Veronica Kalacheva's drawing school. Online drawing training: my experience of Veronica Kalacheva

During my last trip to Moscow, I was lucky enough to meet Veronica Kalacheva- an inspiring artist whose work I have been following for quite some time. Veronica opened her own school in the fall and it was there that we met her for an interview.

— Please tell us where you learned to draw and how you came to this?

— Since I lived in a military town, we didn’t have many different studios and schools. There was a music school that I went to, but there was no art school. But one of my mother’s friends, an artist, decided to teach her children to draw and set up her own studio. This, of course, was not much like a school; there was only one; drawing and painting were taught there. It was there that I learned the first basics, and then, in fact, there was institute. And I started drawing with my mother’s encouragement, my parents supported me, they told me that I was doing well and that I needed to continue, I consider them my teachers - my parents, who did not interfere.

— What institute?

— Moscow State Pedagogical University, Faculty of Art and Graphics. I never thought that I would need a pedagogical education, to be honest, but I need it regularly. It helps in school, in life, and communication. One way or another, you have to explain something to someone, even your child, teach something, know how to correctly convey your idea. I think this is very important.

— Tell us about your school, what classes are held here? How did this idea even come about?

“Actually, it was my husband’s idea.” This is our joint, family project. My husband took on this business from the financial side, and I from the creative side. I had this experience before, I ran a studio, but then I was alone and I didn’t have such a coherent vision, and that’s probably why the classes stopped. That is, people came to me who wanted to study, they saw where they were starting to study, but they did not see where the end was. One way or another, some people lost some kind of passion, this was one of the mistakes. The second point is the “stupid” drawing of still lifes. Of course, I still sometimes resort to this, but in general I believe that the first task is not to lose interest. When a person wants to draw, he does not mean that he wants to draw still lifes, he has some other tasks in his head.

— What are the features of teaching at your school, the approach, I understand correctly that it is not classical?

— I call this a “creative kick.” Because when you come to school and realize that there are only 8 classes, it’s a kind of “kick.” It is clear that in 8 lessons, in principle, it is impossible to teach you to be fluent in watercolors, but it is possible to cram it with knowledge, some techniques, theses, which you will then think about when you leave here. This is exactly what we are counting on. That is, a person comes here, I tell him a lot of theory, tell him what exercises to do, then we do the final task. As a rule, there is such an alternation: simple-complex, theory-practice, so that it doesn’t happen like we have at the university - the teacher puts up a still life and goes away to smoke for the whole lesson, and then he comes and “oh, you don’t know how to do anything and why do you actually came here.” Since I had this exact learning experience, I want to do things differently. So that people come here and see the enthusiasm of teachers (not only me, I also select teachers for my school with the same calculation) and it is very important for me that they convey information.
When they say that drawing is “given” or “not given,” I categorically disagree. It seems to me that when you teach with soul and enthusiasm and talk about things, you can generally express it in words, then a person gets it. And with such snobbery, pretending that “you won’t learn this because it’s not given to you” is generally not our approach.

— Tell us about the watercolor, why exactly it, how was your relationship with it?

- This is a strange story in general, I never thought about it, I didn’t choose it on purpose, I wasn’t inspired by anyone. When we started working in oils at the institute, I painted and did everything I was told. But suddenly I got bored, realized that it’s not my thing, I don’t like it, I just don’t get pleasure from it. I even started painting in oils as a graphic - I liked that there were glazes, everything flowed, was translucent, etc. And I realized that I was simply replacing one thing with another. I asked the teacher if I could paint the assignments in watercolors, he said that there was only one requirement - a large format. And I started painting with watercolors. I don't know why, it was just a call from the soul.

— What inspires you in general - to draw, to create? Where do you find themes and inspiration?

— Well, in the air, as usual :)
You are walking on such a beautiful sunny day, beautiful shadows, patterns of branches in the sky. All this somehow - once! - and it comes together into one picture and you realize that it’s beautiful.

