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The Analysis, Manageability and Mastery Principles:

The Analysis Principle
The New Masters curriculum is the result of exhaustive analyses of the processes of drawing and painting conducted over a period of several years. This research was undertaken with the conviction that all artistic skills, regardless of their difficulty, are made up of component skills that can be mastered by anyone -- if they are arranged in a logical sequence and practiced regularly. Thus far over 190 component skill groups involved in the drawing process have been identified. Students master these skill groups separately on worksheets and then integrate them by applying them to projects of gradually increasing difficulty.

The Manageability Principle
One of the most important reasons the New Masters Program works as well as it does for all students is that the process of drawing has been broken down into tasks simple enough for any person to master. With the availability of this program, then, the only real difference between "gifted" and "un-gifted" students is that gifted students require fewer steps and less time to attain artistic mastery than do un-gifted students.

The Mastery Principle
The mastery principle states that if one can manage a task, one can eventually master it. All New Masters students must master the task at hand before they move on to the next. Thus, success in this program is not something that is sought after or strived for or hoped for; it is insisted upon. It is built into the curriculum every step of the way.

Other of the program's guiding principles include: The Progressive Principle, which assures that instruction proceeds, as does formal training in mathematics, music and language, in a logical and systematic manner from the simpler to the more complex skills; The Individualization Principle, which assures that each student is guided by a curriculum adapted to his or her own learning rate, needs, and interests; and The Enjoyment Principle, which states that effective learning must at all times be as stimulating and "fun" as possible.

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John Gordon
Director, Gordon School of Art