We’ve already had the longest day of the year on June 20 with the summer solstice, but what about the hottest? For many of us in the Northern Hemisphere, that’s sure to happen any time this month or the next, in August. If you’re looking for excuses to stay in and stay cool on the hottest days of the summer, why not also pick up a new skill while you’re at it? My Modern Met Academy offers a wide selection of quality online art classes, taught by top-notch artists within their respective mediums.

Sometimes the heat can be exhausting, both physically and mentally. Take a second to recenter and regroup with Danison Fronda’s inspiring course, Write Out Your Future: Hand Letter an Inspiring Phrase. Learn the basics of hand lettering with Fronda, including foundation strokes, handling your tools, and more. Come away from this course refreshed, and with a beautifully rendered inspirational quote and newly minted hand-lettering skills!

If you’ve got a furry friend also trying to stay cool in this weather, we recommend Introduction to Pet Photography: Capture the Spirit of Your Furry Friend. Taught by award-winning pet photographer Belinda Richards, the course gives students an in-depth look at taking portraits with a camera and, perhaps most importantly, working safely with dogs. The best part is that this course is also iPhone camera friendly, if you don’t own a DSLR.

For the budding illustrator, Anna Sokolova’s Animal Portraits in Colored Inks: Tell a Visual Story That Conveys Emotion is an amazing online class that teaches you how to add your own design signature to your art. In her course, students will learn how to think through a sketch in a variety of ways, how to use colored inks to tell their story, and above all, how to infuse personality and emotion into their art.

And if you’re just starting your creative journey, try Drawing 101: Learn the Building Blocks of Sketching taught by Margherita Cole. Cole helps you learn the fundamentals of drawing, starting from a materials breakdown to using shapes and lines to build out a variety of test subjects. This beginner-friendly class offers plenty of opportunities for you to build up your skills, and it’s an amazing foray into creating art.

As the summer heat reaches a fever pitch within these coming weeks, don’t be afraid to take some time for yourself and cool down—preferably with an online art class from My Modern Met Academy. Whether you’re learning new skills in portrait photography, building a foundation of drawing and illustration, or expanding into the world of hand lettering, My Modern Met has an online course that lets you make the most of your summer, indoors or outdoors. Once you purchase a course with us, the lessons are on-demand, meaning you can revisit them as often as you’d like and take them at your own pace.

Summer heat too much? Try a cool and inspiring online art class from My Modern Met Academy.

Refresh and regroup with Write Out Your Future: Hand Letter an Inspiring Phrase, taught by Danison Fronda.

If you’ve got a furry friend that’s also trying to stay cool in this weather, try Belinda Richards’ Introduction to Pet Photography: Capture the Spirit of Your Furry Friend.

If drawing is more your speed, try Anna Sokolova’s Animal Portraits in Colored Inks or Margherita Cole’s Drawing 101 sketching class.

My Modern Met Academy: Website | Facebook | Instagram

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READ: Beat the Summer Heat With These Cool and Inspiring Online Art Classes

This Friday, America will celebrate its 249th birthday on the Fourth of July. The country’s Independence Day is one of celebrating in community, and honoring quintessentially American principles of freedom, liberty, and justice for all.

Freedom in all its forms also means the permission to create and express yourself how you choose. To celebrate, My Modern Met Academy is offering an exclusive 4th of July sale, from July 1-4. Enjoy 15% off any online art class of your choosing with code FREEDOM15, and let your creativity run wild and free.

My Modern Met Academy has a myriad of online art course offerings, so everyone can explore and enjoy a different skill or medium of their choosing during this exclusive sale. We only collaborate with top-notch artists who are also instructors, meaning that the quality of your lessons is at the highest caliber. Whether you’re interested in abstract acrylic painting, botanical watercolor illustration, realistic colored pencil drawing, or even embroidering your favorite memories, My Modern Met Academy’s got the course for you.

With our online, on-demand course structure, you truly have the freedom to take your art lessons at your own pace, and learn wherever you’re able to connect to the Internet. Once you purchase a course, it is yours as long as you have an Academy account: this means you’re able to revisit your courses however much you’d like. Repeat the same lesson five times over, or speed through the class videos at 2x speed—whatever your tastes, our amazing art courses adapt with you.

