Best Online Painting Classes: Reviews Of The Virtual Art Academy® Apprentice Program

Although still a novice, the Virtual Art Academy has taught me the skills needed, not only to produce reasonably good art but has given me an understanding of the complexities of art. All the basics of art, as well as composition and studies of master artists are covered in the course. No reason not to… Read more “VAA, the ultimate art course”

I have been working my way through the Virtual Art Academy for almost a year now, and cannot recommend it highly enough. The Workshops are thorough, structured and substantive. There is a logical and step by step progression that makes the learning process so much easier, with new concepts being introduced and then practiced along… Read more “A great learning platform”

Five star rating from me for Virtual Art Academy (VAA)! I retired last year, and decided I wanted to spend my time in retirement learning how to oil paint. But having never painted before, I wasn’t even sure what to look for in an online painting course. However, I did some searches for “Best Online… Read more “It is wild to see how much I am learning in this course!”

  The Virtual Art Academy is the perfect art course I’ve been searching for. Barry’s decades of knowledge are condensed into fantastic lesson plans, creating a vibrant community. The apprentice course delves deep into drawing, painting planning, and color theory. It’s like obtaining an art degree at my own pace and more affordably. The structured… Read more “Fantastic lesson plans, and a vibrant community”

Before repurposing my vocation into avocation, I spent 20 years in the corporate world as an instructional designer and performance consultant creating training curricula for diverse clientele from NASA to General Motors. I know curriculum development and how to guide a learner from beginning to certification. VAA is the only online learning program I have… Read more “Only online learning program I have ever discovered using a training industry best practice”

In the last couple of years, I took online painting courses and in-studio classes adding to my university courses from many years ago. After researching Anders Ericsson learning systems and Ultralearning, I was struggling to design my own painting learning plan. Then I discovered the VAA and with the endorsement from Richard Robinson, I jumped… Read more “First quality education, materials, layered learning systems, feedback loop and social support and lifelong learning – amazing”

I joined 2 years ago with my daughter. We have both learnt so much and have enjoyed our VAA time together. My daughter is now 13 and already produces amazing paintings. The Virtual Art Academy is simply the most comprehensive art instruction I could find anywhere online, and trust me, I had been looking for… Read more “The most comprehensive art instruction I could find anywhere online, and trust me, I had been looking for a long time.”

The Virtual Art Academy program is really comprehensive and gave me all the information and directives to learn painting in one package. The material is very well organized, just beautiful to look at and motivating to carry through. The online campus is a wonderful place to meet other artists and receive critical feedback on my… Read more “I started learning oil painting with VAA from scratch. Just one year later my paintings started to sell”

I have been a student of VAA since 2011. I had been searching for an online art program that could assist in helping me develop as an artist. VAA is a complete program for beginners as well as advanced students of art. The course is well structured and takes you step by step so you… Read more “The improvement in my own work reaffirms that I’ve found the right program to develop as an artist”

I am extremely impressed with the process that Barry has developed for VAA.  Learning to paint can be intimidating, but when broken into many small projects it is very do-able.  I just did my first live model painting session- a 5 hour, one day session.  Thanks to VAA, I was able to break the painting… Read more “The small steps are easy to do”

I never had formal training in painting and my style has always been very realistic, slow and not at all artistic, just a copy of a photograph. When I got word of the course available through Virtual Art Academy, I was very excited for the opportunity to learn what I never knew about painting.  VAA… Read more “An excellent  foundation on so many aspects of painting”

After a thorough research, my personal conclusion is that the Virtual Art Academy (VAA) is, by wide margin, the most comprehensive, in depth and well-organized painting course available in the internet. Unlike most tutorials and color mixing recipes commonly found online, VAA’s philosophy is rather to provide the students with detailed information about all aspects… Read more “The most comprehensive, in depth and well-organized painting course available online”

Hi I’m Richard Robinson. I’ve been a professional painter since 2001. My claim to fame is only that I’m making a living as an artist and doing pretty well – something which I hear is not so easy to do, and I guess it does take a lot of work, but it’s work that I… Read more “I’m Richard Robinson …. best online art training available on the internet today”

The questions you ask yourself are,”Will it be worth the cost?” and “Will it be truly useful?”. After a couple of weeks working on/in Virtual Art Academy®, I can say that the amount of work it represents – by Barry – is incredible! The information presented alone is more than worth the price and, yes,… Read more “It is a real course that trains you in a structured way”

After weeks and even months of searching YouTube, “googling” and spending a fortune on art instructional books I finally came across the Virtual Art Academy®. When it comes to purchasing online I am always very careful how I spend my money. Especially when I already spent a small fortune on art books. They always seemed… Read more “Barry gave me a fishing rod so I can catch my own fish”

The course is working great, the lessons are set out so well that every week I can see growth. In following the program it’s given me direction, and the information in the lesson plans are of a professional level. There is no way I would have tracked down the information by myself, and being in… Read more “The course has a steady learning curve that keeps revealing itself as you advance”

This is a far more superior school than anything I have seen being taught at colleges across the country and have learned much more from the Virtual Art Academy® than from any art course I have ever taken! I cannot begin to tell how the Virtual Art Academy has improved my observation of potential compositions… Read more “This is a far more superior school than anything I have seen being taught at colleges across the country”

I finished the VAA course a few years ago, but always refer to the notes, rereading the course many times. This is not a course the day you are finished, you are done. No, you keep practising the assignments getting better and better over time. When I look back at my work when I had just… Read more “No need to buy expensive art books…. Just do the VAA 4 year course. I still refer to it”