— Do you draw from life?

- Differently. Both from life and not, I really like to draw from life. But sometimes this is simply impossible, because you are in a hurry or embarrassed for some reason. Sometimes this is inappropriate, as in the theater, for example, because you can’t lay out watercolors there. Although you can, of course, make sketches, I have a whole series of them.

— Are sketches as independent things or as sketches for subsequent works?

- Well, first I draw what I like, what inspired me, and then it can grow into something, it happens. Or maybe it will end up as sketches in sketchbooks.

— What advice can you give to people who are just starting to draw, who are afraid to do it? Where should they start?

- Well, the first thing is not to be afraid. Why be afraid? This is you, sheet, paints. If what you did doesn’t seem very nice to you, well, take another sheet and do it again. By the way, this is a very funny thing - sometimes they ask me: “does it ever happen to you that you don’t get your work done?” I don’t even know where people get this myth from, that professional artists get everything right the first time and always. With watercolors, this is generally a normal story - buy a pack of paper and the sheets of paper fly away, and only one of them turns out good.

— It’s just that many people are afraid of spoiling materials and treat them as something “sacred”

- Well, there are savings here, I always advise you to buy some kind of roll of paper, completely forget how much it costs (and it can be expensive) or ask for it as a gift. And then cut off the sheets from there and not think about it at all.

— I remember one key moment when I first got a job as an illustrator. That is, this was the first time that I, as an artist, received money - I just sat, drew and earned money. Firstly, it was gorgeous in itself, it seemed to me that this could not happen. But I was given certain tasks, I could not cope with them and was very worried about this. I could sit for weeks from morning to evening, everyone is already leaving, and I sit, worry. And I realized that I was doing it wrong - it seemed to me that I should immediately come up with some idea and quickly implement it. I didn’t understand that in order to get a good result, you need to go through several stages, absolutely. Get fed up with an idea, collect material, sit and just laze around in the park, think, make sketches, choose the best one, and so on. It seemed to me that all these stages were already clear, but spending a large chunk of time on them was pointless. And now I understand that this is the key to success. I can sit all day looking at pictures on the Internet, but only if you have a specific goal, you are looking for something. You don't waste time, you invest in yourself. And then do everything great in an hour. Previously, I tried to quickly grab some ideas in 5 minutes and sat there developing them. And I didn’t understand why I couldn’t do it, I could “toss and turn” the same drawing for weeks and not be satisfied.
Preparation is very important, it was such a revelation for me. I don’t know, maybe everyone already knows about it :)

— Well, I don't think so. Many people are very embarrassed to download pictures on the Internet and use them for inspiration. In general, that you need to draw from your head is some kind of widespread misconception, I myself also suffer from this :)

— In principle, I have a normal attitude even to drawing from a photograph, but on the condition that you do not completely copy from there, but take something, process it, add some of your own elements.

Veronica, thank you for the interview! I wish you a sea of ​​inspiration and enthusiasm! Your work is very inspiring :)

Veronica Kalacheva is an illustrator, watercolor artist and founder of a drawing school, illustrates books, magazines, collaborates with various companies, and takes on a wide variety of but certainly interesting projects. We interviewed Veronica for the blog.

Veronica, now your School is quite famous in Russia and beyond. Tell us how your career as an artist began?

It’s difficult to understand where the beginning was :) On the one hand, the beginning can be considered the day when I left the office and decided to become a freelance artist. On the other hand, everything that happened up to this point certainly taught me a lot. Without this experience, I probably would have painted dull still lifes, like in university.

When I became a freelancer, I realized that such freedom is not for everyone. You are your own boss, without any intermediaries or bosses, but on the other hand, you are your own manager and accountant. It's complicated.

All illustrations in the article are from Instagram @kalachevaveronika

The first time was not easy: there were few orders, but they were there. I tried to be clear and punctual, breaking the image of the “crazy freelance artist” and in the end my efforts paid off. There were a lot of customers, I stopped drawing everything, became more legible and listened to myself: what do I want for myself? where am I going? Is this what I dreamed of?

