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Well done Georgie
It’s always great news when a graduate of the Virtual Art Academy has a major success. So huge congratulations to Georgie Rey for being accepted into 2024 Pastel Art Society Exhibition, at the Mall Galleries in January/February 2024.
Not only that, but her painting “Buriton Farm In Turquoise/White Wild Flowers” has been accepted for the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London from 29 February – 9 March 2024. Well done again, Georgie!
Comments from Georgie Rey
“I found VAA online and did one of Barry’s courses in Knysna many years ago (12!) then signed up and started following Barry’s course. I learnt about Notans, Values, simplifying big shapes, colour pairs…. and it made so much sense. Working through the programme and doing the exercises you develop an eye for a good composition and learn about the details that make up a good picture: the lessons have sunk into my subconscious.
Barry always talks a lot about values, values and values….. One of his important tips was to just work in black and white paint or a range of grey compressed charcoal sticks for a long time just do exercises (Notan, Outline Study, 7 value study, colour map, 7 value colour study) and not make paintings for a year or two! This really helped me to make progress.
The dry pastel painting “Mill Pond Bottom” was done on site as a sketch and the oil pastel painting “Buriton Farm” was done in the studio trying to resolve the foreground and composition problem I was having! I like to keep going back to the same place over a year or 2 or 3 !! (that works for me) I am always trying different mediums and sizes and often go back to charcoal when I get stuck.
Since 2022 I’ve had paintings selected at The Pastel Art Society, The Chelsea Art Society, The New English Art Club and The Royal Society of British Artists (Mall Galleries). I’m still experimenting and often feel frustrated that there isn’t one size and one medium that I stick to, but that’s creativity isn’t it?
I open my studio in June:
https://surreyopenstudios.org.uk/open-studio/georgie-rey/
https://www.instagram.com/georgierey/
Please pop in to say Hello, and chat about my VAA experience.”
P.S. Here is Georgie’s website and story
… and some of her wonderful art work
Invest in her work now before she gets too famous!
I started learning oil painting with VAA from scratch. Just one year later my paintings started to sell
Thank You
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you find it useful. If you would like to get free painting tips by email, please sign up for my free tips newsletter.
If you are interested in a structured approach for learning how to paint, take a look at my online painting classes.
Happy painting!
Barry John Raybould
Virtual Art Academy
What The Students Are Saying
Only online learning program I have ever discovered using a training industry best practice
VAA is the only online learning program I have ever discovered using a training industry best practice of incorporating Knowledge and Skills to support learning a new activity. Every building block (Drawing, Form, Observation, Concept, Notan, Composition, Colour, Brushwork) incorporates a “spiral learning” approach where you are introduced to the Knowledge/Skill at one level and then reintroduced to it again elsewhere in the curriculum. Sure genius.
I’ve attended workshops, read books, and watched YouTube videos — and none of them provide the scaffolded approach to learning the VAA offers. If you are just starting your painting journey, start here. If you are a mid level or advanced painter, start here. There is a sense of community with artists around the globe. You are part of a peer to peer learning process bigger than yourself.
As a result of the VAA, I have been juried into several shows, am represented by a local gallery and have been selling my paintings on a consistent basis. VAA curriculum’s approach will grow your ‘artist’s brush’ and aid you in finding your artistic voice. As your basics improve, your art improves. Henry Hensche said, “There is study and there is performance, and we should not confuse the two, study is done for perceptual development, our performances show us where we are in that development, and we must have both…”. VAA curriculum offers both.
I went through the entire curriculum, did every every exercise, and today review my printed books/exercises on an annual basis to keep myself fresh and ready for my next painting adventure.
Onwards/Sideways,
Jay “jbird” Holobach
https://www.jayholobach.com/
Barry gave me a fishing rod so I can catch my own fish
Read more “Barry gave me a fishing rod so I can catch my own fish”
The equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost
Read more “The equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost”
An excellent foundation on so many aspects of painting
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 has provided me an excellent foundation on so many aspects of painting. The course is organized very logically, provides great examples, diagrams, thorough explanations and worthwhile assignments. I highly recommend this course to anyone with a desire for an in-depth education of art.
Thank you again, Barry, I love this course Jeanne
Read more “An excellent foundation on so many aspects of painting”
A great learning platform
No need to buy expensive art books…. Just do the VAA 4 year course. I still refer to it
Read more “No need to buy expensive art books…. Just do the VAA 4 year course. I still refer to it”
comprehensive art education
It is wild to see how much I am learning in this course!
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 Oil Painting Courses,” and found several references to VAA.
I signed up for VAA’s ongoing Apprentice Program last October (2023), and I am incredibly glad I did! As a beginner, I didn’t know what I didn’t know, but I didn’t have to: VAA has already mapped it all out for me. It starts out with basic, fundamental stuff, but also teaches me the THINKING that goes in the painting: the composition, my color choices, how to consciously select which darks and lights need to be emphasized, etc.
Bottomline, I am learning how to create paintings that have both visual music and poetry, and it is super fun to see my growth! I cannot recommend this course enough!
Read more “It is wild to see how much I am learning in this course!”
The small steps are easy to do
Read about another Virtual Art Academy student, Meng Qing Sheng, who has had major success with a national exhibition in China.