Interested in learning more about our classes? Get a preview of just some of what we have to offer by watching the videos below. Then head over to My Modern Met Academy and use the code FREEDOM15 for 15% off your purchase.

This Fourth of July, My Modern Met Academy is offering an exclusive sale from July 1-4. Enjoy 15% off any online art class of your choosing with the code FREEDOM15, and let your creativity run wild and free.

Realistic Portrait Drawing Made Easy

Acrylic Painting Masterclass: Explore Color & Abstract Landscape Painting

Architectural Illustration for Everyone: Draw Buildings in Ink and Colored Pencil

Mixed Media Thread Painting: Learn to Embroider Your Travel Memories

Botanical Watercolors: Learn to Paint Realistic Flowers

My Modern Met Academy: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest 

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READ: Let Freedom (and Creativity) Ring With My Modern Met Academy’s Fourth of July Sale

In a tiny Italian town that, until very recently, was half abandoned, something magical happens every year. For a few days in the transition between spring and summer, mural artists from all over take to the streets of Civitacampomarano to participate in the CVTà Street Fest. A once-declining city center explodes with life and color, attesting to the importance and beauty of art in everyday life.

This wonderful festival celebrated its 10th anniversary just a few weeks ago, and right in the middle of it all was My Modern Met Academy instructor and renowned street artist Alice Pasquini. Pasquini founded the festival in 2016, and has developed it throughout the decade to much acclaim. Featuring art by muralists from Britain, Germany, Japan, and more, the works have accumulated across the city walls to a count of over 70. Each one is distinct in content and style, and sure to appeal to a wide variety of audiences.

If you’ve ever been interested in the process that goes into creating this often layered, colorful, and sometimes subversive type of art, this is your sign to enroll in Introduction to Stencil Art. Taught by Pasquini herself, this online course offers a unique chance to learn about a fundamental tool for creating murals, from an expert mural artist.

Pasquini begins her course by providing a brief historical overview of stencil art. Having this context is ideal for understanding the varied and surprising ways that stencils can be used, and how you may choose to work with them in your own practice. Then, Pasquini breaks down the materials that will yield best results for creating durable stencils that can be used no matter the situation.

When it comes to sourcing and creating stencils, Pasquini makes sure to take an even-keeled approach. Learn to develop an eye for selecting images or patterns that would make ideal stencils, and then, learn how to transfer those images to your surface of choice. Students will also have the chance to learn how to use software like Photoshop to help create their stencils, though Pasquini places emphasis on hand-crafting.

Once you’ve created your stencil of choice, try your hand at using it in a stencil poster project with Pasquini’s guidance. You can employ a number of techniques to achieve a bold and unique look. Layer your stencil in different places and orientations, or use a variety of colors to create a sense of depth and vitality in your work. The best part of stencil art is the infinite creative possibilities it presents.

Whether you're a longtime admirer of street art or just beginning to explore its possibilities, Introduction to Stencil Art offers an inspiring entry point into the craft. Guided by Alice Pasquini’s expertise and passion, this course is more than a technical lesson. It’s an invitation to engage with a dynamic art form that brings communities together, just like the murals of Civitacampomarano. Let your creativity take to the streets with this online, on-demand art course.

The Italian village of Civitacampomarano just celebrated 10 years of its annual street art festival, CVTà Street Fest.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Cvtà Street Fest (@cvtastreetfest)

The festival was founded by Alice Pasquini, renowned street artist and My Modern Met Academy instructor.

Learn how to create stunning art like Pasquini in her exclusive online art course, Introduction to Stencil Art.

Pasquini will teach you the basics of this important and versatile art form, including history, sourcing and transfer methods, and how to cut and use your stencils in a bold and unique work of art.

My Modern Met Academy: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest 

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Have you ever walked through a gallery showing abstract art and thought, “I could paint that?” Many of those artworks may be more complicated than meets the eye. Either way, if that thought has ever crossed your mind and made you wonder what you could do with a canvas, paint, and a brush, My Modern Met Academy has a number of online classes that will help you begin to develop your own abstract art practice.

