Classical Illustration with Stories to Tell

Since I could first pick up a crayon I have been drawing. I spent most of childhood just drawing and writing stories. My favourite stories as a child were always ones which featured large illustrations, but particularly high quality, classical illustrations, like Winnie the Pooh and Beatrix Potter. My favourite artists now are Charles Van Sandwyk, Monet, Franklin Carmichael, Cecily Mary Barker, Beatrix Potter, E. H. Shepherd, and the Audobons. I am also very inspired by some traditional Chinese watercolour and ink landscapes (like A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains) and the landscapes of many other Classical Artists, particularly of the Golden Age of Book Illustration.

I did not take up watercolour painting until about four years ago, and until then it always felt like something was missing from my drawings. I found, while many people say watercolour is more challenging than other kinds of painting, it was exactly the right medium for me, in order to achieve the kind of softness I've long admired in Classical illustration. I love its flowing quality, its transparency, and dreamlike beauty. That being said, it IS a challenging medium. I've tried to learn on my own but feel that much of the kind of beauty I want to create cannot quite land on the page because I lack professional skills. Nothing would make me happier than to create my own unique classical quality illustrations, and bring them to new books for the world today, for both young and old readers. I would also like to paint the scenescapes of my mind, the places I dream about, and invite other people into their calm vastness. There are still so many worlds I want to create and it's so limiting right now trying to learn on my own without quality guidance. I especially want to advance my watercolour skills in depicting landscapes.

I took a break from pursuing art seriously for about the first eight years of my adult life, but that detour has ended now. I picked up my pencil and brushes again last year, and I came home. I will never look back again.

Watercolor Academy is like nothing I've ever seen before. They value the learner above all else, as evidenced in giving someone a chance to win all of this deeply informative and transformative education, even if they have no prior experience.

I would love to win the Watercolor Academy course so I could create beautiful and unique watercolour illustrations up to the standard of quality and brilliance I can now only imagine.

If I am voted I will wholeheartedly use the knowledge and craft I acquire to bring back classical quality art to the book and print industry, and offer, not just escapism, but a re-awakening of the beautiful world we actually live in.

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