Thank you all for such support and interest. I must say this site has been a steadfast source of inspiration and information for me.
The program at Mims begins with a dozen or so copies from Charles Bargue's "Cours de Dessins," which Marvin referenced in another post. Bargue was a litographer who assisted Gerome with the production of this tomb - a training "primer" for painters.
The Dahesh Museum has a show opening in November of some of Bargue's work, and they have been working on publishing a reproduction of the lithographs for some time. Jeanine also posted an excellent photograph of a
student copying one of these exercises, taken at one of the Florence ateliers.
The way you approach these drawings is simple: tape them to your drawing board, draw a box around the original, transfer the exact box to your paper, then proceed to copy, moving from the largest angles to the shadow shapes to detail. Through systematic copying of the series, you start to train your eye to judge angles and then more and more complex shapes.
Next the students move on to black and white gouache studies of old master compositions. The lessons are how the masters approached value, contrast, focus, texture, composition.
Next, the same lessons are explored in color oil studies of old master compositions.
Finally, the student is given a cast to copy, "sight-size." Tools such as plumb lines, rules, etc, are used in some schools, but Mims prefers you develop your eye without relying on the tools. The only absolute in this cast study was a ruler mark across the top of the pedestal.
From that "absolute" everything was eyed from a distance of about 20 feet (the floor is marked with tape so you always view the cast from the same point). You then walk up to your drawing board and make your mark. You would not believe how unsettling it is the first time you work this way.
Once you successfully complete your first cast drawing, you begin weekly drawings from life, as a supplement to your second cast study (charcoal and chalk on toned paper.)
After you finish your second cast study, you do a limited palette (warm, cool, black, white)painting from a cast, and then finally full-color copies of the old masters.
All of the above work is supplemented by weekly anatomy lectures, various other lectures, and occasionally "movie night," where we either watch an "art flick" or one of Mims' taped "Hale Anatomy Lectures."
How could I not sell the house and relocate?? It was an incredibly rich experience.... and one of Mims' aspirations is that when we move into the new site (under renovation), he'll have us produce ornamental frescos on some of the interior walls.
I think I've also mentioned elsewhere what a great town Southern Pines is. Many of the students are working pros. With them, I spent many hours working from models. I traveled with them while they met with people to discuss potential commissions. I learned how to water gild (and have just prepared my first series of panels with traditional gesso to practice gilding on). And I was able to sculpt sight-size from the model in the mornings.
Overall, it was unforgettable. Oddly enough, I lost my keys the night before I was scheduled to leave, do you think that was a sign? I look forward to returning in January.