Here is a before and after of one of this years graduates Pat Murrell. Pat is a retire, she decided to pursue her passion to learn how to draw and paint two years ago. She enrolled on a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree but left after the first year as she wasn’t satisfied with what she was being taught. The painting below was done some years ago before she started the program.

I can only describe Pat as cheerful in the face of adversity. We established some of her sticking points at that start of the year and she has worked with determination to overcome them. Despite struggling to comprehend some of the principles, she set a good a example to the rest of the group by persevering with a positive attitude.

”Since retiring from work Iv wanted to learn how draw and paint properly. I was studying fine art at University but left after a year to attend the Painting Program at the Realist Academy. I was apprehensive about making the right decision but once I was on the course I found that Louis made us all very welcome and the learning process was clear and straight forward from the start.

The biggest worry during the program was how the lessons would continue during the Covid Lockdown. Credit to Louis for being able to adapt and maintain the momentum of the class while teaching us online.

Being taught online was very daunting for me at first but I soon got the hang of Zoom and found it had its advantages.

Louis changed the structure of the class from a full day into two half days spread across the week which I found worked better for me as it was less taxing and helped to keep me motivated throughout the week. Another benefit was being able to see Louis up close mixing the colours on the palette and how he applied them on the canvas, it saved trying to peer over peoples shoulders to see what’s happening as Im not that tall.

Having experienced the course in person and online I would say both have their advantages. I started this course knowing little about painting in oils and now feel I have firm grounding to apply my knowledge to other disciplines”
Pat Murrel

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