam. It was a beautiful day spent at the famous Rijksmuseum bookended by some beautiful spots we found for lunch and dinner. The Rijksmuseum was closed for about 10 years in the early 2000's for major renovations, and during that time a lot of its collection was sent out to exhibitions all over the world. Back in 2007 I took a trip up to Portland, Oregon to see an exhibition of Rembrandts from the Rijksmuseum. It was in that exhibition that I saw Dutch still lifes up close in person, and was first inspired to try m ..read more

Did you know that you can get from Paris to Antwerp by train in just two hours? I didn't! It was so easy that my husband Nowell and I added it as a stop on our recent trip to Paris, The Hague, Amsterdam, and Vienna, and I'm so glad we did! We were originally planning to fly from Paris to Amsterdam, and while researching flights I discovered that the train is much faster, cheaper, and also easier, because train stations take you right from city center to city center. Then I realized that trains to the Netherlands would pass right through Antwerp, Belgium, which was the home of my all-time favo ..read more

I am often asked how to achieve beautiful pencil shading, and it all starts with a correctly sharpened pencil! Here are several excellent examples of some recent students' sharpened pencils: Pencils sharpened by students Stella Arbelaez and Lindsay Simmons Pencils sharpened by students Maggie Thompson, Antonio Mateos Pomar, and Leonard King A common question I get from new students is: Can I use a mechanical pencil instead? This is why I require my students to sharpen wooden pencils: Lead The lead in a mechanical pencil has a waxy binder which makes the graphite less sensitive to draw with ..read more

Many years ago I created a cast drawing of this écorché horse sculpture by Isidore Bonheur (brother of animal painter Rosa Bonheur), and I've always wanted to include it in a painting. I imagined a composition of the horse striding forward with a billowing mantle of fog and wind. I enjoy the tension between crumpled wax paper sculpted and suspended to describe dramatic movement, contrasting with my collection of glass jars, silver cups and seashells. The horse strides but forever holds still on its pedestal. Horse and Mantle 20 x 16 inches Oil on linen panel Arched frame Available: Inquire fo ..read more

I am beginning a series sharing interviews with some of my students. Please enjoy this first interview with Online Atelier member Maria Joy Lemon: Artwork by Maria Joy Lemon completed during her studies at Sadie Valeri Atelier "Shell In Drapery", charcoal and white chalk on toned paper How did you decide to start studying at Sadie Valeri Atelier? After I obtained a BFA from a local university I was producing decent work, but felt I lacked skill and refinement in a way I could not clearly define at the time. For painting I used photo references and projectors to get the drawing in as I didn’t ..read more