Correspondence Course Review by Jane D.

Watercolor Academy Correspondence Course Review by Jane D.

I enrolled in the Watercolor Academy Correspondence Course and I'm very glad I did. I could only wish I knew about this Academy earlier

I first tried to draw when I was a child. Soon I gave it up, but after a while I decided to sign up for art classes. I took to painting and drawing and got so interested that I've been attending classes since then. To my disappointment, many art classes I attended taught me very little. My previous teachers had a very vague idea about how to make professional artworks and could not pass the knowledge to me.

I love painting just as much as drawing. I don't know what possessed me to pick up a brush and learn to paint in watercolor, but I enrolled in the Watercolor Academy Correspondence Course and I'm very glad I did. Right now I have a lot of time to practice watercolor painting, so this opportunity couldn't have come at better time.

The great thing about taking this watercolor course is that it gave me so needed teaching from professional artists that I could not get elsewhere. The art classes I took before could not give me the same quality art education as I'm getting in this course.

I don't have any formal art college education and everything I learn here is new and fascinating. There are so many "aha" moments in every video lesson I watch and in every painting task I get. For example, my previous art teachers claimed that they taught the way the old masters did but they actually taught the "express yourself method" of smearing charcoal dust all over with some "just let your creativity flow" instruction while copying from a photo reference image. I doubt that the Old Masters had photos to draw from. I want to learn painting and drawing from life. I get much more enjoyment from drawing a tree, flowers and birds from life than from copying a photo.

I consider myself as an absolute beginner, yet I'm learning with an incredible speed and already covered so many professional painting methods and techniques like alla prima, retouching, wet into wet, wet on dry, glazings and dry-brush, to name a few. I also went though the entire color theory with seven contrasts and the theory of primary, secondary and tertiary colors. Mixing colors is no longer a mystery for me. I'm now working on the pen-and-wash and wash-and-outlines watwercolor techniques. Here are two fast sketches I did from life.

The way I'm getting tutoring and practice watercolor painting suits my lifestyle so well. I can do it in my garden when I have free time. Every task I receive has its purpose and goals; I know why I'm doing it and how it should be done. All instructions are very clear and precise to the point. When I have some question, in 9 times out of 10 it is already answered in the task. When I have a question that is beyond the task, I usually get a well-explained and often illustrated answer promptly. I have a feeling that the whole Watercolor Academy team stands behind me, ready to help the moment I need it. It is such a good feeling that I'm looked after and cared about. I wonder if students at some art college have the same warm feeling about their teachers. Also, I know that I can study at my own pace; and because there are no deadlines, it takes pressure from me and makes my life so much easier.

I could only wish I knew about this Academy before I spent so much time taking classes that costed so much and delivered so little. I can't thank the Watercolor Academy team enough for teaching me all I need to learn to become a real fine artist. My ultimate goal is to become a painter and support my living by making the most exciting thing I want to do, art.

Thank you so much,
Jane

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