Around this time, I tried painting to order in watercolors; computer graphics set my teeth on edge and I realized that I wanted to spend more time with live materials. Watch how watercolor flows, and not create an imitation of it in Photoshop.

I once illustrated a children's book, then I drew several covers for adult books, and I painted for magazines and advertising products.

Now I have come to the conclusion that I want to devote more time to my self-expression. I rarely take orders. I am mainly involved in teaching and personal projects. I see growth and food for thought in this.

Are there any projects besides the School?

First of all, I would like to clarify. After all, the School is not my personal project; I am the inspiration, co-founder of the school. I develop programs, look for teachers, and am responsible for the educational part. But our entire project is the result of the work of 30 back office employees and 28 teachers. Therefore, I feel like one of the important links in our chain.

We tried to do something else, but it quickly became clear that until you are truly passionate about the idea itself, until you yourself have the desire to dive into the topic to the very top, it is better not to get involved and spread yourself thin. Superficial interest is always felt.

Now I am only concerned with the School and its projects and my creativity.

What place does creativity occupy in your life? How many hours a week do you devote to it?

I believe that the desire to express yourself creatively is as important as the desire to sleep or eat. This is a basic human need. I draw whenever I have the opportunity. And if I’m not drawing, then even when I look around, I think about patterns in color or rhythm in composition, for example.

But creativity is not just about drawing. Creativity is everywhere: in the kitchen and in the garden)

How did you develop your style? How would you characterize him? What are its features? And how do you develop it?

I don’t even know) They often tell me that my work is recognized by its style. But I'm still searching for myself. Perhaps my style can be called realism with elements of understatement. I just try to faithfully depict what I want to draw the viewer’s attention to, to convey my sensations and feelings in the drawings. For me, this is much more important than just depicting something photorealistically.

How do ideas for your work come about?

I am often inspired by light. If you look at the same object under different lighting, it is perceived differently. I like long sunset shadows or soft openwork light, I love simplicity in the ordinary.

It seems to me that the main idea of ​​my work sounds something like this:

Happiness is everywhere, it is in the little things and is already next to you, next to me. I love to look for it everywhere I look and in my works I talk about what I saw.

What do you like to draw the most? What is your favorite part of the creative process?

I noticed that from time to time such topics replace each other. At one time I was inspired by the sea, water and reflections, then the city and landscapes. Now I have returned to people again. Again - because at university I really loved portraits. It seems to me that through the image of a person you can show the whole range of feelings, and this is very interesting. It's difficult, but when I succeed, I'm happy.

What materials do you use to create your works? What tools can you recommend?

I use professional series brushes, paper and paints. I don’t see any fundamental difference in paints, I have many different brands and each is good in its own way: Schmincke, Daniel Smith, Sennelier, Winsor&Newton, Rembrandt.

I use cotton paper. Favorite brands: Arches, Canson.

Brushes: Escoda, Da Vinci, Raphael, Leonard.

It’s difficult to advise something to an invisible artist :) But I can tell you about something that once changed my idea of ​​watercolor. For starters, this is good large-format cotton paper, paints from tubes and a spray bottle :)

I really like the idea of ​​painting abstract paintings. Try to express a word graphically, convey its essence through color, texture and composition. It's very addictive!

What is the most difficult thing in the life of an artist?

Remain open and sensitive like a child, but at the same time be extremely honest and demanding of yourself. This combination of vulnerability and honesty is the most difficult. Stop being sensitive and become a craftsman.

It is logical to assume that an artist should sell his paintings, illustrate, draw to order; make money doing what you do best.

Many artists create their own studios, look for students and teach. But I believe that teaching is worth doing only when you feel such a calling: to transmit knowledge, share it and enjoy the growth of students.

Can you please recommend books and manuals that will help you create paintings?

