Is the Azgour Art Group Membership right for you?
“Michael and the AAG members are truly an inspiration to me. I enjoy and learn from seeing their work, receiving their feedback and hearing various thoughts shared in the group meetings.”
— Azgour Art Group Member
AAG Membership
Our high-quality, comprehensive program is designed to help you build a productive and fulfilling art-making practice you may have never thought possible. Our unique, custom-built website provides all the tools and resources you need to consistently create compelling paintings. Say goodbye to wasted time and materials, and instead craft meaningful artwork through an intuitive, personal process that you'll genuinely enjoy.
To maintain our exceptional content and supportive community, we operate on a membership model that ensures the highest standards and personalized engagement.
The results you can expect
Our community, platform, and class meetings are pretty special. We’re focused on the ways they will make a huge difference in your life.
Here are a few of the areas you’ll see results as a member of Azgour Art Group:
To thoughtfully address concepts of interest in your painting (the 'why')
To apply a sound process in the creation of your paintings (the 'how')
To produce results which are consistently visually compelling (the 'what')
To align the above in developing a unique voice in your paintings
To build and maintain a fruitful art-making practice
What does AAG Membership include?
Azgour Art Group provides members with full access to its comprehensive online platform, featuring live and recorded Class Meetings, an interactive Critique Group, engaging Forums, an in-depth Painting Course, Video Demonstrations, Short Lectures, and a growing library of Creative Works. Each resource is thoughtfully designed to complement the others, empowering you to develop and sustain a thriving creative practice and with it, consistently strong work.
Azgour Art Group is divided into three terms per year, which are each four months in length:
Spring Term: early January – late April
Summer Term: early May – late August
Fall Term: early September – late December
Our yearly calendar
A deep dive into the features of AAG Membership
Live Class Meetings are 60-minute live Zoom sessions which are scheduled every two weeks year round. We meet on Wednesdays from 11:00 am - 12:00 noon Pacific Time (PT). There are 7 Class Meetings per term.
These are instructor led meetings which consist of:
Announcements – taking place during the first 5-10 minutes of Class Meetings. Be sure to catch the announcements to hear about important changes and upcoming activities.
Discussions– the bulk of our Class Meeting time will normally focus on 1-3 topics from the following:
Formal elements and design principles
Art history precedents and contemporary artist spotlights
Concept development
Planning, preparation, and project management
Painting process
Instructor demonstration
Group exercise
The instructor's current studio focus and process
Art studio and professional practices
Selected member posts in Critique Group forum
Class Meetings are recorded so members can watch and re-watch them anytime. All videos are available to be streamed but not downloaded. It is expressly prohibited to download or share videos. A catalog of Class Meeting video recordings going back to Fall 2023 (over 60 videos and counting) are archived on our side so members can view them at their convenience.
Office hours take place immediately after the Class Meeting from 12:00 - 12:15 pm. Office hours are not recorded.
Guest Artist Presentations – Once per term, a reputable artist from outside our community is invited to speak about their work and/or demonstrate unique art-making processes. They speak to our members about their own personal journey and describe the concepts and processes that make their work fascinating.
These Zoom sessions take place during a scheduled Class Meeting. A catalog of Guest Artist video recordings going back to Fall 2023 are archived on our side so members can view them at their convenience.
Member Presentations – Once per term, a small group of members volunteer to present their artwork and concepts of personal interest in 15-20 minute presentations. We feature one Zoom session of Member Presentations per term which takes place separate from scheduled Class Meetings. Recordings since Summer 2023 are available to stream by active members.
Term Orientation – At the beginning of each term, the instructor will cover in detail all aspects of our group, describing all features of the platform and new changes to our group. This session is especially valuable for new members who are learning about the group and platform. There is one Orientation per term.
Final Critiques – Two final critiques are scheduled at the end of each term. Critiques are a great way to develop our skills and insight, not only by getting feedback on our own work, but also by observing feedback about fellow members' work. It's a learning experience for everyone. All active members are invited to attend both sessions as an observer and to sign-up for a time slot to discuss your work with the instructor.
Critique Group Forum – Members are invited to share their Creative Work with the community by posting them in the Critique Group forum. This is a wonderful space where community members can give feedback and exchange ideas with their peers. We also discuss some member submissions during the Class Meetings to reinforce topics covered in class.
You are invited to post your Creative Work for member and instructor feedback. Every Critique Group post will receive instructor feedback, generally within 72 hours.
Members are also encouraged to give feedback to posts by their fellow members.
Forums are the heart of our community where active members interact and share.
Main Forum – Post interesting art-related topics, articles, books, events, exhibitions, websites, ideas – and any questions for the instructor – anything you believe would be of interest to your fellow members. You're encouraged to comment on fellow members' posts.
Artists Who Inspire – Post artists whose work you find inspiring with their name in the title. Please include one or more images of their work. You're also welcome to include links to online resources dedicated to the artist.
