Testimonials and Letters

This section is dedicated to students who have very kindly written testimonials about the college, their course, their tutor and we are proud to present them here along with a sample of the students work. If you are a happy student and would like to send us a similar testimonial, please don't hesitate to contact us at any time.

Because of a Storm

I work as a graphic designer for more than 20 years. When I was a child, I used to draw all the time, because my father, despite of being a doctor, is a great artist. After 12, I don’t remember drawing any more. Last October I went to Rome to visit my aunt and, as I was going to spend more than a month, I searched a drawing class. After 5 lessons, the teacher encouraged me to start oil painting. As I’m asthmatic, I never thought I could ever use oil tints! But she showed me Artisan, from Winsor & Newton – the odourless tints, mixable with water. I remember that my hands were trembling as I painted the first picture with the teacher’s tints. I came back to Brazil – where I belong – and decided that I would give a chance to art. As I LOVE animals and nature, I found Melanie and her incredible pet portraits on web.

Two weeks ago, I went to visit my parents and couldn’t come back because of a terrible storm. As I had spare time, I decided to start the first set of Melanie’s graphite exercises there. I didn’t have proper paper at that moment, so I remembered that I had read this on Melanie’s proposition: “Make your drawing unique.” So, I asked my mother if she had some recipe book from my Grandma. I chose 2 pages (approx A5 size each): one with a biscuit recipe and other with the word “Tortas”, wich means “Pies”. Then, I choose 3 small kitchenware: glass jar – that my mother filled with milk – , a bowl with 3 eggs and a whisk. I put all of them on a table with a sheet of paper as background and started trying to create a shadow with a strong light source. I had lot of difficult to reproduce the scene – because I’m not used to draw – and was not sure if Melanie would accept it, as I used that odd paper…..It was delicious to draw while my parents were watching TV. It seemed old times…. I forgot for some hours That I have a husband and kids…..Suddenly I was a child again…..

My Grandmother died some years ago. She was a strong character lady that loved to cook and left her recipes, which are prepared now as a way of not forgetting her. Nowadays I can tell that I admire her. But when I was a teenager, we used to discuss sometimes. As she was born, her mother died and because of that, she was raised up from her grandparents. Life was not easy for her till she met my Grandfather. I think that this contributed for her difficult personality. She is always with me, as I carry her golden medal on a necklace all the time. Art. I don’t know where it will take me, but this road brought magic back to my life! 
Andrea Tostes (Pet Portrait Diploma)

Hello,
I want give you my feedback about the Learn to draw course that I'm doing: IT'S FANTASTIC, INCREDIBLE, GREAT!
Thank you very much for all your support, when I'll finish this course I'll buy another one and I wish to have again a great tutor like Alan Dedman, he has make the critiques of my draw and I like his method, he's a very incredible teacher with a great passion for his work, I just only tell you that I'm very happy to working with him and with all you too.
Thank you very very much!
Sara Wendy Oliva - Learn To Draw

"...Before beginning the Illustrating Children’s Books course, I didn’t have any formal training or qualifications in art or design. I needed a purpose and direction for my aimless doodles, and a genuine reason for getting marker pen stains on the sofa and paint spots on the conservatory floor to tell my girlfriend. My course tutor, Jan Nesbitt, has given me the confidence, guidance and focus to enable me to experiment with new mediums. Each assignment has offered new challenges and I have found this very rewarding. The skills developed on this course have inspired me to begin work on my own children’s book..."

"....I re-discovered art late in 2007 after taking voluntary early retirement. I soon got the bug and realised that I liked drawing animals, practicing on mine and my family's dogs. Then I found the London Art College and saw that there was a Pet Portrait diploma so decided to take it. It took me over a year to complete and I was over the moon to receive a distinction. I have learned so much in that time and now am quite confident in portraying a wide variety of animals.

My favourite medium by a long way is soft pastels and I was leaning this way before starting the course. However, the course encourages students to use different media too, graphite, coloured pencil, acrylics and oils and it was very good for me to try these out. Although I love graphite and pastels I now have small sets of the others and am trying to improve my skills with them too.

I am also trying out different subjects....people portraits, landscape, flowers and even still life. I am trying to develop my own style and have started doing regular sketches, mainly in pastel, which has really helped my freehand drawing skills. The more I learn though the more I realise how much I still don't know! Nevertheless I am hoping to start exhibiting and maybe selling some of my work soon. I find it a very exciting journey and though I sometimes feel discouraged when something doesn't turn out right I try to use this in a positive way to help me continue to improve.

I have also learned not to compare my work unfavourably with that of others. All art is individual. We can learn by observing and even copying other people's work but ultimately our art is our own unique take on a subject..." Ruth Mann - Pet Portrait Diploma