Week 33 Milan Art Institute Mastery Program

This week has been a marathon.

As I work my way through the portfolio section of the Mastery Program, the time commitment has surged to around 30 hours a week.

Every spare moment, whether evenings or weekends, has been devoted to inching these paintings towards completion.

There was one particular struggle with a painting of the lady in a sweater—the challenge lay in differentiating her form from the background. I prefer keeping my subjects transparent, but this called for opaque flesh tones to make her stand out. It took numerous revisions and reworking, but eventually, it came together.

It’s moments like these that truly define the line between a professional and an amateur artist—knowing when and how to save a piece when it’s not initially working out.

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This week’s lessons extended beyond the canvas. Creating a schedule was a significant focal point. While Elli’s proposed schedule seemed a bit too stringent for me, emphasising maximum efficiency without much room for life’s mundane yet necessary tasks, I believe in a balanced approach. My time isn’t merely a set of scheduled tasks—I value those slow, indulgent mornings and the freedom from being confined to a robotic routine. However, I did diligently embrace the concept of setting goals and reciting a power statement thrice daily, which surprisingly brought a sense of focus.

Another highlight was witnessing Sarah and Chase go through a critique of their portfolio works. It was enlightening to see their paintings together, revealing the cohesive thread running through their art. Following suit, I assembled my paintings and found a similar sense of unity and satisfaction in the common themes interwoven within them.

Preparation for production week was also on the agenda. Elli’s guidance has sparked excitement within me, anticipating the long awaited 10 painting challenge.