I really liked two of Juliet Aristide's books. Everything there is how I like it: in clear, lively language about the most important things. The author's approach is academic. And I really like it too. I believe that no matter who you dream of becoming, constructive drawing has never bothered anyone :)

What is your favorite MYTH book?

Here, perhaps, is one of them - my favorite today - “Lessons in Classical Painting”.

Whose works are you inspired by? Which artists' pages do you visit regularly? Whose authors' works - among contemporaries and classics - inspire you?

Watercolor: Alvaro Castanet, Ali Kavano, Andre Penovac, Atanas Matsurev, Lars Lerin.

Graphics: Julia Blucher, Lena Tatkina, Casey Baugh.

What are your plans for the future?

Publish a book on watercolors, illustrate a children's book, organize an exhibition, film a new cool course 🙂 And then we’ll see.

The Moscow Watercolor Festival will take place in October. It will include not only Russian teachers, but also foreign ones, for example Felix Scheinberger, author of “Watercolor Sketching”. Tell us a little about it, what and how will happen there?

The festival is, of course, a great event for those who are passionate about watercolors. No one has done this in Moscow yet, and we hope that everything will work out as we planned, and that we will repeat it again and again :)

The festival, which will take place on October 20-22 in the very center of Moscow in the beautiful Telegraph space, will have several zones: an exhibition area, an area with master classes and demo classes, a lecture hall and market area.

From morning to evening we will talk about watercolors: there will be creative meetings with artists and speakers ready to answer tricky questions about materials. During demo classes you can watch the magical process: how work is created before your eyes. This is a very convenient format, because you can communicate with the artist live, ask him questions and see every stage of the work. The difference with master classes is that here we can accommodate more spectator participants. In the demo class, participants do not draw, but observe. In master classes you can immerse yourself in the atmosphere completely. Participants perform work together with the master.

Felix Scheinberger is a great storyteller, I love his books and am very glad that he will come to the festival. I'm sure he will give an inspiring lecture.

And please give me a short answer: “Creativity is...”

Creativity is a passion.

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Reviews with rating: 5

At the same age as Svetlana, I finally took the watercolor painting course for beginners that I had dreamed of. When I was young, there was no opportunity to take up drawing, there was no free time, and there were no such courses either. But I really wanted to use watercolors. Of my four attempts, only the last one brought me joy, satisfaction, new knowledge and skill. I studied with teacher Elena Rodionova from April 8 to May 6, at Vavilova 65. I will not list the advantages of this course of study, I liked everything. A wonderful teacher, she explained clearly and competently, did not consider time, if she did not have time to do something, she could be delayed, she was not in a hurry. The methods were impeccably compiled and interesting objects were selected for depiction. And she herself is so cute! And the group was very good, the girls were young, inquisitive, active, well-mannered. In general, I'm happy with everything. If possible, I’ll take another course, now after the summer, and now I’m going to the plein air%uD83D%uDE01.

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A pleasant, sincere and creative approach to beginners to draw... Everyone is very attentive and intelligent... As they say, without fuss and show-off... Thank you, excellent School!

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I completed an express course, now I’m taking an online watercolor and basic course for beginners - I really like it, I complete every task with gusto and I want to do them again and again! And the main thing is that I see how my skills develop and when I manage to complete tasks that, in principle, seemed unrealistic, then there is simply no limit to happiness!)
I’m also very pleased with the regular news from Veronica, as well as the fact that the school has turned into a whole community - it’s just great! And yet, while I was waiting for the classes to start, I watched all the webinars and completed assignments, and it’s also very cool that even outside of classes there is food for absorbing new knowledge, practice, inspiration and pleasure!!!

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I am very glad that I discovered Veronica Kalacheva’s school. I completed a course in botanical illustration with a wonderful teacher, Svetlana Lance, and began to look at flora and fauna differently))) Now I’m drawing online watercolor Sherlock and, with the help of wonderful teachers Natalia Dyukova, Polina Arutyunova and Veronica Kalacheva herself, I plunged into the world of watercolor up to my ears) ) It’s contagious and I hope that after completing the training about Sherlock, I will continue to study the available trainings of the school - fashion illustration, sketching and much more!