As a beginner abstract artist, it may be helpful to take inspiration from nature in initial projects. Dream Your Own Abstract Acrylic Floral Paintings, taught by Nitika Ale, takes the familiar shapes and colors of flowers and abstracts them into expressive works of art. Ale emphasizes an understanding of color theory and painting techniques in her lessons, giving amazing advice that’s manageable even for the most novice of artists. Combined with her supportive and intuitive approach to art, students who take this course will come away with a painting approach that is expressive and organic.

Megan Elizabeth’s class, Dappled Light: Learn Abstract Painting with Acrylics, offers a chance to build those skills by capturing the ephemeral and ever-changing experience of light shifting through nature or materials like glass. Learn to work with acrylic paint in a variety of applications, as well as building a balance between a focal point and the diffused light beams that surround it. By the end, you’ll have a piece of art that feels lighter than air, and hopefully a spirit that matches the canvas.

If you find yourself gravitating more towards the clean and rectilinear instead of more expressive abstract art, not to worry: My Modern Met Academy has two classes that can help you achieve that bold look you’re going for. The first is Acrylic Painting Masterclass: Explore Color & Abstract Landscape Painting, taught by Luiza Niechoda. She dives deep into the process for creating an abstracted landscape work, teaching important lessons on creating a cohesive color story, as well as techniques for painting crisp lines and forms on canvas. Students will also learn how to stretch their own canvases, truly making this a masterclass that includes lessons they will find useful in any kind of painting endeavor they embark on.

For those who are interested in bridging technology with abstract art, Elyse Dodge’s Acrylic Landscapes: Reimagining Mountains as Polygons is the perfect marriage between the two. Learn how to create bold and vibrant geometric landscape paintings using graphics software like Adobe Illustrator. Then, transfer your abstracted landscape onto canvas and bring your composition to life.

Whether you're drawn to expressive brushstrokes, delicate plays of light, or the precision of geometric forms, there's an abstract art path for everyone. With guidance from talented instructors at My Modern Met Academy, even the most hesitant beginner can find their creative footing. These classes not only teach technique, but also encourage personal expression, making abstract art more accessible and rewarding than you might have imagined. The best part is that once you purchase these classes, they’re yours forever—learn the lessons at your own pace and come back to them as needed.

If you've ever been interested in making abstract art, but aren't sure where to start, My Modern Met Academy offers a quality selection of online classes to help you.

Start slow, and take inspiration from nature in Nikita Ale's Dream Your Own Abstract Acrylic Floral Paintings and Megan Elizabeth's Dappled Light: Learn Abstract Painting with Acrylics. 

If clean lines are more your thing, try Luiza Niechoda's Acrylic Painting Masterclass: Explore Color & Abstract Landscape Painting, and learn how to stretch your own canvas while you're at it.

For those who are interested in bridging technology with abstract art, Elyse Dodge’s Acrylic Landscapes: Reimagining Mountains as Polygons is the perfect marriage between the two.

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Father’s Day is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate the doting dads in our lives that have raised us than to gift them an experience that nurtures their creative side? In a world that asks so much of parents and caretakers, having an excuse to take the time to slow down can be the greatest gift of all. When you purchase an online art class from My Modern Met Academy for your dad, you’re helping him carve out some “me time” while also helping him branch out and try something new.

Not sure which course offerings would be the best for Father’s Day? We’ve got a few that we think may catch Dad’s eye. No matter your dad’s interests, there’s a course at My Modern Met Academy that will spark his creativity and offer a meaningful, hands-on experience. From now until Sunday, June 15, 2025, take 10% off any My Modern Met Academy class with the code DADSDAY2025.

All of our courses are on-demand, meaning Dad can learn from virtually anywhere and at his own pace. This Father’s Day, skip the usual gifts and give him something that will inspire, relax, and encourage him to express himself. Because sometimes, the best gift is simply the chance to create.

Scroll down to see the fun and inspiring courses we’ve got!

This Father's Day, give the gift of creativity with online art classes from My Modern Met Academy. Take 10% off until June 15 with the code DADSDAY2025.

