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Huge congratulations to Yin Da, who has just been accepted into one of the top contemporary galleries in the United States, the Paul Scott Gallery. His gallery showcases some of the world’s top contemporary Impressionist painters.
I have always told my students who ask me how to be successful, and I always give them the same answer. You need to ensure your work has a powerful emotional affect on your viewer.
To do this, you need to incorporate two key elements in your work: Visual Music, and Visual Poetry. The painting needs to convey the poetry and feeling of a place, but at the same time it must not be a direct copy of a scene. Instead it needs to be imbued with abstract qualities that are related to the use of brushwork, and shape design, and that have nothing all to do with the subject.
This is the central philosophy of the principles I teach at the Virtual Art Academy. I have been working with Yin Da on his color and brushwork since I first met him many years ago, and am so happy to see his recent work to have advanced to such as level as to be accepted into one of the most prestigious galleries in the United States. I believe his work to as good as any of the great Ukrainian and Russian Impressionists, not to mention Sorolla, in terms of color and brushwork.
Take a look at the suggestive brushwork in these works, and the masterful use of soft edges. The confidence in his brushstrokes reflects a deep level of observation and an abstract interpretation that suggests detail without having to spell it out. This art is truly remarkable and inspiring.
Some of the principles from the Virtual Art Academy that he is using are the use of color pairs, and atmospheric perspective from hue and saturation changes. Also note the distinct color spots and suggestive near music, as well as contrast of saturation. All of this contributes to the impact his work has on the viewer.
P.S. Invest in his work now before he gets too famous! Yin Da is new to the US art scene, and I predict his work will be highly sought after in the future. Very few artist can do what Yin Da accomplishes in his work. The gallery to contact is here: Paul Scott Gallery.
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
The small steps are easy to do
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
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”
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!”
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”
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”
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/
A great learning platform
Read about another Virtual Art Academy student, Meng Qing Sheng, who has had major success with a national exhibition in China.