Learning art by correspondence

Learning art by correspondence - Story by Wendy Lee

I love my Life Drawing Academy experience. I know that Vladimir London will take me to the advanced level of painting skills as well

I have always wanted to draw. My daughter draws and it looks so easy for her and I want to be able to do that also. I have done a lot of artworks by tracing a picture and then painting it, but I don't want to just trace everything. I want to be able to draw the features and then paint. Last year, I dug out my drawing materials and have gotten serious about drawing. I tend to want to draw something everyday. Then, I started at the Drawing Academy.

I drew a still-life with geometric objects and sent it in for critique. Mr. London critiqued it and suggested which parts need improvement. I thought the drawing was very good, but with so many mistakes exposed, I realized that on my own it would be very difficult if not impossible to learn all the rules of realistic drawing. If I cannot see what is wrong with my drawings, how on earth would I correct them? I needed a talented teacher, like Mr. London. That is why a couple of months later I enrolled in the Life Drawing Academy Correspondence Course.

I am continuing to go through the Drawing Academy videos and learn everything that I can from them. I know that I need to learn fundamentals in order to improve.

This is what keeps me busy in the Correspondence Course. I receive drawing tasks and draw from life following the instructions. This is like having a personal teacher who walks you though all the steps from a clean sheet of paper to the finished artwork. Every drawing task I do is critiqued and the teacher points out my mistakes. Sometimes I erase and redraw my exercises, sometimes I start all over again. With every new drawing I make, I learn something new. My skills are advancing, so are my mistakes. At the beginning, I was making junior errors in linear perspective. Now, with this skill under the belt, I'm working on fixing the aerial perspective. With 100 drawing tasks to do, I have a long way to go. This gives me reassurance that if I have already learned so much and my skills are getting better with every task, I will definitely reach the advanced level of drawing skills by the end of the Life Drawing Academy curriculum.

Drawing for me is just a step-stone to painting. Although by now I'm able to draw without tracing images, painting is a different story. I travel a lot, visited Europe, Italy, London. When I see an iconic location, I want to paint it. Unfortunately, my watercolor painting comes short. This is especially apparent when I depict architecture and sky. Taking the Watercolor Academy Correspondence Course was the next logical step. I love my Life Drawing Academy experience. I know that Vladimir London will take me to the advanced level of painting skills as well. So, here I am, learning drawing and watercolor painting. One activity helps another.

I am very happy that I enrolled. Sometimes, I think that my progress is slow; but checking artworks I made before the watercolor course, I see how far I advanced. I haven't yet reach even the middle of this course.

I want to thank Mr. London for all his hard work. He's a talented artist and teacher; he has a big heart, which he shares with his students!

Thank you!
Wendy Lee

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