Introduction to Pet Photography taught by award-winning photographer Belinda Richards is the perfect gift for the dad who's always sending pictures of the family dog in the group chat.

If you remember your dad is always sending cute or funny pictures of your dog in the family group chat, Introduction to Pet Photography: Capture the Spirit of Your Furry Friend, is an exciting way for him to explore his passion for photography on a deeper level. Taught by award-winning pet photographer Belinda Richards, dads will learn the best setup, lighting, and camera settings to take their pet portraits. Richards teaches best practices for DSLR and iPhone cameras. Once they’ve taken their photos, Richards goes into detail about editing and finalizing the images, leaving your dad with a series of crisp and fun photos that may well get framed and hung in the hall.

If your dad loves to point out random buildings on trips, Demi Lang's Architectural Illustration for Everyone teaches him to render them on paper.

Architectural Illustration for Everyone: Draw Buildings in Ink and Colored Pencil is another online course offered by My Modern Met Academy, and taught by accomplished architectural illustrator Demi Lang. Designed for artists of all skill levels, the class reflects Lang’s thoughtful, accessible teaching style. As a self-taught artist herself, she guides students step by step—covering everything from tonal values and scale to building up a complex architectural scene. By the end of the course, students will gain greater confidence in their ability to render buildings with accuracy, depth, and expressive use of color and shading.

For the dad who likes a do-it-yourself approach, Luiza Niechoda's Acrylic Painting Masterclass will teach him how to stretch his own canvas and create beautiful abstract art with a unique color story.

For dads who are fans of the abstract and contemporary, Luiza Niechoda’s Acrylic Painting Masterclass: Explore Color & Abstract Landscape Painting hits the nail on the head for planning out and creating a beautiful work of art. Not only will Dad learn how to make compelling abstract compositions and color matrices, but he will also get to stretch his own canvas, a skill important for any kind of painting endeavor.

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Whether you're a seasoned artist or just beginning to explore your creative side, Drawing Day (aka Pencil Day), which is annually celebrated the first Saturday of June, is the perfect opportunity to pick up a pencil and reconnect with the joy of making art. In a world where self-expression and mindfulness are more important than ever, drawing offers a powerful outlet—and thanks to a wealth of online classes brought to you by My Modern Met Academy, it's easier than ever to learn, grow, and be inspired from the comfort of your home.

If you’re interested in learning how to draw, but aren’t sure where to start, take Margherita Cole’s online class, Drawing 101: Learn the Building Blocks of Sketching. Cole takes you through the basics of sketching and drawing, explaining simple shapes, different kinds of lines and linework you can do, and how to use your drawing tools to the best of your ability. Students will come away from the course with a wide variety of drawings, ranging from a still life of a houseplant to a drawing of the human figure.

Colored Pencil for Beginners is one of our newer courses, taught by award-winning pencil artist Matheus Macedo. Learn the basics of working with colored pencil, including techniques for creating flawless color blends, how to shade three-dimensional objects, and adding more depth to a work through highlights. Macedo offers three different exercises that build on each other, ultimately finishing the course off with a realistic drawing of an apple.

For those interested in leveling up their portraiture skills, Portrait Drawing for Beginners: Learn How to Draw Anyone You’d Like by Melissa de Nobrega is a perfect course to do so. De Nobrega takes her time examining and explaining the human facial anatomy. She also takes care in demonstrating how to transfer this knowledge to a drawing, and provides ample tips, tricks, and guidelines for how to best render a human portrait.

Architectural Illustration for Everyone: Draw Buildings in Ink and Colored Pencil is another online art class that My Modern Met Academy offers, taught by expert architectural illustrator Demi Lang. Lang’s course is geared towards artists of all levels, and her lessons certainly reflect that. A self-taught artist herself, Lang takes care to set students up for success, walking you through tonal values and scales, and slowly building up a detailed architectural scene, step by step. By the end, students will feel more confident in their drawing skills, be it in creating faithful renditions of beautiful buildings, capturing their essence through color and shading, or all of the above.

