PHILADELPHIA -- The artists are studying figure drawing, working at the moment with white chalk on black paper, which means working in reverse values from pencil on white paper. The lights go off and a spotlight focuses on the model.

This is how some of the 40 high school students at the Penn Summer Arts Studio at the University of Pennsylvania are utilizing their summers to create art.

With programs in painting, drawing, animation, video and photography, the students are spending more hours developing their craft than an undergraduate would during a semester. The days run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with intensive study in their discipline.

"The results are amazing," said program director Julie Schneider. "I am impressed at the level of work the students are producing, considering some have very little or no formal instruction."

Yesterday, the painting class took a quiz on human anatomy.

"Let's focus on just the torso," Schneider says, herself a figurative artist. "Remember anatomy and how a figure functions."

The renderings range in quality as Schneider turns to focus on the hands, one of the most difficult body parts to draw with its numerous bones.

"The artist needs to understand the body from the inside out," instructor Deirdre Murphy said. "You have to envision the skeleton, then the muscles, otherwise you're just drawing cartoon figures. You have to work from within."

Instructor Scott White has seen impressive results in his animation class. In the past two days, his students have already completed a one-minute claymation feature. They are currently working with the same fervor on their hand-drawn animations.

"Our goal is to provide the students a chance to grasp the concepts of various animation formats," White said.

Valerie Ross, director of Summer Sessions, said the Penn Summer Arts Studio was introduced as part of an ongoing effort to expand and complement the current summer programs for talented high school students.

"PSAS is a wonderful addition to our Penn programs; it is demanding, intensive, of the highest quality, and it offers state-of-the-art facilities and instruction. And it's great fun. This is what distinguishes all of our summer high school programs, which are designed for mature, accomplished students who are serious about their studies but who also want to meet similar students from throughout the world."

Qualified high school students may take undergraduate Penn courses for credit or pursue non-credit studies in the sciences or arts.

"While our programs are designed for academically-talented high school students," Ross said, "these are not 2018high school programs' in the conventional sense. Students have a bona fide college-level intellectual experience, one that challenges them in productive ways and provides them with a guided introduction to all facets of college life. These students exit our programs well-prepared and enthusiastic about going to college and pursuing their academic interests. "

Leo Covarrubias, a 17 year-old Lower Merion High School student from Narberth, Pa., animates a figure in profile crossing through a town where a battle is raging. The figure, a cyborg of sorts, climbs a hill towards a house.

"I like animation with the computer," said Covarrubias, who has had no prior experience with animation. "The possibilities are pretty much endless. I'm amazed by movies like Monsters Inc. and that kind of thing. I want to do that."

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