The Challenge

by Dan Ondra

Introduction - Challenge

I call this method 'Fine Art Painting With Chalk', because the process of drawing is much easier to understand in painting terms. To view the paper as a palette to mix colors on, instantly empowers the beginner. It just doesn't matter how the picture looks when mixing. Your fingers, paper towels, and even the chalk itself become brushes with untold possibilities.

I witnessed the frustration of many who were discouraged from art by bad experiences or criticism. I've seen that 'deer in the headlights' stare from even professional artists.

Like gunfighter's in the old west, they were handed a brick (of chalk) and told, "DRAW!", My goal is to help you cultivate a love for art that conquers fear.

Why this approach?

Students find art fundamentals boring and antiquated.
They would love to learn but they just don't have the patience or the time for it.
Formula drawing gets mechanical and stale. They all seem to look the same.
Free hand is 'sink or swim'. Many students drown before they can draw.
Grids and graphs are tedious. Students spend more time measuring than drawing.
Many skilled, professional chalk artists want to grow beyond their training, and gain new creative potential.

Whatever skills and training you bring with you will be helpful in this course. This study is not an attempt to re-invent the wheel. Every artist faces pretty much the same basic challenges in art. I am thankful for the great artists of the past who built the roads we all travel on. Their secrets, discovered by years of research, unlock latent creative powers that reside in each of us. It's just that some artists have found ingenious ways to simplify these issues.

The mysterious black tent painters of the Renaissance, like Leonardo da Vinci, used this pin-hole camera effect to project images on their canvas upside down.

Like children tracing pictures in a book, they learned to achieve mathematical realism, tracing the very finger work of God.

The media has changed the way we see. The modern eye longs for artists that speak their visual language. Science has changed the way we learn. The arts are often the last to benefit from educational discovery. Technology has changed the way we live. Yet artist expectations still lie somewhere between the monastery and museum.

The techniques and thought processes of this course have empowered my students around the world. Some of them are now at the top of their field. Many now teach their own art classes. My goal is to help you reach your goals.

This system model is a map to bypass ten fears and four types of blindness that artists battle.	System Model	Modules
		Essentials Obstacles Blindness Steps Value Style Subliminal Solutions

Challenge / Essentials / Obstacles / Blindness / Steps / Value
Style / Hidden Pictures / Troubleshooting / Copyright Information

Chalk Art
Easel
Artists
Books
Ideas
Newsletter
Orders
Pictures
Questions
Steps
Supplies
Training
Workshops
Videos
Free News
Artist Events
Dan Ondra
Calendar