Regardless of whether you're sketching a simple still life or tackling the intricate details of a cityscape, Drawing Day is a reminder that creativity is for everyone. And there's no better time to start than now. With expert-led courses from My Modern Met Academy, you can take that first step, or continue your artistic journey with guidance, inspiration, and community. So, grab your favorite drawing tools, find a quiet moment, and let your imagination lead the way!

Celebrate Drawing Day by taking an inspiring online art class at My Modern Met Academy.

Learn the sketching basics with Margherita Cole in Drawing 101: Learn the Building Blocks of Sketching.

If you're wanting to challenge yourself in a new medium or subject matter, try Colored Pencil for Beginners by Matheus Macedo or Portrait Drawing for Beginners: Learn How to Draw Anyone You’d Like by Melissa de Nobrega.

For those more architecturally minded, Demi Lang's Architectural Illustration for Everyone: Draw Buildings in Ink and Colored Pencil has all the steps for building an intricate scene, complete with colors and shading.

My Modern Met Academy: Website | Facebook | Instagram 

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Sometimes, our traditional methods of preserving memories just aren’t enough. Sure, photos and videos are great ways to record trips, special occasions, and milestones, but there is something to be said for the fleeting moments sensed beyond sight and sound that remind you of a fond memory. Touch, in this way, is a seriously underrated and underutilized method of enhancing how people preserve their memories.

One of the most accessible and long-running ways of embedding this texture into your memory records is through embroidery. My Modern Met Academy offers two excellent online classes that specialize in this valuable and precious art, Intermediate Embroidery: Getting Creative with Printed Fabrics, and Mixed Media Thread Painting: Learn to Embroider Your Travel Memories. Each course focuses on rendering different subjects using different techniques, meaning that there’s a class for everyone.

Learn how to use printed fabrics to up your embroidery game in Floor Giebels’ Intermediate Embroidery: Getting Creative with Printed Fabrics. Giebels has embroidered since 2016, and says that the craft allows her to interact with the textures around her differently. In her course, Giebels guides students through selecting and printing images onto a piece of fabric, and then embroidering different parts of the composition to add surface interest and texture.

Students will learn different embroidery techniques, including a thread layering approach that is Giebels’ signature. In so doing, students will create a sense of movement and add depth to their compositions, making the image come to life. By the end of the course, you will come away with two embroidered works and an expanded creative toolkit.

Our other amazing embroidery course, Mixed Media Thread Painting: Learn to Embroider Your Travel Memories, is taught by Maria Zamyatina. In this online class, students will bridge embroidery with watercolor painting to create vibrant and textural renditions of beautiful locations they have been to (or wish to visit). Zamyatina shows you how to sketch out your composition for the most visually stirking effect (either en plein air or from a reference photo), and then transfer the image to an embroidery hoop.

From there, students will freestyle their embroidery masterpiece, learning Zamyatina’s tips and tricks for working with watercolor paint and thread at the same time. Since this embroidery process is more free-flowing, Mixed Media Thread Painting is better-suited to students who have some prior experience with needlework. Zamyatina is an encouraging teacher, who will divulge a variety of embroidery techniques and even explain how to work with other kinds of paint and threads beyond those expressly used in her course lessons.

If you’ve been looking for a way to preserve your memories beyond an exclusively visual way, try your hand at embroidery to enhance the sensory experience of them. Whether it’s layering printed fabric with numerous threads or adding watercolor and differently textured fibers to a freestyle embroidery work, My Modern Met Academy’s online art courses can help you bring your memories to life. The best part is that these classes are on-demand, meaning you can learn at your own pace, and revisit lessons if need be. If you’re ready to take your memories to the next level, join our learning community with these inspiring and fun classes.

Bring your memories to life by embroidering them, with online art classes presented by My Modern Met Academy.

In Intermediate Embroidery: Getting Creative with Printed Fabrics, taught by Floor Giebels, use thread on printed fabric to add texture and dimension to your memories.

Or, if you're interested in using more than one artistic medium simultaneously, try Maria Zamyatina's Mixed Media Thread Painting: Learn to Embroider Your Travel Memories. 

