Milan Art Institute Mastery Program Part 1, month 2 experience, review and 20 tips for Sections 5-8

My experience of the second month Milan Art Institute Mastery Program with 20 Tips along the way and I show you all the assignments that we did in Section 5, section 6, section 7 and section 8.
I started the program on January 1st 2024 and want to finish by December 31st 2024!
We learned more techniques for oil paintings, charcoal drawings and graphite drawings. I share struggles and successes - I hope you find this useful! Please comment if you have questions or requests for art tutorials!
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[@RavenStudio888]

great info, your painting of Queenie is fabulous

[@katjart3649]

Thank you so much!😻

[@magdalenaserrano2925]

I loved the Chameleon!

[@katjart3649]

AAAAH! Cool! Yea, the end result isn't that bad... It was just a very unsatisfying process... Each step not working as I thought it would. But good to know, thank you!

[@debramullen-cr9nd]

Thank you for your review of the steps in the Mastery program. Your painting of Queenie is fabulous! I’m looking forward to this program when I can do so.

[@katjart3649]

Thank you so much! Yes, it became one of my favourites too... Well you certainly have something to look forward to!

[@sharonevans8504]

Thanks for sharing. I can tell your work has improved. Primarily sketches look good, only focusing on the essential.

[@katjart3649]

Thank you very much!

[@dianecharest8365]

Thankbyou so much for your tips. I do plan on the Milan Academy, sometime in the near future.

[@katjart3649]

Oh excellent! You will not regret it! We'll meet in the community then😉

[@-yi9mu]

Good video.

[@katjart3649]

Thank you I'm glad to hear that!

[@BrazWallace]

Well done. I enjoy your honesty and full coverage of the sections. Looking forward to the next one.

[@katjart3649]

Thank you so very much! These videos keep me on track for sure, so wait about a month and I will deliver 😅

[@cathybradshaw6008]

Totally enjoyed hearing everything you had to say. Thanks for sharing , grateful from Texas

[@katjart3649]

Oh that is so good to know - thank you so much! 😊

[@TonyQuinn-Art]

It was very interesting and helpful to hear your thoughts and insights on the program. I just did the charcoal perspective city last night and am about to start the city painting next. Your came out great and also, I actually liked your graphite drawings, maybe just the darkest darks need to be a little darker. But the drawing all looked great and in proportion etc. Keep it up :o) Maybe I'll see you on Art Social.

[@katjart3649]

Oh thank you so much! I'll try to find you on Art Social! Yea, the graphite is also REALLY hard to photograph, isn't it? Too shiny... So I agree the darkest darks could be darker, but that is hard to get even, and I also think it IS darker, but just doesn't show up that way in the photo. And if I press really hard, I get "creases" in the paper, which I also really don't like. I'll work on making friends with graphite, maybe just not in realism 😅. Have fun with the program!

[@TonyQuinn-Art]

@@katjart3649 Yeah, I don't like photographing graphite drawings. They do always look shiny. I actually love charcoal though and it's so forgiving to use. For graphite I just find I need to slowly build up layers to the darker darks. Gradually building it up, so not too heavy on the paper. I also like using black pan pastel which comes out lovely and contrasty. Have fun with the program. I'm sure we'll have lots of ups, downs and also good and not so good surprises along the way.

[@petragroening862]

Such helpful tips, thank you so much.

[@katjart3649]

Oh I am so glad to hear that! Thank you

[@cmf1267]

Really fantastic work. Elli does go into signing your artwork either at the end of Mixed Media or kind of early in Part 3 (portfolio). She probably should have addressed it much earlier in the program because she tells everyone they should not be signing their artwork (unless of course you sell a piece) because they will address signatures and the importance of same in a later section (maybe marketing). Your signature looks very good though and looks like you put a lot of thought into it. I think you will do very well in Mixed Media/voice because you obviously have a lot of experience and already want to paint your own references. I've actually decided to go back and put more work into earlier sections before actually beginning portfolio because in all honesty I did not put in the 20 hours per week and have found it frustrating to find my voice when I don't feel my skills are where they need to be! I look forward to seeing how you progress through the rest of the program.

[@katjart3649]

Oh my Goodness thank you so much! Well believe it or not, I JUST watched the video about varnishing and signing (I seldom jump ahead for things I feel I want to know - this time it was because of varnishing, and there was the signature information as well...). Well I shall address that in the next video. Do you think that is enough, or should I add this here and re-upload this one (tedious work but can be done😅). Are we connected in the community?

[@lindakopec7036]

Don't give up on graphite just yet. Remember there are 19 grades from 14B to 6H in all kinds of sizes and shapes from wooded pencils to woodless pencils and sticks and blocks. There is one the size of your foot. It also comes in a kneadable form and in various powders. Glass blowers use a graphite paddle if you want to try something different for big, sweeping, loose marks. If you like charcoal, try 14B to 6B for an easy to lay down - very dark marks. Seems you don't know that some graphite marks can be burnished or rubbed for a shiny look. And if you like a bit of colour, Derwent makes graphitints. Which graphite you choose all depends on what effect you want to create. Check them out and let me know which you would like to try.

[@katjart3649]

Hah! You are so great - thank you very much! And you are absolutely right, I will NOT give up. In fact, I just used it voluntarily again yesterday and had a better experience. I own all the above graphite materials except the kneadable form, because I used to LOVE it. I mostly like the loose way of using it though, and the soft and blocky forms of it, which is basically when it looks and behaves mostly like charcoal, hahah! I even own the Pitt Graphite Matt pencils (faber castell I believe), which have very reduced shine and lay down very dark - again, almost like charcoal. Those are my favourites, along with the blocks...😉 Thank you again!!!

[@lindakopec7036]

@@katjart3649 You are welcome - twice. :) Try your graphite on sandpaper - both artist and lumber store kinds - and see if you might like that. That is a fun way - especially for clean, simple line work.

[@marcellasmith8942]

Question, I'm going to be teaching a young girl as we both go thru the program, her parents may turn this program down because of the nudes, are there many nudes in the program? I'm a 66 yo retired nurse so I don't care, but she is a young girl with conservative parents. Just asking as that may be the end of her lessons with me using this program

[@katjart3649]

No nudes at all! The sources and exercises they provide contain zero nudity. If anybody chooses to paint that and post it in the community forum, that is a personal choice. So that would be the only place your young artist friend would be encountering nudes, and it's very rare and unlikely... I hope that helps!