60: Two Art Teachers and The Place That Connects Them
Open Studios, the French Pyrénées, signed copies of Draw Your Adventures, and more.
I’m writing this from the small guest house on our family property out in Springs, Long Island—the same place that has felt like a second home to my husband his whole life. This house, and the other buildings on the roughly one and a half acres, have been in his family since the early ’50s. My connection to the original owners is a bit tangled, tied to my father-in-law and his uncle and layered with relationships that I’ll probably mess up if I try to explain. What I do know is that the property has a long history. A history I’m not part of by blood but neither are my husband and his family. It is connected to us all through marriage, me the farthest removed. But over time, I’ve come to feel like I belong here.
One of the more interesting things about our family’s place is that it used to belong to Robert Beverly Hale—the legendary anatomy drawing instructor from the Art Students League and the first curator of American art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a position he held for almost twenty years. The house was passed down to my father-in-law by Hale’s first wife, Barbara, who continued to live on the property after Hale moved on, and who was like a grandmother to my husband and his sisters. She never re-married and spent her years teaching about nature at the local elementary school and mingling with artists in the Hamptons. The main house, and the little guest houses in the back, contain years and years’ worth of stories about art and the artists who visited. Next to the house we stay in is a tower that served as Hale’s studio. My father-in-law now uses it as his workspace for art and architecture. To me, everything here feels intertwined with Hale and his art. And now, all these years later, my younger son is taking classes at the Art Students League—walking the same halls where Hale once taught and is still revered today.
The Art Students League is one of the most iconic, traditional art schools in New York City. It’s open to anyone and has always been a place where artists of all levels can take painting and drawing classes without applying to a full-time program. It has this unique, unpolished energy—part studio, part museum, part time capsule. So many great artists have come through its doors, and there’s something really special about its openness to creatives just dropping in, at any time in life and at any level of practice. Theo told me he is the youngest in his oil painting class by at least thirty years but that the older people there welcome him as an equal.
Another coincidence related to Hale: I realized in 2017, when I was writing Draw Your Day, that I have another random connection to him. His well-known books on drawing anatomy are published by Watson-Guptill—the same publishing house I’ve partnered with for my Draw Your... series. It is a smaller imprint under the Random House umbrella that publishes books specifically on art-making and technique.
What’s also interesting to me is how similar and different our approaches to drawing and teaching are. Hale was all about understanding the structure beneath the surface—bones, muscles, proportions. If you look for his teaching videos on YouTube, you’ll see him lecturing as if he were a scientist or teaching at a medical school. In my own teaching, I rarely make this connection to muscles and anatomy and urge others only to look at relative shapes. I like to encourage accuracy only if it is what a student really desires. Hale’s teaching was precise, classical, and scientific. I focus more on observation, intuition, and using drawing to tell stories. I’m not asking students to memorize every muscle group; I’m encouraging them to slow down, notice, and draw (and also write about) what they see—and sometimes what they feel—and in any way they choose.
At the same time I marvel at the drawings Hale references, among them DaVinci, Dürer, Rubens... Who wouldn’t want to make drawings as beautiful as these? But the reality is that most people don’t have the time and patience to get there (certainly me included), so I choose never to suggest this classical style as the only goal. Apparently, the abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning, who was a friend of Hale’s, had an opinion about this approach. According to Hale (as quoted in Wikipedia), “One day in East Hampton, de Kooning came up to my little studio there and said that I was ruining any number of people by telling them about anatomy.” And yet:
From a New Yorker profile in 1977: Robert Beverly Hale is a beloved teacher….He teaches two courses, Artistic Anatomy and Elements of Drawing, at the Art Students League, on West Fifty-seventh Street, and his classes are a continual, and almost legendary, celebration not only of the beauty and wonder of the human form but of Hale himself. Many people consider Hale the foremost teacher of artistic anatomy in the country, and perhaps the world. His classes are always oversubscribed, and students return year after year. When Hale enters a lecture hall or a studio, his students burst into applause.