This freestyle embroidery class lets you record your souvenirs in vibrant colors and different thread textures. It's the perfect way to build a deeper sensory connection to a memory, and a fun hobby to explore!

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Flowers are some of nature’s best works of art. Delicate, colorful, and sometimes fragrant, they have been admired by many since the dawn of civilization. Today, we often use flowers as a way to enhance our everyday lives, whether it’s by giving them to others as tokens of affection or buying them for ourselves to spruce up our home decor. Our association of flowers with feelings of joy, love, happiness and vitality makes them popular subjects in art, as well.

If you want to take your appreciation for flowers to the next level, My Modern Met Academy offers several online, on-demand art courses that are centered around various floral subjects. These classes offer a variety of mediums to explore beautiful blooms, ranging from watercolor and acrylic paints to using the actual flowers themselves to create an artwork.

In our newest course offering, Botanical Watercolors: Learn to Paint Realistic Flowers, botanical illustrator Victoria Beyer teaches students the basics of the scientific study of flowers. Learn how to select, dissect, and sketch live flowers. Beyer points out the different parts of the flowers as students study them, helping pupils understand the construction of this organic and delicate object.

Using the botanical knowledge gleaned in the first portion of the course, students will then paint a floral composition of their choosing in watercolor. Beyer, a talented watercolorist, also gives important tips for building vibrant colors and teaches techniques to build realistic texture.

If abstract and acrylic painting is more your style, Nitika Ale’s Dream Your Own Abstract Acrylic Floral Paintings may be the perfect online course to take. In her lessons, Ale focuses less on the anatomy of flowers, and more on the intuitive representation of them. The course is beginner-friendly, and teaches the basics of color theory and expressionist painting techniques. This is a different kind of appreciation for flowers, to be sure, but just as significant as botanical study.

Last but not least on our list is Anna Zakirova’s Beyond Bouquets: Turning Pressed Flowers Into One-of-a-Kind Art. For the artist who likes to be in nature, this class offers the ideal opportunity to source flowers themselves. In this course, flowers literally make up the art, rather than using paint or pencil to represent them on paper. Zakirova teaches students how to press and preserve blooms using household tools. Learn the techniques to make your flowers last forever, and also how to create enticing and original compositions for them.

If you want to do more with flowers than just keep them in a vase at home, these online art courses offered by My Modern Met Academy are a great way to start. Whether you’re observing flowers more closely through botanical study, intuitively rendering them in acrylic paint, or literally incorporating blooms in an original composition, these on-demand courses offer the perfect opportunity to engage more closely with some of nature’s most beautiful works of art.

Do more with your flowers than keep them in a vase at home—take an online class at My Modern Met Academy and use beautiful blooms for artistic inspiration.

Learn the basics of botany using live blooms in Victoria Beyer's Botanical Watercolors: Learn to Paint Realistic Flowers.

Or, take the intuitive approach and represent flowers the way you wish in Dream Your Own Abstract Acrylic Floral Paintings, taught by Nitika Ale.

If you're a nature lover, take a walk on the wild side and pick your own blooms to create an original pressed-flower piece. Anna Zakirova teaches the best techniques in Beyond Bouquets: Turning Pressed Flowers Into One-of-a-Kind Art.

My Modern Met Academy: Website | Facebook | Instagram 

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Germany-based botanical watercolorist Victoria Beyer has dedicated her life to studying and painting flowers. Her vibrant illustrations capture the delicate nature of these blooms, and it almost feels as though her works are about to leap off the page. Part scientific study, part artistic practice, her process involves real-time observation of plants to create the most true-to-life representations.

Thankfully, she also enjoys teaching and sharing her knowledge with others. In her newest online class, Botanical Watercolors: Learning to Paint Realistic Flowers, Beyer teaches the basics of botanical study, including dissecting plants and identifying different parts of them. She also gives students tips and tricks to working with watercolor that can bolster confidence within the medium.

Beyer also teaches how to translate the unique lines of individual flowers from real life onto the page. Students will learn these lessons early on in the online course, and then they will move on to drawing their own composition of tulips and daffodils. This is the perfect combination of flowers to practice botanical observation, drawing, color mixing, and application. Finally, Beyer explains finishing touches and gives pointers on cleaning up the botanical illustration.