Intros + Portfolios – Introduce yourself to our group and post 3 images of your most successful paintings. You're welcome to include links so members can see your work online.
The Painting Course is the repeatable, 4-month university-level course which takes you through seven stages of the painting process, from conception to completion as you formulate your unique proposal and dive in as you like. At the completion of the term, we evaluate and reflect on our progress and then we begin again.
The seven-unit structure facilitates your progress as you plan, develop, and complete Projects – groups of paintings – of your own scope. Since we all have a different goals and timelines, not all members will follow this path. Take it at your pace, skip around, and repeat.
Units – Content is divided among the 7 Units. Each unit has 1-3 topics with focused content on specific concepts.
Topics - Original illustrated articles provide a strong foundation for specific topics related to various painting concepts, processes, and mediums.
External Resources – A carefully curated library of resources on the web – articles, videos, websites, presentations, and books – to facilitate expanded study.
Creative Work is the main focus of our group and includes Projects, Assignments, Exercises, and 28-Day Challenges. Engage in different types of Creative Work starting with the instructions and diverging in your own direction. All are optional – set your own pace and repeat as you like. Feel free to post your work in the Forums spaces for peer feedback.
Members are free to complete Creative Work however they like in regards to amount, order, and timing. Since there is a large amount of content, with new content being added periodically, it’s best not to attempt to complete everything in one term. Rather, be selective about what you’d like to take on based on what would have the best impact for you at a given time.
All Creative Work is completely open to interpretation. There is no right or wrong way to complete them and are welcome to repeat them as often as you see fit.
Members are invited to post their Creative Work in the Critique Group forum for peer and instructor feedback.
Projects – A Project is a group of paintings defined by your own scope and pace. You're encouraged to work on these paintings and will have the opportunity to receive instructor and peer feedback by posting your proposal, works in progress, and/or completed paintings in the Forums spaces and/or by scheduling a Critique.
If you’re diving into a Project, the seven-unit structure helps you plan, start, and complete groups of paintings within your own scope and timeline. You reflect on previous works, propose a new project, develop the pieces to completion, evaluate the results, and repeat.
Your project can be seen to progress through four phases: (1) Prepare for your Project; (2) Commit to your Project; (3) Progress by taking consistent action to develop your Project; and (4) Bring your Project to completion.
28-Day Challenges
28-Day Challenges are focused practice designed to take 5-15 minutes per day. Challenges are a great way to train yourself to focus on getting things done, rather than struggling in pursuit of perfection. Timing yourself on Challenges makes it easier to fit them into your daily routine and puts the focus on quantity and repetition instead of quality and completion. There is no right or wrong way to complete them.
Do you need some extra practice in one area? Are you at an impasse articulating or moving forward with your Project? Are you between Projects? Do you want to challenge yourself with daily creative activity? Challenges might be right for you. Focus on the Challenges that are most interesting to you and mold them to fit your interests.
The goal is to practice for as many of the 28 days as possible. A growing library of Challenges are listed here, including new ones posted periodically
Assignments – Assignments are generally painting studies which are designed to take more time to complete than Exercises. Suggested time to be spent is about 60-120 minutes, but use as much time as you like. These can be done on small canvases or heavyweight paper.
Exercises – A growing library of optional Exercises from all seven units are compiled here, including new ones posted periodically.
Exercises generally involve drawing, writing, and brainstorming directly into your sketchbook and are designed to take less time to complete than Assignments. Suggested time to be spent is about 30-60 minutes, but use as much time as you like.
Video Demonstrations – A large and growing number of professionally produced video demonstrations provide a deep dive into concepts and process. New videos are added periodically.
These are divided among the 7 Unit pages. A compilation of all video demonstrations is located in the Video Demos page.
Short Lectures – A large and growing library of Short Lectures are available to all active members.
Although members can watch recordings of all Class Meetings since Jan 2023, an expanding catalog of Class Meeting recordings means it becomes less feasible to watch everything.
Short Lectures bring the most important segments from previous Class Meetings together into compact recordings, each 20 minutes or less. These are located in the Short Lectures page.
Exhibitions – Members are invited to submit their completed paintings for our Members' Exhibition, taking place once per term (three times per year). This virtual exhibition is hosted on our website and available for view by the public.
Beginning in 2025, members who participate in the Members' Exhibitions will be able to exhibit their work in an In-Person Exhibition at the Azgour Art Studio in San Francisco. Participation is for members only. Digital participation is complimentary while physical works will incur an additional fee.
Newsletter – The newsletter is published about twice per month. It is posted in the Announcements space on our website and sent by email on Mondays. It contains inspiring artist quotes and the Monday Mantra, which are bits of wisdom and encouragement from the instructor and/or other sources.
External Resources – A carefully curated library of resources on the web – articles, videos, websites, presentations, and books – to facilitate expanded study.