The artist Veronika Kalacheva held her first drawing classes in the basement of a store for artists, and recruited students through her blog. Although the lessons were inexpensive, the group quickly fell apart: the course had no program, beginning or end. Four years later, Kalacheva and her husband restarted classes in rented premises, quadrupled the price, came up with a course of study and invited new teachers, spending only their own money. The couple also launched online drawing classes - and the school’s turnover increased fivefold. Now drawing at the Kalacheva School is fashionable, and in four and a half years more than 20 thousand people have completed the program. Inc. I learned from the founders how to make money from free marathons, why people are more willing to study if they pay more, and how to combine conservative drawing and progressive technologies.

Freelance artist Veronika Kalacheva decided to create the “Columns and Squirrels” drawing school in September 2009, when the number of subscribers on her LiveJournal grew to 3 thousand people. Kalacheva made money from individual drawing lessons and decided that if so many people were interested in her blog, it made sense to scale up. They decided to hold classes in the “Colored Mondays” store for artists, which belonged to Veronica’s husband, Matvey Kalachev. But the idea failed. At first, 12 people signed up for the classes, but after a month only five remained. Even the low price of lessons did not deter those who fled - 3.5 thousand per

8 lessons. The course had no beginning or end; new students came to the group when classes had already started, and as a result, some yawned from boredom while others tried to catch up on the material.

The courses in the basement lasted for about six months, when it became clear that the idea was not very successful and it was time to close. In addition, Veronica was pregnant and at some point the doctors simply forbade her to teach classes and ordered her to take care of herself. The Colored Mondays store also stagnated. It was necessary to invest a lot of working capital in this business, recalls Matvey Kalachev, in order to keep the goods in stock.

Three years after an unsuccessful attempt to teach drawing, Matvey Kalachev decided to open a school in a new format. In the summer of 2013, Matvey created a simple school page on LPGenerator. On the CIAN website, the couple found a studio in the House of Artists - 70 sq. m. m for 80 thousand rubles per month. The room had large windows that were conducive to drawing. The founders decided to radically change everything and started by raising the cost of training for the same 8 lessons of 2.5 hours from 3.5 thousand rubles to 20 thousand rubles. Veronica wrote an announcement on her blog about enrollment in a watercolor course in September, and then the couple went on vacation to stop worrying that nothing would work out with the business.

The courses were promoted only through LiveJournal, and by the fall a group of 12 people had gathered. We paid the rent two months in advance, bought furniture (in total we spent 25-30 thousand rubles on this). The paints and paper are left over from the art store days.

The Kalachevs never had a business plan, but they had a feeling that they could earn 200-300 thousand rubles a month at the school. To scale the business, it was necessary to look for teachers, and Veronika Kalacheva began writing to artists she knew. By the end of 2013, four more teachers appeared at the school. The school launched art history courses, children's groups and classes in different drawing styles.

Two years later, in 2015, the Kalachevs were contacted by Marat Nigametzyanov, a former designer of the Artemy Lebedev Studio, the author of the Getcourse platform for online training for a wide range of clients - among the projects there is Alexander Vasiliev’s school, courses on nail art, style and even sex .

“The moment we met Veronica and Matvey, we immediately agreed to do a course - and we did it in a month. We sold the first stream for 1.5 million rubles. Veronica had a training program, we made a landing page and put it online. We started in September 2015,” said Marat Nigametzyanov.

Added online classes: increased turnover fivefold

We found out that studying online is more effective. Someone was late for class, someone took a long time to swing, someone is embarrassed to ask a question. There are active students, and there are those who only get inspired at the end of the lesson.

In online lessons, we break the process down into small details so that students learn the simplest things step by step. For example, you need to fill in watercolors. Everyone thinks it’s very simple, everyone wants to draw Notre Dame de Paris right away. But we build the learning process in our own way.