Although Botanical Watercolors: Learning to Paint Realistic Flowers won’t be released to the public until May 20, students currently have an opportunity to enroll early and save. During the pre-sale period, you can save 10% off the normal retail price of $34.95 by using code botanicalart10 at checkout, and, once the course is released, you will find all of the lessons ready for you. The best part is that they’re on demand, meaning you can watch at your leisure and revisit lessons as often as you’d like.

Ahead of the course release, we had the pleasure to chat with Beyer about what drives her to create such stunning botanical artworks. Read on for our exclusive interview and get inspired by her incredible practice and work.

How did you get your start with art?

Art has always been part of my life. By the time I was 6, I was already doing Disney character commissions for my classmates. I didn’t study art in college, I wasn’t allowed to. Instead, I got a bachelor's degree in construction engineering. But in my 30s, I decided to pursue my calling, which was painting, and I haven’t stopped. I’m 42 now.

What attracted you to botanical art illustration, especially in relation to watercolor?

I was really amazed at how botanical artists could create such bright and realistic illustrations with watercolor, a medium known for its flow and typical pigment stains. I thought, “I have to take on the challenge and master it myself.”

Do you have any artists specifically who have inspired you?

Yes, I do! These artists have inspired me in different ways, from the way they approach their practice to the challenges they have faced to their unique style. Like Ursula Romero with her big modern leaf portraits and blue flowers, Billy Showell and her creative compositions, or Dianne Sutherland’s journals.

You mention the Old Masters a bit in your new course. Do their works influence you in your practice?

Absolutely! While I don’t try to paint like them, they do influence my practice. I enjoy reading art history, especially botanical art history. Reading the life and work of Georg Ehret, Linnaeus, Redouté, or Maria Sybilla Merian has given me insight into what it meant back then to be a botanical artist. The dedication they had has been really inspirational to me.

What was the most challenging part of working in watercolor for you when you started, and what challenges you now?

When I started with watercolors, I didn’t take a course. I tried to figure it all out on my own, and I think that made me lose time. How do you teach yourself if you don’t even know what you’re doing? My color mixes looked muddy, even when I thought I was using the right pigments, and my washes didn’t behave the way I wanted them to.

What challenges me now has nothing to do with technique. The challenge today is more about the message behind the work. I've been studying orchid behavior and the hidden parallels between their adaptation strategies and human ones, specifically how neurodivergent (ASD-ADHD) women adapt socially.

It’s been a welcome challenge, but still a challenge. I work from my own experience and that of other women, and I clearly see how, in orchids, some species rely completely on mimicry to survive. For example, an orchid might imitate the appearance of a bee to get pollinated. If it didn’t, it simply wouldn’t reproduce. Others can’t afford the energy to produce nectar, so they offer perfume instead, or copy another orchid to attract pollinators.

Likewise, the neurodivergent woman has to adapt to this society. She often doesn’t have the energy or the ability to meet all the expectations placed on neurotypical women, so she learns to mask. She learns how to present herself in a way that allows her to function in a world that isn’t really designed for her, and that comes at a cost. This is the challenge now, to represent this in a way that can reach the viewer and to give more visibility to the subject.

What is your favorite part of your artistic process?

I think the study is what I enjoy the most. Dissecting a flower, learning the names of every part, and deciding my color mixes. It feels like playing. But also, you really get to know the plant—it’s a very intimate way of working, and if you’re a sensitive person, you really get to feel your plant, and come to respect and care for it. I mostly work from live plants in pots or in gardens. If that’s not possible, I get them as cut flowers. My last option is working from pictures, ideally not for the entire project. I do take pictures of my plants to consult later, just in case. But I end up not needing them. I’ve collected around 3,000 reference pictures!

What prompted you to begin teaching your art to others, and what is your favorite part about teaching?

It’s how my brain works: when I know something I find fascinating, I make it my mission to let others know. I used to teach in person, and it was so rewarding to see others' improvement and see how they enjoyed it and felt accomplished.

