Old Masters Academy review by Barbara 

Before and After by an Old Masters Academy student

I’m a single mom of two, and I worked as a social worker. When I was a child, I did quite well in art classes and enjoyed drawing a lot. I was thinking that one day I would start living my life as I had dreamed. Each New Year I wrote a new year’s resolution with a hope that I would definitely find some time for learning art again. Sometimes I felt so desperate and hopeless that my dream would ever come true.

I made one attempt to attend a local art class, but I quit in a few months. I wasn’t doing well there, even though our instructor always prized my work and my attitude. I did a few portraits of my niece and my children, and I even got a commission from my neighbours to paint their portraits.

Last year my best friend gave me the Old Masters Academy online oil-painting course as a birthday present.

Thank you for commenting on my exercises I sent you; all your comments were so encouraging and helpful. From time to time I got frustrated with my slow progress, but looking at my paintings before and after (thank you for this advice how to measure my progress) I see a huge leap forward. This motivates me a lot.

The portrait of my daughter Margaret (she keeps it on her wall) and my later painting of my granddaughter shows my progress.

I can only imagine what my painting skills would be today if I’d taken this course thirty years ago, when I was a bit younger. : )

Learn time-honored oil painting techniques of the Old Masters!