milan art institute mastery program review

Week 1 Milan Art Institute Mastery Program

I'm excited to share with you my first week at the Milan Art Institute Mastery Program.

As an artist, I have always been interested in improving my skills and learning new techniques to enhance my artwork. When I found out about the Milan Art Institute Mastery Program, I was eager to join and learn more about how to paint with oils.

drawing of a hand in proportion how to draw milan art institute mastery program

During the first week, I focused on drawing with charcoal and pencil, which helped me understand the basics of proportion, measurement, and scale. The first two assignments were to draw my hand holding a paintbrush and a shoe in proportion, which was a great way to get started.

However, the most intimidating part of the week was the oil painting assignment. I had to use a subtractive glaze method, which involved laying down a dark colour and then pulling it back off the canvas to create the highlights and mid-tones. I normally don't freehand draw and usually I use a projector to ensure accuracy, so painting directly onto the canvas was quite challenging for me.

milan art institute mastery program subtractive glazed underpainting in oil paints

Despite the initial fear, I managed to complete the painting. The first stage looked great, then when I added the transparent glazes it made the painting really come to life.

I loved the way the cooler colours in the background appeared to recede against the foreground's warmer colours.

However, adding highlights with opaque bright oil paints was a bit of a challenge, as I couldn't get the vibrant pop of colour that I wanted. The blue always looked a bit greyish, which was frustrating. But overall, I was pleased with how the painting turned out.

Oil Painting of a colorful parrot week 1 milan art mastery program

Hot Tip

Ellie, our instructor, also taught us about how to set up our palettes, which helped us mix colours more effectively while staying in our right brain. I wrote out where all the colours go on a piece of paper, the opaques, transparents, warm, and cool, and I put that underneath my glass pallet so I don’t have to think about it too much and if I forget then it’s all written there!

 

In conclusion, my first week at the Milan Art Institute Mastery Program was challenging, but I learned a lot. I'm excited about what next week will bring and look forward to improving my skills even more.

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View the Paintings from the Mastery Program

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