Good day everyone!
My name is Anne, I am retired and have been drawing and watercolour painting for five years. Plus, dabbling in pencil crayons. I love your instructional videos, Matt. I especially appreciate the free videos so that I could ‘test the waters’ before registering. Thank you!
By the way, is there an App for The Virtual Instructor? It would make it so much more convenient to access.
P.S. I am from northern Ontario, Canada, living along Lake Superior & I’m am thrilled to begin the instructional courses.
Welcome aboard, fellow Canadian! I have been drawing and dabbling in paints for approximately 4 years now (since I retired). I am still very much a beginner, but I found that Matt’s instruction is the best value out there. His no nonsense approach to art is so refreshing. His teaming up with his friend Ashley for the live lessons and the Gettin’ Sketchy on YouTube is also a plus. You won’t regret becoming a member.
Patricia
Hello,
My name is Charles and I have been drawing for only a couple of months. I went through an online course somewhere else that covered some basics. I still erase alot and need to work on views, dimension, plus value and shading.
I called the Virtual Instructor phone number for a class recommendation, but did not receive a reply.
I started The Guide to Graphite but when I tried to replicate the picture of a rose in the shading lesson it was past my current point of ability.
I am taking drawing as a basis to move on to painting one day.
Any recommendations for a class for a beginner?
Charles,
I started with secret to drawing and then went on to 25 days to better drawing. I found some of the exercises I redid more than once to get a better grasp.
I found if I really listen to Matt and stop the video and draw along on some of the more difficult ones then do them again I slowly get more confidant. I also liked that the two courses repeat or review and build on the previous course.
We just have to be patient with ourselves and push through.
I hope this helps you decide.
Teri
Hello everyone! 
I’m a graffiti artist from Croatia. I’ve bumped across Matt’s videos few years ago. Since than, I’ve learned sooo much! I draw with various mediums (not just spray paint and not just letter pieces). I really feel I’ve upgraded my skills on a whole new level since I follow Virtual Instructor. And this shows not just in my drawings, but in graffiti as well. This means so much to me Since I haven’t got an art education.
All in all, I’m happy to see what you guys produce, share my work with you and exchange thoughts! Happy to meet you.
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I hope you will post some of your works. While in Miami they had 3-d pictures drawn on the ground and buildings. If you walked around them some of those looked looked exactly like you were there and one looked like you actually were there I was very impressed. Done with pastels chalk. but I knew the would wash away in a few rainy days.
Lenora Andre
artistlittlenora.mitchell@gmail.com
Yeah, it’s Art Basel. Worldwide known. In my work i prefere letters. And I don’t use projectors or grids. It’s all freehand.
Wooow, that’s AMAZING! Never stop drawing.
How big have you done one? “Art Basel” - is that the name of the type of the way you do the painting. It sounds like it would interesting to do. Like I’m sure the ones painted on the walls of buildings were done with house paint or spray paint. It would be awful to do all that work if isn’t done with something permanent.
Lenora “artistlittlenora.mitchell@gmail.com”
That’s the name of that event in Miami. They are done with acrylic spray paint and latex colors. The biggest I’ve done is 4car roads wide. I can show you the picture, but I don’t consider it my best work.
Yes, I’d love to see. Anyway a lot of people on this site are beginners. We’ve all got a starting point we have to try. You can get a lot of others’ comments, especially if you ask. Sometimes that is if you don’t or can’t know what you might have. Often their comments can be a good lesson. Matt wants to have positive answers. He wants us to get criticism from others whether it is given in a way that we will learn something (comments) that is given in a way that isn’t …"GEEZ I HATE THAT!! If they don’t like it, then they just don’t need to comment - how would you want to be treated? If they can’t either tell you what they might do if they were painting or drawing might need to be changed if you do it again or use the same technique. I always like what others have to say about my work. Or makes me want to try a new medium. I think I have just about one of everything. Some I haven’t even used.
Lenora
I’m, sometimes, almost afraid to try a new medium or pick some kind that has been years since I tried them, like watercolors, I could not remember just how many artbooks that I had in my only shelves until I moved them. Thejust exploded when they could finally breathe. I go out on the glass-in porch and look through them. My biggest problem is ‘thinking’. Oh I could do that, but I am afraid I might not. I need to slow down and lighten my hand drawing, I’m too inpatient.
Lenora
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Hello friends,
I am Debojyoti Boruah from Assam, India. Firstly I thank you Matt for providing us with this wonderful forum. I feel happy and honored that through this Virtual Instructor platform I am able to share my experience with my beautiful like minded artist friends.
I mostly paint with acrylic in a realistic style. The portrait is my favorite subject but I love to paint landscapes, florals, and still life too. I have been painting for the last 35 years, but for the last 5 years, I am painting full time.
Have a great day. Keep painting, Keep sharing. Thank you.
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Hello from Utah. I’m a retuning student who never signed up for the forums before. I went thorough half of the graphite course and was planning on taking other courses but was forced to quit due to time constraints.
With the pandemic I finally had time again and I tried out a few other courses but none of them even touched on many of the things I learned here. So I’m back and rearing to go.
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Don’t overthink. Just sit down and start painting. What it turns out, it turns out. You seem too concerned with the outcome. Just try to enjoy the experience, and learn from it. It doesn’t need to be perfect. I’m also a perfectionist so I understand how you feel about it. From my experience the best outcome is when you let go and paint how you “feel it”. Thinking ruins the emotion.
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Hi Im Petra from NZ, a late starter to drawing and art having started in our last lockdown. Im really enjoying this site and picking up lots of tips.
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Hello From The Bluegrass State of Kentucky. My name is Judy Chumbler. In my younger days I say Opera in Europe and the States. After retiring from that, I had a M-F office job. After total retirement, I married my highschool sweetheart and moved back to my hometown in Kentucky. I began painting in watercolors with some occasional dabbling in colored pencils and plain old pencil sketches in November of 2019. Until then, stick figures in elementary school and very rough pencil sketches of my concert gowns for the stage later in my life were all I had attempted.
As with many people, my husband and I hunkered down during the beginnings of the pandemic and I began to paint everyday. It only took a few days for painting to become a passion. I read any book I could find on learning to use watercolors, watched hours of videos on YouTube and made more mistakes that I can count but along the way, I learned… and got pretty good. I think part of my learning was that I didn’t know what I was doing, so with no pre-conceived notions about right or wrong, I tried everything. I was fearless with color choices and mixing and made lots of mud but I still learned. I posted things to Facebook and bored all my friends with daily paintings and people began to enjoy them.
This past year in 2020, I had an exhibition of my work in two local galleries and sold over 20 paintings. I have not settled into a "style"unless you count variety as a style. I paint, traditional landscapes, loose florals, graphic portraits and even experiment with digital art through Procreate. The main thing is, I love to paint and I want to continue to learn. I am excited about all the interesting lessons available on this site and look forward to enjoying myself. Be safe and Paint on!
Hi I love your colors. What is the media - colored pencil? David
I struggle with perfectionism too (bad news for a beginner i reckon 
) I was able to take a local class on watercolor called lighten up and loosen up which helped quite a bit.