Our competitive advantage is that we offer an individual approach - the student has the feeling that he is one on one with the teacher. On Coursera, no one teaches students one-on-one. And we have 30 teachers who check work in online courses.

Online classes are good because one teacher can teach 100-150 people. If you spend only 5 minutes per person and leave only one comment, you get 12 hours of work. This is beneficial from a business point of view and comfortable for students. After the launch of online classes, the school’s turnover increased fivefold.

Economics School of Veronica Kalacheva

million rubles- turnover in 2017 (growth of 14% compared to 2016).

million rubles- profit before taxes in 2017.

turnover spent on promotion.

We opened a second studio: the flow of clients increased by 1.5 times

In January-February 2015, we had to rent a second studio - there were many people who wanted to study in the evening. There were 6-7 courses per month, and it was difficult to accommodate them in one studio. Moreover, no one will go to Academicheskaya from the north of Moscow, no matter how much he loves Veronica. We looked at three premises and chose one on Novoslobodskaya (35-40 sq. meters), next to the metro, for 80 thousand rubles per month.

The basic course is designed for beginners - this is a large audience, possibly with an average income. In fashion design, our audience is professionals who want to work, for example, with Alena Lavdovskaya, they are willing to pay more. For example, she taught extreme sports during Fashion Week and taught how to draw an image directly from a living person. The group painted at the Kenzo show. There were about 1 thousand people there - it was like a packed club at a rock concert.

We advertise only on social networks: attracting clients pays off in 3-4 months

Social networks are the most effective channel for attracting customers. It gives a conversion rate of 41% from visitors to registration. We did not measure how much to buy. From search - 10%, from advertising systems - 2.4%. We believe that this is a high conversion rate, but we are working to increase it. An increase of 1% can result in an increase of 1 thousand orders.

Veronica Kalacheva. Photo: Nikita Berezhnoy / Inc.

New Year's holidays for those who did not want to lie face down in the salad. The advertising cost 800 thousand rubles - it was rotated every day. There was also an hour-long interview with Veronica. But we love advertising that can be measured through metrics.

We want every dog ​​to recognize our school. We currently have 400 thousand people in our database, but it should be 140 million (the population of Russia is Inc). Every person should try to draw, and everyone should learn from us. We plan to grow sales by 40% per year, but we cannot tell how we will do this.

Invested in offline events: customer base grew by 250%

To attract people, we came up with our own format for promotion - the “Extreme” online marathon. The point is that participants must go outside and draw, and they must do it quickly. In total, nine such marathons have already taken place; more than 100 thousand participants signed up for the first one, but 20 thousand participated. Those who invited three participants took part in the marathon for free. Those who could not attract friends could not participate. After the first extreme event, the base grew from 80 thousand to 200 thousand people.

To increase awareness, in October 2017 we held the Moscow Watercolor Festival on the premises of the Central Telegraph (DI). 19 foreign artists from Great Britain, France, USA, China, Italy, Turkey, and India arrived there. All of them are known in the big world of watercolors, they give master classes and hold exhibitions. Some we knew, some we followed on social networks. Some refused or did not answer, but those who were needed all arrived.

The main expenses for an event of this level are fees and rent. We paid the invited artists

Matvey Kalachev. Photo: Nikita Berezhnoy / Inc.

expenses for hotel and flights, and the fee for each master class amounted to more than $1 thousand. Preparation took 9 months and 5 million rubles, and the festival itself lasted 3 days. We conducted 22 master classes of 2.5-3.5 hours, participation in which cost 2 thousand-4.5 thousand rubles. Just entry to the festival cost 300 rubles. It was possible to visit an exhibition of works by these artists and some teachers of the School - they brought 96 works and there were also about 10 works by our teachers.

We managed to sell all the tickets and break even thanks to promotion through mailing lists. But we won’t risk repeating this experience again - it’s still very expensive. But we managed to meet foreigners from the big world of watercolors, and now we bring them to master classes outside the festival. Participation in them costs from 7 thousand rubles.

