Art Calender 2009
Jeffrey Hein’s Twist on the Classic Atelier
Like most professional artists, 34-year-old representational painter Jeffrey Hein needs to take occasional breaks from his work and return with fresh eyes. But while other artists take time out to do their errands, Hein opens the door from his studio, and enters an adjacent space filled with art students working feverishly to perfect their techniques.
Students call him over, and engage Hein in discussions about their work. One is frustrated with her progress on a drawing
assignment. Hein thinks quickly, and determines an exercise that can better help her master the technique. Then, after he’s helped everyone who needs it, Hein walks back to his studio and shuts the door to continue his painting, refreshed and energized by these encounters with his students. This is the Hein Academy, a 3200-square-foot building in Salt Lake City, Utah, that houses not just Jeffrey Hein’s personal studio, but a large workspace for aspiring professional artists. With just 10 spots available at any given time, and students attending anywhere from a few months to a few years, there is no room hobbyists. Hein admits only the most serious and driven students. Each of them is dedicated to learning as much as they can and building their own fine art careers. It’s not just Hein’s technical mastery of drawing and painting that attracts them either; it’s his brave and evolving approach to his own work.
Beyond the Classroom
As a child, Hein knew he wanted to be an artist, and excelled in portraiture throughout school, yet college was the first formal training he had in fine art. At the University of Utah, Hein progressed faster than those around him. Other students often sought out his advice, and his professors could tell he wasn’t being challenged. His classes became a hindrance to his art. For the last year of school, his professors allowed him to work from his home studio.
“I was beginning to get more out of my own studies,” he confesses. “My professors could see that I was not a lazy student and that I worked hard. I found myself just getting my assignments out of the way, then giving myself assignments. I would look at artists who had incredible flesh tones, like John Singer Sargent (1856 – 1925). I would study paintings by these artists in person at museums or in books, and then try to achieve the assignments, and they worked.”
Not long after leaving school, Hein rented his first true studio. Lacking funds to pay the rent, Hein came up with a
plan. He realized that if he could just get a couple of students to study under him at a reasonable rate, he might be able generate enough income to cover his studio costs. Coincidentally, he got two students even before putting up a flier. “For the first year or two, the students always covered the rent,” he says. “Then, I got to a point where I didn’t need to teach anymore because I was generating more than enough from my paintings.” As Hein’s career began to soar and he was picked up by the prestigious Wendt Gallery in Laguna Beach, California, it would have been easy for him to abandon teaching. But to Hein, teaching was about more than just helping the students. It was enabling him to have regular dialogue with other serious artists.
A New Approach
From 2003 to 2007, Hein taught individual private lessons at specific times each week. This was partially due to the amount of space he had in the studio, and his students were achieving substantial but relatively slow results. In 2007, he adjusted the format. He purchased a 3200-square-foot building, one with plenty of space for him, and plenty of space for students to work outside of a formal classroom time. He equipped the studio with an alarm code, and gave the students 24-hour access, seven days a week. This enabled the students to come and go as they pleased, as long as they were only working on assignments from Hein when they used the space. By giving the students a sense of self-motivated responsibility for their achievements, and providing them with regular access to a well equipped studio, their productivity soared, and Hein realized he was getting more out of the situation, too. “It’s great to have that energy here from the students,” he says. “They have a separate studio and entrance, but if I need a break and need to be with other aspiring artists, so I don’t become a hermit, I can. I’ll never be a teacher on a large scale. But I can honestly say that it doesn’t interfere at all with my work. It helps my work, just enough. Teaching keeps me on my toes. The students are always questioning what I’m doing, so they’re challenging me. But they’re not demanding of my time.”
