Old Masters Academy

I want to make my living off my paintings

Artwork by David Miller

… I started an art degree in college, but later switched to Information Technology to cover the cost of living and raising a family. I’ve been working in IT Security for quite a while now, but my love has always been painting.

I fall asleep at night thinking about painting. After I finish painting for the evening, I’ll take a picture of my progress, and then I will lie in bed and critique my work for long periods of time. When my eyes won’t stay open any more, I close them and start thinking about how I might paint tomorrow, and I visualize the brush strokes and the colors. I reflect on what I did that really worked and what didn’t. I do this almost daily. I am happiest when I start painting and all the way through the process. …

How-to-paint-old-masters-Rivalry between Raphael, Leonardo Michelangelo

Rivalry between Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo

by Rosily Roberts

…The rivalry between the two great masters began in the early sixteenth century, when both Leonardo and Michelangelo were hired to paint vast battle scenes on the same wall of the Council Hall in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. The two artists were in direct competition as they each completed their commission. At the time of the commission, in 1503, Leonardo was in his early 50s, and was well known throughout Europe. He was commissioned to paint a huge wall painting of The Battle of Anghiari, a scene from the recent wars between Florence and Milan. Then, just a year later, Michelangelo, aged only twenty-nine and something of a prodigy, was commissioned to paint The Battle of Cascina, a fourteenth century conflict between Florence and Pisa, on the same wall. This commission came months after Michelangelo’s David, arguably still the world’s most recognisable sculpture, was unveiled in Florence. Despite his fame, Leonardo now had a rival. …

Faked sculpture made by Michelangelo

by Rosily Roberts

…There are no other known forgeries by Michelangelo in existence, however he was involved with the restoration of the famous Laocoön statue, a Hellenistic marble statue that was discovered in Rome in 1506. There has since been speculation from art historians and critics that the statue might have indeed been another of Michelangelo’s forgeries, however this claim has never been proven.

What has been proven is Michelangelo’s skill and flair, particularly when mimicking the works of the ancient Greek masters, and it was this that allowed his career to flourish and his art to remain in such an important and crucial position in the history of Western art. …

Rubens’s copies of old masters

by Rosily Roberts

…Rubens used a similar treatment in his copy of Titian’s Adam and Eve, which was made during his same trip to Spain. In Titian’s work, Eve is shown accepting the apple from the devil, who is half child and half serpent, while Adam feebly tries to stop her.
In keeping with his own concept of painting, he made significant changes to the original, including a more intense palette. He altered Adam’s posture and made him more muscular, in accordance with his interest in depicting the body as curvaceous. In fact, Rubens’ Adam was based on the sculpture of the Belvedere Torso in the Vatican Museum, another nod to classicism. Eve too is portrayed as fleshier and less smooth than Titian’s own original woman. Rubens has further heightened the drama of the scene by making Adam’s facial expression seem more shocked and alarmed by Eve’s actions. …

how-to-paint-can support themselves with art

I was bombarded with the usual “no one can support themselves with art” …

Artwork by Karen Ferrand Carroll

… Of course when it came to a course of study in school I was bombarded with the usual “ study something practical” and “no one can support themselves with art”.

Fast forward through the years, marriage, kids, job, bills, parents and any my time got pushed to the back. Grab a little time here and there, painted when I could. Self learn from whatever I can sneak in. I feel I was blessed with the ability to see with the wonder and fascination so many of us out grow or put aside because ‘it is time to grow up’. …

I like classical painting

Artwork by Zhou Xu

I am a Chinese immigrant and my English is not very good. I like drawing since I was a child. I graduated from Shanghai academy of fine arts and majored in sculpture. I worked for 35 years on animated films. My animation won many awards. I live in Las Vegas now, mostly on oil portraits. Not too much emphasis on commercialization.

Painting is the most precious content in my life. I am always looking for the techniques and connotations of classicism. …

I always kept practicing on my own …

… Though I have been drawing and painting for many years I am still not able to draw what I imagine or create any drawing on my own, which is one of the biggest struggles I have.

I just want to get better every time.

I was browsing for some drawing lessons when I found the old masters academy course. I think the skills you share is what’s missing in me as an art lover. And so glad that I found this course. …

I have never had any painting classes before this course

Artworks and story from Alexandra Martins

Hello Natalie!

It has been a while since I started this online oil painting course, but my job (I’m a military) has taken a turn and I haven’t been able to paint much. Anyway, I’ll return home soon, I hope, and I’m already pulling my sleeves up to continue this course, can’t wait to be able to do that!

I have never had any painting classes before this course and I’ve already learned a lot from it.

I have decided to send you my artworks for critique.

salai-how-to-paint-like-Leonardo-his-students-apprentice

Leonardo’s relationship with his students and apprentices

by Rosily Roberts

… Francesco Melzi was, according to historian Vasari, a Milanese nobleman, who inherited many of Leonardo’s manuscripts, instruments, books and drawings. While Leonardo complemented his abilities as a painter, no known paintings by him survive. He has often been exalted as Leonardo’s favourite student, and Leonardo often praised him in letters.

Melzi is responsible for one of the few surviving portrait of Leonardo, which was most likely execute towards the end of his life. It is likely that this is the portrait of Leonardo that Vasari saw in Melzi’s house, and that later become the frontispiece for the Leonardo chapter in Vasari’s Lives of the Artists.

Leonardo da Vinci apprenticeship

by Rosily Roberts

… In 1472 Leonardo was accepted into the painters’ guild of Florence, however, he remained in his teacher’s workshop for five more years, before working independently in Florence until 1481. Many of his pen and pencil drawings exist from this period, as well as technical sketches, including pumps, military weapons and mechanical apparatus, evidencing his interest in and knowledge of technical matters, even early on in his career.

Some of Leonardo’s artistic concerns originate with Verocchio, such as the twisting pose known as the figura serpentinata and the study of contrasting expressions. …