Still, I think we’re both—like every other drawing teacher—after the same thing in the end: helping people, through different approaches, learn to see and interpret what they see on paper with clarity and confidence.
It’s a strange kind of connection I feel with a man I never met, and who my husband’s family barely knew. Yet here I am, sitting in a house he once chose, my son learning to draw at the school where he became a legend, a fellow drawing teacher, and my books finding a home with the same imprint that produces his.
Visit me this weekend in DUMBO. My studio doors will be open from 1-6pm on both Saturday and Sunday. More details here.
Drawing Your World: A Visual Storytelling Workshop in the French Pyrénées
In 2026, I’ll be teaching in the French Pyrénées at Atelier Clos Mirabel, and since sharing a few weeks ago, it is filling up! I still have not shared on social media, as I much prefer to have the spaces filled with my email subscribers.
From the website listing:
August 15-22, 2026
This week-long workshop at Atelier Clos Mirabel explores the art of seeing and storytelling through drawing, no matter your experience level. From abstract sketches to detailed renderings, there’s no right way to capture your world. Through hands-on exercises, you will get familiar with tools and materials, practice blind contour and continuous line drawing, as well as experimenting with colour, line, and composition. Samantha’s forthcoming book, ‘Draw Your Adventures’, will be available by the time you meet, providing the opportunity to work through some of its challenges and prompts together. You will learn to organize your thoughts on the page by creating meaningful visual narratives and challenge yourself to draw in new ways – all while capturing your adventures with confidence and creativity.
Above are some images showcasing the beauty of the property, but you can see many more on their Instagram. My favorite part? It’s just a four-hour train ride from Paris.
Note that this retreat is paid in two separate payments. One to me, the featured tutor, and the other to Atelier Clos Mirabel for all accommodations, meals, etc. Substack paid tier subscribers receive 10% off my fee.
Draw Your World Meetups
This Friday at 1pm EST is the final handwriting, typography, and letter-writing meetup with paid subscribers. In this last session we will be working on illustrated initial caps. Read this post for more. I hope you will join us!
Brooklyn Events:
DUMBO Open Studios
My studio will be open to visitors from 1–6 PM on April 26th and 27th, alongside over 160 other Brooklyn artists. My son, Theo, who shares part of my space, will also be there, selling some of his handmade clothing and more. Click here for more info
Maker Night at Dawn’s ‘Til Dusk
May 22, 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Join us for a very special evening learning from some of the finest Brooklyn artisans while mingling with friends over snacks and sips. Make a mini dried flower bouquet with our friend Sonoko from Kajiha, a stunning dried flower design studio, based in Industry City. Then, learn some “Draw Your Day” tips with illustrator extraordinaire and our longtime collaborator, Samantha Dion Baker. Finally, decorate your own Lambeth cupcakes with Tiffany Canuelas, the creative mind behind the cakes and sweet treats that you know and love at One Girl Cookies & Dawn’s til Dusk. Snacks and one drink ticket provided to all guests. Book your spot here!
You can now order signed and personalized copies of Draw Your Adventures from Books Are Magic. Order by July 9th!
Ambassador and Affiliate Codes
If you’d like to try out Blackwing pencils or just order some new items, please shop using this unique link: blackwing602.com/sdionbaker. When you purchase using my link, there’s no additional cost to you, and I earn a small commission. I appreciate your support!
Most of my Skillshare classes feature my favorite Caran d’Ache art supplies. My relationship with the US distributor, Creative Art Materials, started back when I wrote Draw Your Day in 2018, and they saw how heavily I featured their art tools—many that I have been using since I was in grade school. Click here to find some my favorites on the Orange Art website.
All products from Art Toolkit are 10% off with my discount code: SDIONBAKER10
All Canvas lights and accessories are 10% off with my discount code: SDB10.
Beautiful article enjoyed it!
This is such a wonderful, thoughtful reflection that touches on so many things about art, life, and human connection. Thank you, Sam.