Dynamic Composition
Classes with Rebecca Burritt
Learn the Guarded Artistic Language Underlying Master Works
TX HCA is very fortunate to have an instructor who is fluent in the secret language of dynamic composition, also known as dynamic symmetry. Rebecca Burritt teaches a series of classes for artists who wish to gain knowledge about this hidden world and learn how to use it in their own work.
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Two dimensional artwork (painting and drawing) is usually contained in a frame that is rectangular, square, or, perhaps, round. Inside the frame, color/tones, lines, and shapes are arranged in relation to each other and to the frame. This is known as composition. Composition is perhaps the most important tool the artist has to communicate his or her vision. It is the abstract message, the music to the lyrics of the subject of painting 0r drawing.
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Unfortunately, dynamic compositional principals of the ancients, revitalized in the Renaissance, have been discarded or lost in contemporary art training. Fortunately, a few masters have carried the thread forward through the 20th and 21st centuries. One notable example is the late Myron Barnstone. We are grateful to his steadfastness and to the artists who trained with him, including Holly's teacher, Juliette Aristides, and our very own, Rebecca Burritt.
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Scroll down for classes in dynamic composition.
NEW CLASS!
All Levels Welcome!
BONES AS LANDSCAPE
Observing Organic Architecture through Studio Practice
In this introductory 5-week studio class, students will explore animal bones as the natural inner architecture of living things—studying their structures, curves, and cavities as a gateway to understanding organic geometry.
Just as with plants, we’ll seek to uncover the rhythms, proportions, and patterns that shape these silent replicas of life. Through close observation, this course invites a sense of reverence: to draw is to attend to the memory and movement that remain within form.
Each session will combine demonstrations with extended drawing practice. Students will strengthen their observational skills, gain fluency in rendering three-dimensional structures, and refine their sensitivity to proportion and line.
Over the five weeks, participants will work toward a finished bone study or composition that integrates technical skill with personal vision.
This course welcomes both new and returning students and serves as excellent preparation for the upcoming spring intensive, “Drawing Foundations: Observation and Design.” That program will be a prerequisite for Rebecca’s advanced courses in dynamic design.
If you like this, we’ll begin gathering bone specimens in advance for this course.
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No prerequisite. All levels welcome.
Still Life Drawing by Rebecca Burritt
NEW CLASS!
DRAWING FOUNDATIONS
Observation and Design
This intensive class is for the serious student who wants to learn the foundational principles for Dynamic Composition I and II.
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Introduction to the basic principles and fundamental terms and ideas of drawing and design influenced by the Barnstone Method: observational measurement to assess proportions; construct a notional space; sight directions and coincidental relationships; gesture drawing and analytical drawing procedures. We will be using still life as our subject.
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Students are expected to attend all classes, or make up for any missed classes. Homework will be assigned.
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This course is a prerequisite to Dynamic Composition I and II. It will be offered periodically and may be repeated by the student, if desired.
DYNAMIC COMPOSITION I
Master Studies
The focus of Dynamic Composition I is Master Studies.
We will explore the design systems that lay underneath master works. These elements of marks, patterns, and rhythms enhance the strength of the artist’s intent or vision and create a kind of immersed poetry.
We will also explore how to hone our design capabilities to create intentional unity and energy within our own work. Both will involve analyzing master works and a rigorous drawing practice in the studio involving design techniques.
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Reproduction of master works to study will be provided by the teacher.
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Drawing Foundations must be successfully completed per instructor before enrolling in Dynamic Design.
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Dynamic Composition I
2026 TBD​​​
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Dynamic Composition I is a prerequisite for Dynamic Composition II​​
DYNAMIC COMPOSITION II
Still Life Design
The focus of Dynamic Composition II is Still Life design.
We will explore the design systems that lay underneath master works. These elements of marks, patterns, and rhythms enhance the strength of the artist’s intent or vision and create a kind of immersed poetry.
We will also explore how to hone our design capabilities to create intentional unity and energy within our own work. Both will involve analyzing master works and a rigorous drawing practice in the studio involving design techniques.
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Each student will design and draw their own still life using their own or the studio's supply of objects.​​
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Dynamic Composition I is a prerequisite for Dynamic Composition II​​
Dynamic Composition II
2027 TBD
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Dynamic Composition I is a prerequisite for Dynamic Composition II​​
Read our Refund and Cancellation Policy here.