At an extremely affordable rate of $320 per month, dedicated artists can learn not just technique, but the business of being a professional artist. “I’m convinced now that I’ve opened the school it’s the only way to teach, the only way to learn,” Hein says. “(The students) learn so fast. I’m a working professional artist who’s had some success. To be able to see me in conversation with my clients, to have discussions about money — these are things that most professional artists struggle with. That kind of stuff is worth its weight in gold. You can’t get that from an academy. You have to be in the studio with a professional artist, and they just don’t get that in a classroom setting.” While similar in concept to an atelier school that teaches painting and drawing in the Renaissance tradition to just a handful of promising students, Hein’s program is unique. He teaches not only classic methodology, but emphasizes the contributions of the modern art movement as well. “It’s a full program,” says Hein, explaining that he follows a written curriculum, which he then tailors to an individual artist’s ability. “That separates it from others. I’m also adamant about not going backward in time, like completely throwing away the 20th century, like it has nothing to offer. It’s not about painting like the 19th century masters. We have discussions about what it means to be an artist today, not regurgitate what happened 200 years ago, but talk about what was said 10 years ago. They have to build a portfolio; they have to contribute. It’s not just going to be 15 flower bouquets. I challenge my students to find their place in the world. A lot of those assignments I created for myself when I was in college, I use for my students. But not everyone learns like I do. I find I have to come up with unique assignments on the spot. After doing that for a few years, I have tons of assignments I can pull out and use.”
Another difference between the Hein Academy and classic atelier schools is his method of teaching. “I don’t teach site-size technique, which is the typical atelier method, because I believe you can draw from simple observation,” he says. “I show them how to see without those tools and devices and crutches. The other (ateliers) produce immediate results. I’ve seen it, and all of them learn the same thing, get the same results, and they’re all wonderful, but they work slowly and many still can’t draw well (outside of those methods). The work is void of any error, but produces a singular result lacking personal expression. My process doesn’t have that immediate satisfaction because it’s difficult and involves changing the minds of the students rather than implementing a step-by-step formula, but when they’re done, they can draw well, quickly, and produce a unique look, which is so important to making a living, because they simply learned to see.”
For His Own Work
Besides enabling the new format for the Hein Academy, the new studio space did something special to Hein’s work. With a 12-foot-by-six-foot skylight, Hein’s studio was constantly bathed in natural light. This enabled him to see his figures in a completely new way, and ultimately led to the change in his approach.
“I happened to have bought the studio three months prior to that (change in my work),” he says. “I bought it for the skylight; the light in my studio is absolutely gorgeous. That’s what motivated the new direction. In the other studio, I had the north light, but I worked a lot from incandescent light; the paintings are much more warm and orange, just due to the light source and nothing else. I started fitting models under this natural light and experimenting. I was a different person. I started seeing them differently and applying the paint differently. I couldn’t apply the paint in the same way I used to and do the work justice.” Those familiar Hein’s past paintings, which have appeared on the covers of American Art Collector and Southwest Art Magazine, may be shocked by the stark honesty of his new work. Prior to mid 2007, Hein’s figures were more stylized, often sporting sunglasses and polka dots. His current work pushes the envelope, moving him beyond the safe collector haven of his previous paintings. Any artist who has made a dramatic change is his work will admit that it’s difficult to win over previous collectors, but Hein is unfazed. “My collectors haven’t reacted well, but that’s okay,” he says. “I’m a die-hard purist in that way; I try not to care. I show almost entirely with the Wendt Gallery now, and they are incredible (about it). They don’t complain, but they say I move too fast for them. But at the same time, I think that’s what (the owner) loves about me. He struggles because this type of work will never been
the kind that most people get over their couch. When I made the big change, he basically said, ‘Jeff, you realize that now I’m going to have to start completely over with your career, after six years. But I’m happy to do it.’ I’m really blessed to have a gallery like that.”
The students have also played a significant role in Hein’s confidence to move in new directions and continue to push his work. “Honestly, that is probably the number one reason that I teach,” he says. “It is kind of fun to see my students improve, but I would say it’s 80 to 90 percent because I need people around when I work. I’ve never been more satisfied with my work, and that’s addicting. I’ve always painted for myself, but I believe you don’t really know yourself right away. It takes time to figure yourself out. I’m being sincere, but I’m still exploring. That’s why I keep changing, evolving. With the other work, I pushed it as far as I was comfortable. This time, there’s still this need to explore, but for the first time, I see the light.” AC
For more information about Jeffrey Hein, visit
For more information about the Hein Academy, visit
