Artworks and feedback from Sofia, Watercolor Academy student

Artworks and feedback from Sofia, Watercolor Academy student

In just one video about composition in art, I discovered more on this subject than in all art books I've read before

I loved drawing as a child, but one of my school teachers made a negative comment and I stopped. I started to take interest in art once again since my father took me to a gallery. I attended exhibitions ever since. My father was an illustrator. He wanted me to study design. I think he was a very professional designer, but not a patient teacher. His style of coaching was like "don't you see it's the wrong color?", but explaining what was the right color and how to mix it wasn't on his agenda. For some reason, I followed my mom's advice and studied accounting. I am an accountant now, but my heart is with art. It's too late for me to go back to school. I took art lessons but it was a disaster. It was more a social club than a serious place where art got taught. Then I had several more art classes, but every time I was disappointed with the tutors and teaching. One told me to "loosen up my style," which was nonsense since I didn't have any style and another advised to "just be creative", which was pointless because I simply could not draw, and expected to learn good drawing skills to create meaningful artworks.

I love Raffaello Sanzio's drawing style, and would love to draw so elegantly. I often browse the Internet to learn about new artists and the old Masters. One day, I stumble upon Vladimir London's works and immediately recognised that this is what I want to do, make art that looks like illustration and illustrations that look like fine art. Quickly I've learned that Vladimir runs painting courses and was intrigued. I signed up for a newsletter and watched free demo videos. Just by following Vladimir's free resources I've learned more than in all my previous art classes.

Until now I mainly copied photos and would need to develop my own style. That is why I enrolled in the Watercolor Academy online course. It seems to be such a deep source of knowledge.

In just one video about composition in art, I discovered more on this subject than in all art books I've read before. I think Vladimir greatly undervalues his lessons. For instance, other authors seldom mention more than 5 or 7 elements of composition. Some teachers only name three - focus, contrast and balance. Vladimir London fully explained 15 elements and illustrated them with an alphabet, which was a real discovery for me.

Every video lesson in this course opens my eyes to something new. I love miniature painting; this is what I want to try one day. After watching the lesson on "retouching", I found the way to paint on a small scale.

The best thing for me in this course is personal support. It is free, unlimited and very efficient. When I need an honest opinion on my art, Watercolor Academy tutors are very helpful. Not only they tell what is good, but more importantly, they tell me what is wrong and how to avoid mistakes. I completed all lessons on the color theory and advanced to tonal painting, which I do with only one paint or a very limited palette of no more than three pigments. These are examples of almost monochrome artworks I practice now.

In my previous classes, teachers did not explain the theory of tonal values, so I'm learning it in the watercolor course. Once again, Vladimir made it so simple to understand. His diagram with all values combined into three groups makes it very clear. I see those lights and shadows in life and apply tints and shades on paper.

I think it is a special talent - passing the knowledge. I could only wish having Vladimir as my art teacher in my junior school days. My life would be very different now. I would follow my heart and do art instead of accounting. Nevertheless, I can't change the past, but can work on my future. I'm so happy with the support I receive and skills I learn in this course. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sofia

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