For the past two years, Mark Anthony has guided students at the Port Moody Arts Centre with their drawing techniques.
And this week, he starts a new series that helps teens learn the traditional and classical styles of the European masters. On Wednesday, Anthony launches Great Masters - Louvre Museum while, on Thursday, he kicks off Great Illustrators - Norman Rockwell.
The fall workshops will be followed in late October with Great Illustrators - JC Leyendecker and Great Masters - Metropolitan Museum. The Tri-City News caught up with Anthony last week to find out why he’s offering the classical drawing series and who would best suit it.
Tri-City News: What is your arts background?
Mark Anthony: I was born into a traditional European family and culture and, as far back as I can remember, I had a romantic fascination with old Europe with all of its elegance and poetic charm. At 12 years of age I fell into an inspiring experience that defined the rest of my working life. Within a few minutes, while watching a live portrait session for the first time, I made a decision and said to myself, “This is what I want to be, a portraitist.” So began my lifelong passionate study to understand how the Great European Masters executed such dramatic and poetic expressions of life using the simplest of tools. It wasn’t the medium they used but their deep visual understanding and genius that allowed them to draw with simple handmade tools like charcoal and ink with the power of a well-executed oil painting.
TCN: How long have you taught at PMAC?
MA: In 2013, I had the privilege of meeting Ruth Hoyem who at the time worked as the director at the centre. Since then, I have enjoyed working along with other qualified instructors at the centre. My programs are generally adult based and I place heavy emphasis on learning fundamental lessons from great masterworks and collections. Recently, I have opened my program to young individuals who have a real earnest desire to unravel the mysteries of expressing realism. I am amazed to see their level of enthusiasm and focus despite our modern “just-press-this-button” automated digital world.
TCN: Why do you teach teens about classical drawing?
MA: Classical drawing stems from the Greek classical period. The great sculptures from this period profiled an ideal approach to understanding and expressing beauty especially in terms of the human form. This is what lit the European world on fire during the Italian Renaissance and the leaps-and-bounds advancement of realistic, gestural and poetic expression especially in painting and drawing. We live in a very photography-bound society. Artists today rarely push themselves to work hard enough to express realism the way our human mind understands visual stimulation and selective focus. It is easy to see that much representational artwork today is generated through a camera lens, which sees differently than our mind sees. The old masters were not burdened with photo technology. This makes them excellent models to learn from.
TCN: Why did you choose Louvre, Norman Rockwell, Leyendecker and the Metropolitan as your topics?
MA: I regret that our exposure to great masterworks is so limited in Canada. Especially, with a large population base in the Lower Mainland, it would be nice to have some corporate and government sponsorship to build a real landmark this side of the country. New York did it with the Met. France did it with the Louvre. Russia did it with the Hermitage. I would love to see small centres like PMAC hosting a small, world-class Great Masterworks exhibit once in a while…. It is also great for young people to see the unbroken thread of traditional fundamentals as they also provide the foundations for modern illustrating.
TCN: Can a beginner register for your class?
MA: Yes, absolutely. Drawing is a natural human activity. Any toddler responds to the desire to draw just as they do to the desire to walk, sing, dance, etc. Drawing is the most direct connection between what we see and what we express artistically. All that is required is that someone helps them to understand what they see in definable terms.
• To register for one of Mark Anthony’s classical drawing workshops, call at 604-931-2008 or visit pomoarts.ca.
