The article presents the principles of a professional approach to the execution of a preliminary sketch and usage of life studies in educational and creative painting. At the crux of the analysis lie objective complications that professional artists and students of art schools encounter while transforming a small-sized sketch into a large format, as well as potential negative consequences of unnecessarily detailed composition design. It delineates major tasks (search for the composition layout, location of its center and general masses, scale ratios) that are to be fulfilled under an optimally structured preparation of the sketch. Fine art masterpieces are employed to illustrate the principles of developing life study material for the execution of the conceived painting project, as well as changes in work techniques (from life drawings to full-color life-based painting sketches), which are entailed by the change of artists’ goals and objectives in the creation of paintings pertinent to various periods of the classical European school of fine arts. Particular attention is paid to the prioritization of the idea and artistic imagery over the life study material, combined with the need to cultivate artist’s ability to visualize the composed work of fine art and successfully implement this visualization in the intended format of the painting, while preserving valuable emotional components of the artist’s work.

The publication represents an adapted abridged translation and commentary on the text of the classic textbook on the linear landscape composition, authored by N. E. Green, one of the leading English art teachers of the 19th century (1823-1899). N. E. Green examines numerous aspects of the linear landscape composition, including difficulties in choosing a landscape motive, a befitting angle, ways of conveying the depth of space, methods of vignetting and condensation, complications of professional work with lines, arrangement of figures in a landscape. The commentary of D. V. Fomicheva, supplementing the recommendations of N. E. Green, invokes a wide range of most popular selfnstruction manuals for artists of the 19th century, repeatedly published in England, France, Germany and Russia. These materials confirm the existence of a deeply developed theoretical base with regard to painting composition in the classical European art tradition. Modern artists’ knowledge of the classical theory of linear landscape composition gives the key to understanding the general principles of the 19th century painting, as identical laws of composition applied to all of its genres. Moreover, these materials provide an insight into the previous schools of painting and allow one to reconstruct many of the forgotten valuable elements of classical teaching methods.

The article is based on the author’s work with the students of the Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts of Sergey Andriaka. Delving deeply into the methods of teaching professional techniques for cutting art glass; the article talks about the application of the Tiffany technique, the experience of training craftsmen and outlines the necessary tools and materials with the justification of their choice. The exercises proposed by the author show the finest levels of work in a stained-glass workshop thus equipping those interested with the fundamental knowledge on the mechanical properties of art glass. It also offers insight into the complexity of the process and explains the purpose and correct use of tools and their safety measures. The author offers exercises on the mastering of straight, curved, S-shaped cuts, glass carving along the circumference and many more. Each exercise gradually increases in difficulty, helping to consolidate learned techniques and allowing learners to confidently advance to new tasks. The skills that will be acquired are essential for the artist to competently design the graphic part of the stained glass and produce the sketch and cartoon. The technique proposed by the author is recommended for teaching stained glass in line with the programmes of higher, secondary, pre-vocational and additional education in art schools. The duration of the lesson on glass cutting is three hours, with the inclusion of a twenty-minute break.

The article describes in detail the step-by-step illustration and design process of the book, “Russian Fleet Stories” by A. D. Mityaev (the School Library series of the Children’s Literature (Detskaya Literatura) Publishing House) taking into account the main parameters set by the publisher. By perceiving the book as an integral spatial composition with harmonious proportions tantamount to a small-scale architectural form, the author puts forward his conceptualization of its graphic arrangement. The article maps out the sequence of the book layout development, standard templates used to layout the key elements of the publication: foresketches of the cover, front page, page imposition. It further touches upon the questions of the ratio between the text page format and full-page illustration. Attention is paid to the tasks of collecting material for illustrations using information from paper and digital media sources, as well as to the study of an array of visual materials on the given topic and step-by-step execution of the aforementioned undertakings. The article is illustrated with layout templates for the principal components of the publication, presketches and illustrations consequently created on their basis. The work method proposed by the author is recommended for teaching the basics of book graphics in art schools within the framework of higher and secondary education programmes. The topics reviewed by the author are also relevant for professional book artists and art historians.

The article discusses the specificities of the research on the restoration of the icon, “Savior with a Scroll in His Hands” by an unknown artist. The restoration of this painting is one of the many research projects carried out by students of the Sergey Andriaka Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts within the framework of the course, “Restoration of Oil and Tempera Painting”, as well as preparation of their final qualifying works. The restoration of the icon, known for its severe state of disrepair, was undertaken by I. I. Skorobogatova, a sixth-year student of the Academy and was done so with the supervision of the author of this article. The article outlines the sequence of the restoration work and the difficulties encountered over the course of the restoration. Much attention is devoted to the restoration process carried out on the deformed base. The article mentions the replacement of the icon’s lost parts and the duplication of the icon onto a new base. Detailed is information on the artist’s composition; ground application in places of ground layer loss; toning in line with the original coloring and removal of surface dirt from the front and back sides. Finally, a brief overview of iconographic particularities and special icon painting techniques is given. It notes that many icons of the 19th - 20th centuries, which can be classified as examples of late icon painting, were restored by the students and teachers of the Academy (including those pieces representing analogous theme of the Lord Almighty). It is emphasised that such systematic work enables one to collect information on the late iconography needed to conduct scientific studies of Russian icon paintings of the 18th - 19th centuries.