Miano Live Online Workshops

Charles Miano is both a master artist and an enthusiastic teacher whose life mission is to imbue in his students an appreciation for the classical style of representational painting and drawing. He has a most delightful personality…serious about his work but still fun. Inspired by European ateliers, Charles, as a very young man, founded the Southern Atelier in Sarasota, Florida where he is currently the Director. Because of his passion, the school has bloomed and flourished and has become an extraordinary teaching facility offering not only a very talented resident faculty but also some of the finest artists in the world who visit to teach workshops.

The Atelier is a wonderful place to gather with fellow artists, converse, learn, share, and forget about the hassles of daily life for a few hours. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 Corona Virus put a damper on studio programs, but it didn’t take long for Charles to realize he could still offer workshops via Zoom.

Charles admits he was skeptical at first as to whether this method of teaching the craft of drawing and painting would succeed. Fortunately, it has worked very well. The classes are available to students of all levels and the work produced is impressive. I am presently up in the mountains of North Carolina and without the Zoom classes, I wouldn’t be “honing my craft.” I have taken figure drawing, charcoal portrait drawing and oil portrait painting online. At one class, we did a survey to see where our fellow students were located and were delighted to have people from Australia, South Africa, Portugal, Costa Rico, Brazil and cities all over America.

Charles is an excellent teacher who has studied in schools and museums around the world. His lessons are organized, and he demos each concept then explains it thoroughly. Students can see Charles’ demo work very clearly and he can see student work as well and make constructive suggestions. His Miano Method of drawing and painting is easy to follow and when applied correctly, leaves the artist with a very pleasing piece of art. Charles always encourages his students to ask questions…NO question is a stupid question. He is a fan of the dreaded “critique” which ironically is one of the greatest learning tools in the art world. We are encouraged to mail in photos of our paintings. Often there is a common flaw that shows up in students’ work that can be addressed and then remedied.

I personally enjoy the convenience that online classes offer…mainly no driving. Class comes to me. I have the option to paint along with Charles, or just sit back and watch him paint. It’s about as close to one-on-one teaching as you can get. I am confident that I am receiving excellent tutelage because of the great improvement I can see in my own work. Furthermore, if I do “mess up” on a painting, I now know the questions to ask to fix it. Are the values right? Are the shape articulations right?

I am very fortunate to have found Charlie Miano and the Southern Atelier. And I am very happy to have been able to participate in Charlie’s online workshops. I am hoping he will do one on painting children in the not too distant future.

Great workshop! Very insightful and well structured. After attending Charles workshop, I really appreciate the Masters method in portrait painting and I really like to learn more of old master methods. 

 Charles is such a wonderful teacher and an awesome artist. I am so lucky that I had the chance to study art with him. He is the most knowledgeable, generous and patient teacher that I could have seen. I learnt a lot from him. Thank you Charles for taking the time to pass on information in such a clear and concise way. 

Charles Miano is a master draftsman and painter. He takes time to give each student individual guidance as well as to provide numerous in-class demonstrations in every class. The concepts he teaches are quite simple and understandable. Never have I experienced such a thorough teaching method!

Charles Miano’s class taught me how to draw, thus “liberating my creativity” as it’s said. I feel capable of drawing anything and because of this, I am able to teach others how to draw using basic drawing principles.

My painting and drawing has improved 100%…it is step by step in instruction but it is state of the art in the techniques that are taught. I highly recommend it.

Charles Miano’s presentation was excellent…his encouraging words about “keep going” and in essence, slay the self-negation dragon were very meaningful for me.  Having a cheer leader behind the scenes is really helpful. Having practiced portrait and figure at open studios with no instruction and not moving forward can be discouraging so I look forward to the next webinar and later, a critique session.

I have admired Charles Miano’s artwork and his style for many years. His approach to teaching is so informative and clear and makes learning so much easier. I want to learn his painterly approach to give my artwork life. I have taken workshops at the Portrait Society of America’s international conferences in recent years and none of them have I liked at much is this one with Charles.