Art School can be an excellent way to hone your skills as an artist – at least, that’s the hope. However, having gone through the University of Montana School of Art Graduate program, and reviewing the classes taught in an art school, you may be surprised what you get, and don’t get, in an expensive art school education! After all, I had to teach undergraduate art classes and as I prepared using designated textbooks that I didn’t think were all that exciting, I started to see the cracks. It wasn’t until much later in life, several years after graduating with my MFA, that I realized how much I “didn’t” learn in art school.

One of the most important things you can learn from any art school is the foundations of color and design, as this is what comprises your visual language of art. Learning what each of the seven design elements means to you personally, ie, actually spending some serious time exploring line, shape, color, value, texture, direction and size, an artist can learn so much about their preferences and then use this knowledge to exploit these preferences in artwork, whether 2D or 3D. While it would be wonderful if students could learn this type of foundational design and color training in art school, most do not. And, sadly, statistics show that about 90% of those who graduate with their MFA no longer practice their art after their post graduate degrees. So, what seems to be the problem?

The problem is that many professors are hesitant to give students too much information that they feel may influencetheir a student’s ability to develop their personal voice. However, without encouraging a student to look inward and study the design elements, artists graduate from undergrad degrees with a bachelor of artsdegree without understanding how to create a strongly composed work of art. After spending much time studying the 2D design books to create a 2D/3D curriculum for the foundational classes I taught in drawing, sculpture and 2D Design, I found that there really weren’t any textbooks that contained all the necessary information in an inspiring, cohesive, comprehensive and clear format. Therefore, I decided 10 years after graduating with my Master of Fine Arts to create my own online art school. My online art school is called ArtandSuccess and can be found at www.artandsuccess.com.

What does my online art school contain? What kinds of courses do I offer? Since I am a mixed media artist interested in watercolor painting, acrylic and mixed media painting, encaustic painting, cold wax and oil painting, cyanotype alternative photography, as well as encaustic monotype painting – I have courses in almost all of these mediums. Having experience painting in multiple mediums gave me the background to go on to create multiple online courses not just in technique, but more importantly the foundations of color and design. My focus as an instructor has always been on color and design versus just technique. The more workshops I had attended proved to me that artists typically pursued the easy route of technique, rather than doing the work to develop the foundations of color and design.

My hope is that all artists will come upon my school as a respite from empty, shallow, hollow courses that do not fulfill an artist’s design and color “toolbox”. My online school,www.artandsuccess.comoffers many online courses and memberships that allow the serious artist to grow as an artist, develop the necessary skills and Visual Language of Art (VLA) and accomplish their goals. Whether artists take my Acrylic Technique Course (AMM),Acrylic and Mixed Media “Painting in a Series” course (WIS),Encaustic Mini-Course, Cold Wax/Oil painting course for beginners, or flagship courses, Powerful Design and Personal Color and Art Success MASTERS, they will be able to come away with a well-balanced understanding of color and design as they build their confidence, belief in their true voice and the ability to develop their art practice in a sustainable, exciting and fun way.

For artists who are dedicated and serious, I highly recommend my Powerful Design and Personal Color Course as it allows student to watch over my shoulder as I paint 16 paintings in four color palettes from beginning to end. Since I work in cold wax and oil, I also share many tips and techniques, as well as safety tips for those working in this medium. I also have two membership groups, one is called ArtandSuccess PRO. This membership was where I was able to create twelve master classes that will now be called Art Success MASTERS course. Artists taking this course will be able to clearly define their personal voice, know what they want to say and how to express themselves. The other membership course is my Watch Learn Grow Library, with over 200+ hours of my video tutorials, demonstrations and lessons, interviews, critiques, studio tours and professional topics.