My Atelier Year

In Memory of Gary Faigin (1950-2025)

This archive preserves the work and teachings from Gary Faigin's Still Life Atelier, 2020-2021, a year-long journey through oil painting, composition, color theory, and the fundamentals of realist art.

Gary passed away on September 6, 2025, just days before his 75th birthday. A remembrance event will be held on November 19, 2025, at Town Hall Seattle, co-hosted by Gage Academy and Cascadia Art Museum.

What I Learned from Gary

I came to Gary's atelier in September 2020 as an enthusiastic amateur with more ideas than technique. My best work of the year came in Week 2, a painting called "The Picnic" that reimagined a still-life setup as a fraternity party scene. Gary's response was unforgettable:

"You're brilliant. I'm in awe of your talent and originality. Nobody has ever responded to the picnic still-life like this."

That was Gary: genuine, specific, and encouraging when the work warranted it.

But Gary was equally direct when the work didn't measure up. When I brought in a conceptually interesting but visually weak painting, he didn't mince words:

"I don't think you should pursue this idea. It doesn't matter what it says or what it's about, it doesn't matter how good or bad your idea is, it has to work on a visual level. Visual effectiveness is color, value, shape, contrast. It's really easy to get seduced by a great idea that doesn't translate into visual terms."

I took that as a challenge. I went back, amped up the colors, improved the composition, and created something that actually worked visually. Gary liked the new version so much he asked me to present it at All-Atelier Day.

That exchange taught me more than any single lesson: Gary's critiques weren't personal, they were about the work. And when you addressed his concerns, he noticed and celebrated the improvement.

Patience and Fundamentals

The year was difficult. My father died on November 7, 2020. I took time off, struggled to work in my garage studio, and when I returned after winter break in January 2021, I had somehow forgotten how to draw. Everything was out of proportion, out of scale, out of order.

Most students came to the atelier already knowing how to draw. But Gary was patient with me. He went back to basics during my critique, showing me how to see shapes, measure proportions, and build structure. He never made me feel inadequate. He just taught.

I developed a technical workaround, a "free camera lucida" system using video overlay software, to help me get proportions right while I rebuilt my drawing skills. Gary was open to it. I even gave an in-class demo. He cared about learning, not orthodoxy.

By the end of the year, I could draw again. My final value study, a Van Gogh done in charcoal without any technical aids, was my strongest work in that exercise. Just as the year was drawing to a finish, I was able to finish a drawing.

"I Never Get Tired"

What I remember most about Gary was his infectious enthusiasm for the fundamentals. While demonstrating how light reveals form on a simple watchband, he said:

"I never get tired of getting these elements to work, looking at the way the light and the form work together."

After decades of teaching, after thousands of students, after building Gage Academy from nothing, he still found joy in showing someone how an ellipse works, how values create form, how structure gives solidity to a painting.

That enthusiasm was contagious. It made you want to try harder, look closer, care more about getting it right.

Artists Are Made

Gary believed that artists are made, not born. He proved it through his patience with struggling students, his willingness to go back to basics, and his insistence on fundamentals over shortcuts.

He also believed in community. He gave me permission to write up detailed class notes and share them publicly, an exercise that reminded me how much we learned and how far I have to go as a painter. Those notes became a resource for classmates and a record of his teaching philosophy.

The year 2020-2021 was one of the most difficult of my life. But Gary's atelier, with his patience, candor, and encouragement, and the friendship and dedication of my classmates, helped me make it through.

This archive preserves that year: the paintings, the lessons, the struggles, and the growth. It's a small tribute to a teacher who gave so much to so many.

Explore the Archive