My painting “Primitive Pots” recently won the award given by the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour at the recent selected exhibition of the Society of East Anglian watercolourists. I have been working through the VAA course for over five years and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to improve their painting. There is… Read more “Since I started the programme I can see improvements in my composition and use of colour”

The VAA course is built on four main building blocks including PROCESS, REALISM, MUSIC AND POETRY. These are further divided into topics that are continuously developed throughout the curriculum. Drawing, Form, Observation, Colour, Brushwork, Notan, Composition and Poetry are all thoroughly taught. Working on-line we meet students from all around the world, interacting with them… Read more “‘Ladder of Learning’ adds to overall positive experience of this awesome course”

I joined 5 years ago when I didn’t know anything about oils, painting, composition, or drawing. Barry’s way of teaching is extremely well versed in many aspects of painting. His building blocks of learning is the best I have seen. The academy is designed well and the community of fellow students is engaging and friendly.… Read more “Building blocks of learning is the best I have seen”

I would recommend taking VAA study to everyone who seriously strive of becoming exceptionally skilled professional artist. It gives more than you can ever imagine! The lessons structured in the best possible way that lead to understanding and skills you never acquired before which are so important in art. It is impossible to fail or… Read more “It is impossible to fail or gain little through extensive 4 year study at VAA!”

I joined VAA in 2014, it seemed a perfect fit in content, ease of access and cost. It turned out to be all of this and much more. The wealth of information on all practical aspects of painting is invaluable and I think incomparable to anything else out there. The course structure is such that… Read more “The course is for beginners, intermediate and advanced artists”

This course was exactly what I’d been looking for as a recent “empty-nester.” The Virtual Art Academy coursework taught me not only HOW to paint well, but also how to SEE to observe a scene more closely to interpret it effectively in paint, and what to look for to create an interesting composition. It helped… Read more “The sky’s the limit”

This is a great course for anyone who is serious about improving their painting. I have been a student here for several years. When I am finished, I will have the equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost. I can do the lessons anywhere and at my own pace.… Read more “The equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost”

I have been very pleased with the Virtual Art Academy program. I feel I am both learning things about making a better painting and also reviewing things I was taught YEARS AND YEARS ago! I have looked at some of my paintings and realized that they are not the great paintings I thought they were.… Read more “I lead a fairly busy life and find this can be worked into it with ease”

I felt the need for a structured program to further my love of painting. I liked the Virtual Art Academy® examples of lessons that were in International Artist Magazine. On perusing the Virtual Art Academy website, I found that it was most informative. I spent a fair amount of time looking at the different modules… Read more “My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier”

Dear Barry and Jacqui, I write this as a thank you for the gift of this incredible learning tool. Here is my little story of how you impacted me… My mother and a sister are/ were… artists… i kept well clear.. feeling as though it just wasn’t my thing. I became a musician. and didn’t… Read more “Thank you for the gift of this incredible learning tool”

After completing my first year of studies, VAA has exceeded my expectations. Barry Raybould’s model of visual music and poetry is a beautifully descriptive and innovative way to study painting and art as a whole. VAA is all-encompassing, from color theory and composition to studying the masters, old and new. Each lesson connects to form… Read more “A path to expressing visual music and poetry in your painting”

In the last couple of years, I took online painting courses and in-studio classes adding to my university courses from many years ago. After researching Anders Ericsson learning systems and Ultralearning, I was struggling to design my own painting learning plan. Then I discovered the VAA and with the endorsement from Richard Robinson, I jumped… Read more “First quality education, materials, layered learning systems, feedback loop and social support and lifelong learning – amazing”

10 years ago I decided to take up painting as an activity to keep me busy in my upcoming retirement. I had trouble finding quality instruction that fit my busy schedule while still working. Fortunately I found the Virtual Art Academy. The ability to work my way through the lessons whenever I had the time… Read more “Thanks for the great start to my painting career”

I have painted for many years as a hobby without any art education. I always felt that there was a lot of potential for me to improve my art but never had the time or resources to do anything about it till I discovered Virtual Art Academy. I am over joyed to realize that there… Read more “A Great Learning Experience for Aspiring Artists”

I am a retired professional ceramicist. I decided to branch out and began dabbling in oil painting about 5 years ago, but have had no formal training. This year I decided that it was time to put that right. I have taken some short online art courses in the past, and they improved my understanding,… Read more “I am a retired professional”

I have learned so many important foundational concepts through Virtual Art Academy that I never got through other resources. I find that the books and online videos I used previously taught specific and isolated techniques, and they lacked applicability of important concepts necessary for understanding and growth. The “building blocks” approach with numerous assignments throughout… Read more “VAA is truly invaluable!”

I have painted for many years as a hobby without any art education. I always felt that there was a lot of potential for me to improve my art but never had the time or resources to do anything about it till I discovered Virtual Art Academy. I am over joyed to realize that there… Read more “I have painted for many”

I wanted to get a comprehensive art education with the freedom to work at my own pace. I’m several years into the curriculum and I feel like my work has drastically improved. I’ve found holes in my knowledge that I didn’t know I had. Critiquing other students posts and reading their feedback to mine has… Read more “comprehensive art education”

Although still a novice, the Virtual Art Academy has taught me the skills needed, not only to produce reasonably good art but has given me an understanding of the complexities of art. All the basics of art, as well as composition and studies of master artists are covered in the course. No reason not to… Read more “VAA, the ultimate art course”