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The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours Award: Sue from Virtual Art Academy
Sue has been studying with the Virtual Art Academy now for five years. This painting recently won the award given by the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour at the recent selected exhibition of the Society of East Anglian watercolourists.
Comment by Barry
Apart from showing a technical mastery of this difficult medium, this painting has a wonderful creative design.
The deliberate tangent on the circle on the front pot and the circle on the left hand pot is a nice exception to the rule about tangents, and works brilliantly.
In this painting it sets up a tension on the circle shape, drawing attention to it. It reinforces the repetition of this shape in other areas of the painting.
The other thing I rather like, even though it apparently was not intentional, is the anthropomorphic design of the pots. There is a suggestion of eyes and a mouth, and of a family with a child. You can even imagine a conversation between the three of them! What Sue did well was to create sufficient variety between the three major shapes to make the design interesting.
The color harmony, notan design, and unequal space division are all perfect. And the triadic optical color mixing adds another level to this work. (See lesson P07 Triadic Optical Color Mixing.)
Congratulations Sue for a well deserved award!
Thank You
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Happy painting!
Barry John Raybould
Virtual Art Academy
What The Students Are Saying
This is a far more superior school than anything I have seen being taught at colleges across the country
This is a far more superior school than anything I have seen being taught at colleges across the country and have learned much more from the Virtual Art Academy® than from any art course I have ever taken! I cannot begin to tell how the Virtual Art Academy has improved my observation of potential compositions… Read more “This is a far more superior school than anything I have seen being taught at colleges across the country”
The improvement in my own work reaffirms that I’ve found the right program to develop as an artist
I have been a student of VAA since 2011. I had been searching for an online art program that could assist in helping me develop as an artist. VAA is a complete program for beginners as well as advanced students of art. The course is well structured and takes you step by step so you… Read more “The improvement in my own work reaffirms that I’ve found the right program to develop as an artist”
‘Ladder of Learning’ adds to overall positive experience of this awesome course
The VAA course is built on four main building blocks including PROCESS, REALISM, MUSIC AND POETRY. These are further divided into topics that are continuously developed throughout the curriculum. Drawing, Form, Observation, Colour, Brushwork, Notan, Composition and Poetry are all thoroughly taught. Working on-line we meet students from all around the world, interacting with them… Read more “‘Ladder of Learning’ adds to overall positive experience of this awesome course”
Barry gave me a fishing rod so I can catch my own fish
After weeks and even months of searching YouTube, “googling” and spending a fortune on art instructional books I finally came across the Virtual Art Academy®. When it comes to purchasing online I am always very careful how I spend my money. Especially when I already spent a small fortune on art books. They always seemed… Read more “Barry gave me a fishing rod so I can catch my own fish”
The small steps are easy to do
I am extremely impressed with the process that Barry has developed for VAA. Learning to paint can be intimidating, but when broken into many small projects it is very do-able. I just did my first live model painting session- a 5 hour, one day session. Thanks to VAA, I was able to break the painting… Read more “The small steps are easy to do”
The equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost
This is a great course for anyone who is serious about improving their painting. I have been a student here for several years. When I am finished, I will have the equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost. I can do the lessons anywhere and at my own pace.… Read more “The equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost”
The most comprehensive art instruction I could find anywhere online, and trust me, I had been looking for a long time.
I joined 2 years ago with my daughter. We have both learnt so much and have enjoyed our VAA time together. My daughter is now 13 and already produces amazing paintings. The Virtual Art Academy is simply the most comprehensive art instruction I could find anywhere online, and trust me, I had been looking for… Read more “The most comprehensive art instruction I could find anywhere online, and trust me, I had been looking for a long time.”
The most comprehensive, in depth and well-organized painting course available online
After a thorough research, my personal conclusion is that the Virtual Art Academy (VAA) is, by wide margin, the most comprehensive, in depth and well-organized painting course available in the internet. Unlike most tutorials and color mixing recipes commonly found online, VAA’s philosophy is rather to provide the students with detailed information about all aspects… Read more “The most comprehensive, in depth and well-organized painting course available online”
Congratulation Sue.
Such a great design in the pot and cup, love that colour harmony.
Ivy from VAA.
Congratulations! Well done, Sue! An amazing work of color and design! ~Liz from VAA
If those are real pots, kudos to the potter too!