Old Masters Academy

How to paint like the Old Masters using modern materials

painting full time

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I dedicate myself to painting full-time

Artwork by Susan E Hoffman

A biologist, a lawyer and an editor walk into an art studio …
I was each of those things before I could dedicate myself to painting full-time.

Like many artists, I was always drawing and painting as a child. But, like many, I was discouraged from expecting to take up art as a career. Although I studied art (along with biology) in college, my career path took me on a different journey. …

… People should vote for me if they want to support someone who is sincerely dedicated to improving my skills. I can infuse a painting with spirit, but need to improve my technical skills to create a credible likeness of an individual. I’m willing to work hard to reach that goal but need guidance to learn the path to that goal. …

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Review by Old Masters Academy student

Artwork by Stephen Jamison

… I was able to retire from full time employment in 2007 and discovered a real passion for painting again, I was lucky enough to receive a decent commission which inspired me to take up painting full time.

For over 30 years I had painted alla prima pretty much in the style of the impressionists but I was increasingly dissatisfied with the results and wanted to achieve a higher standard and improve my ability. I began to study the methods of the old masters and at this time I discovered the Old Master’s Academy. …

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I have taught myself technique of the Old Masters…

Artwork by Sripriya Mozumdar

I am Sripriya Mozumdar, an ex-marketing professional turned self-taught artist. I have been painting full time since the past 10 years and along the way have taught myself oil painting and further within that, the Old Masters technique through extensive reading, viewing and practice.

In my journey of teaching myself oil painting, I was instinctively drawn to the multi-layered techniques of the Old Dutch Painting masters and to photo-realism. Photo-realism’s focus on amplifying the image, rather than the artist speaks to my sensibilities as an artist. And I like to bring forth the inherent beauty and minute details of the mundane, rather than focusing on the hand working the piece. Me as the artist is best present in my total absence in the painted image – that is my expression, my voice. My greatest joy is when my painting is mistaken for a photograph.

Being entirely self-taught, my biggest challenge has been that each painting I work on is a new experience – and often I discover that I had made some mistakes in the early layers, which can no longer be fixed at the color layer. …