Old Masters Academy

How to paint like the Old Masters using modern materials

Art Competition Archive

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Obsession with drawing and painting

Artwork by Bethany D Boyd

As a mother of four, artist, wife, and musician, I have always had a love for anything that sparks the imagination. Growing up with a single mother, I always searched for ways to escape from the reality of the struggles of life in an impoverished home.

Art in all forms became a coping mechanism to heal my mind from the stress of life and continued to be a source of reprieve once mental illness dug its root deep into me. It started with an obsession with drawing, then turned into a love of painting watching every episode of Bob Ross and other television painters I could find. I have continued that hunger for learning even in my present goals. …

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The Old Masters Still Rule

Artwork by Robert Brocking

…As someone who has never had a single art lesson, I appreciate that the opportunity to have guidance from an academy professional could make all the difference. Learning by trial and error over the years is a slow and laborious process with varying levels of success and failure.

I can only hope that those of you that truly have a love of art, will vote for me as we all share such dreams. I just want to be the best version of me that I can ( as an artist ). For me classical art and the achievement of such a standard is the ultimate dream. A vote for me is a vote for yourselves – as we would be sharing the journey.

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I didn’t want to stop drawing

Artwork by Naomi Segal Deitz

… it has been a stop-and-start voyage so far. Despite several years of painting, a shelf of resources, a few workshops, and some success, I still feel with each painting as if I am starting the entire learning process over. Perspective confuses me. Colors go muddy. My glazed layers don’t have the subtlety I’m seeking. My drawings work pretty well, but they get lost under the paint layers and I wonder how to proceed. I’m afraid to paint anything but faces, where I do my best work. …

… I have done lots of reading about painting, but there is nothing like visual learning to see how something is done. The Old Masters approach seems to suit my natural style of painting, and I’d love to have this resource to help me understand and internalize the process and techniques that lead to better, more consistent results.

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My interest in animals dates back to my boyhood

Artwork by Ghulam Abbas Khaskheli

…I simply love to paint the animals of Pakistan in their natural habitats very luckily; this is my job in the Wildlife Department of Sindh.

My interest in animals dates back to my boyhood, but here were little or no opportunity to pursue
my interest fruitfully. …

… But I was inspired by the thought that I was not alone who loved to paint
animals, and my interest was spurred on with redoubled confidence.
Now I want to preserve on paper or canvas any animal I have the opportunity to watch and sketch.
It is a great fun, and I have now a collection of my own of which I am legitimately proud. …

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Wish for real art instruction!

Artwork by Ana Maria Jauregui

…I am 49 and have two kids 15 and 19. Art takes one of my first places in my life, after family, of course.

Since I was little I loved drawing and painting. I wanted to study art but in those years parents decided for us, saying art wasn’t something you could live off. SO I studied Interior decoration. …