In October 2015, I signed up for an online course at Veronica Kalacheva’s school. There are a lot of impressions, so for those in a hurry, I will immediately write conclusions, and for the rest, after the conclusions, I will describe my impressions of the classes.

CONCLUSIONS
A strong, good, harmonious course to start with. It does not require any primary skills or knowledge. Cleverly divided into lessons. Alternating practice and theory keeps you from getting bored. Clear deadlines for completing the course and the presence of many lessons force you to accustom yourself to drawing regularly, which ultimately has a noticeable effect on the level of drawing. Interesting, exciting tasks.
If you don’t count on a quick check of your work and thoughtful communication with the teacher, and your budget allows, then the courses are a solid 4+.
As a result, a complete revision of one’s abilities, the emergence of new goals and good help from academic work during times of doubt :-).

Don't expect to get away with a couple of brush strokes. To complete the course you will need to work. Of course, not every day, but every second day you will definitely have to take up drawing. But that's the whole point, isn't it?

And now everything is in order.
I got into the course not knowing how to draw at all. I didn’t have any art school behind me, or even more or less intelligible drawing classes at school. I chose this course after going through a long chain of reviews about various offline and online classes.

PROS (which I chose the course for and which I saw during the training process)
1. Online format (I can only do entertainment at night, after putting all the children to bed).
2. Availability of a clear description of the course, its objectives, and necessary materials. A detailed list of lessons with explanations of what needs to be done during them.
3. There are many lessons, each dedicated to a small topic, theoretical question or technique, the course consists of more than 50 lessons.


4. Veronica’s very detailed and understandable explanations in the video. It is important for me that the teacher’s speech is not only literate and intelligible (without babbles and mutters), but also intelligible :-). Little things like the pace, sometimes even the timbre of speech, can make it either instantly understandable or boringly pass by consciousness.
5. Enough, but not excessive, exercises in technique and explanations of theory. I even began to look at things known to everyone differently.


6. Comments on the works from the curator and the opportunity to view the works of other participants. This is both an incentive for improvement and an opportunity not to make mistakes made by others.
7. Stop lessons that force you to go consistently, completing all tasks.
8. Interesting tasks that immediately catch the eye. About half of them I was sure that I'll never be able to draw like that: brushes, bottle, tartlet, machine... Something of course didn’t work out - there wasn’t enough time to work on it and redo it, but a lot was achieved.

MINUSES (I don’t pretend to be the ultimate truth, this is my personal opinion)
1. Cost of the course. When I was studying (and this was only 4 months ago) this course cost 12 thousand for school students, but now it costs 20 thousand without discounts for students. The growth is quite impressive, despite the fact that the course seems to have already been written down and essentially does not change from stream to stream.
2. The works are checked and commented not by Veronica herself, but by her students. The option is acceptable, but not for that kind of money.
3. The insane number of students that are now being recruited. I don't mind 70-80 people, but again, not for that kind of money.
4. After completing the course, access to lessons and comments was closed. Now comments are open for viewing, even in courses that have already ended. Having access to the lessons was important for me about a month after graduation, but now they are no longer needed.

Personally, checking assignments in watercolor gave me a little help. For the most part, all errors are visible immediately after photographing. Rather, a teacher is needed to suggest how to correct these mistakes, but this is not always possible. With so many students, there is simply not enough time, energy, and sometimes even teaching experience. I corrected some of my mistakes in other master classes from other artists. For example, I started to get realistic eggplant and apples (and it became clear what I was doing wrong) only after the Botanical illustration by Tanya Shirbidova, the Tabasco sketch in the previous drawing was a success thanks to Maryana Bryukhanova and her Cheerful sketcher. And at that moment I got such a miracle

However, I repeat, for a beginner, these are practically the only courses available online that I was able to find after a long search. The quality is high, and so is the price.