Charlie Antolin
DRAWING & PAINTING TECHNICAL FOUNDATION HEAD INSTRUCTOR
Charlie Antolin (he/him) is a Northern California-based artist working in figurative drawing, painting, and sculpture. He holds a BFA in Drawing and Painting from Laguna College of Art and Design. In addition to his work with Underpainting Collective, Charlie has taught and presented at Bay Area institutions including the Richmond Art Center, EastSide Arts Alliance, and the Arts & Crafts Cooperative, Inc. Gallery.
Charlie has been part of the atelier community for over fifteen years, growing from devoted student to Head Instructor. His teaching is rooted in the fundamental principles of historical Western representational art: form, value, structure, and disciplined observation, passed down through a tradition he has spent his career deepening. That commitment was recognized by the school’s founder, David Hardy, who entrusted Charlie with carrying Underpainting Collective forward: a legacy Charlie holds with both humility and dedication.
Alizarin Menninga-Fong
DRAWING & PAINTING TECHNICAL FOUNDATION INSTRUCTOR
Alizarin Menninga-Fong (she/her) is an oil painter and printmaker based in Oakland, CA. She trained at the Oakland Atelier of Classical Realism and completed a sabbatical in the atelier program at the Barcelona Academy of Art, deepening a practice rooted in close observation and classical technique. Since 2017, she has organized protected spaces for BIPOC figure drawing and painting across the Twin Cities, MN and the Bay Area, CA. Her work has been exhibited in San Francisco, Oakland, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Oak Park, IL.
Alizarin brings to her teaching a heritage of artistic practice and instruction that is both rigorous and deeply humane. She works with students across all levels, from beginners to advanced career artists, taking time to understand each person’s goals and building a curriculum suited to them: one grounded in training the eye, sharpening process, and cultivating a quiet presence in the body. Her commitment to access and community is woven into everything she does at Underpainting Collective.
David Hardy (1929-2025)
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR EMERITUS OF ATELIER SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL REALISM (ASCR)
“If you have specialized knowledge,” says David Hardy, “I believe you have a responsibility to share what you know with others; in other words, to teach.”
Founder and Director of the Atelier School of Classical Realism, David Hardy (he/him) brought his many years of teaching an impressive knowledge of Baroque art and traditional approaches to drawing and painting. He studied at the American Academy in Chicago, the New York School of Visual Arts, and the Art Students League of New York. His artwork was featured in various text and specialty books including A Guide to Drawing, Fifth Edition, by Daniel M. Mendelowitz and Duane A. Wakeham. Hardy and the Atelier were also discussed in The Undressed Art: Why We Draw by Peter Steinhart, Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2004. He has participated in docent training for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, appeared as guest lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, and taught for a number of years at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.
David’s legacy continues through Underpainting Collective, which carries forward his commitment to accessible, rigorous instruction in observational realism.