I’ve never understood people who keep knowledge to themselves. Unfortunately, I can’t speak German very well as my first language is Spanish. I do my best to speak English, so those are the languages I can teach in. I hope one day to do in-person workshops again.

Do you have any advice for people who are starting out with watercolor or botanical illustration?

I’d like to say, don’t get discouraged if your first try didn’t work out as you planned. Most, if not all, botanical artists spent years of hard work and practice to get to the level they are at. It’s like a sport, where you need to train constantly. Even I can feel it when I haven’t touched a brush in a couple of weeks, and I’ve been painting botanicals for around seven years!

What do you hope that people take away from your new class with My Modern Met Academy?

I hope that people get a taste of what it means to work from live plants. It is such a healthy practice and you feel close to nature this way. It's even better if you work while in your own garden or from your potted plants. Discovering the intricacies of a flower can be mesmerizing and inspiring. It also makes you respect nature even more, and I think we’re in need of that.

Any final messages for our readers?

The only courses I offer are through My Modern Met Academy, but if you ever want to reach out to me to talk about botanical art and the practice, or if you ever wish to commission a piece inspired by your own memories and experience, you're more than welcome to write me directly to my email hello@victoria-beyer.com or Instagram @Victoria.beyer.artist and @Victoria_botanical.

Victoria Beyer: Website | Instagram | Instagram

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READ: Artist Shares Secrets To Creating Vibrant and Realistic Botanical Paintings of Flowers [Interview]

Spring is in full bloom for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and with this season of growth and renewal comes the opportunity to spend more time within nature. Botanical illustration, with its blend of scientific precision and artistic expression, offers one such meditative way to reconnect with the natural world. For those curious to explore this timeless art form, My Modern Met Academy has an upcoming online class, Botanical Watercolors: Learn to Paint Realistic Flowers, that offers the perfect entry point. And from now until May 19, learners who purchase the class during our presale period can save 10% with the code botanicalart10.

Taught by botanical artist Victoria Beyer, Botanical Watercolors guides students through various phases of botanical observation and illustration, from basic sketching techniques to advanced layering methods. Beyer is a Chilean artist based in Germany, and specializes in figurative works in watercolor. She has shown in exhibitions in Europe and South America, and has works in private collections throughout Germany, the United States, and Chile. She takes inspiration from the Old Masters of botanical art, blending the contemplative nature of these traditional works with updated compositions and pigments.

Beyer kicks off the online course with an overview of supplies, explaining each material’s purpose within the context of the class and botanical watercolor illustration at large. She then gives a primer on working with live flowers, including tips on which flowers to choose for a composition, as well as how to keep them alive for enough time to capture their essence.

Once the basics of working with flowers is covered, Beyer gives an extensive lesson on botanical observation and recording. Students will learn how to carry out botanical dissections, identifying different parts of flowers and how they may present differently between species. Beyer also teaches techniques for plant sketching, color studies, and image transfers, providing gentle instruction that students will be able to apply to future projects, botanical or otherwise. Patience is the name of the game, and students are encouraged to practice their botanical watercolor skills on a flower petal study before moving on to their final class project, a composition of tulips and daffodils.

For the class project, Beyer breaks down the process for painting each flower separately. Students will begin by painting the tulips first, and daffodils second. Beyer teaches a combination of wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and dry brushing watercolor techniques to paint both flower types. Once the composition is nearly complete, students will also learn how to finalize their paintings, including cleaning up any errant lines, and signing their artwork.

Whether you’re a seasoned artist or looking to explore further with watercolor, Botanical Watercolors: Learn to Paint Realistic Flowers offers a refreshing way to slow down and connect with nature. Guided by Beyer’s expert instruction and a palette full of vibrant possibilities, you’ll walk away with not just a beautifully detailed painting, but also a deeper appreciation for the quiet beauty all around you.

Now is the perfect time to enroll in this amazing new class. Take advantage of the presale, happening now through May 19, and save 10% on the regular course price of $34.95 with the code botanicalart10. As soon as the course launches on May 20, you’ll get instant access to all the lessons, ready to watch any time, at your own pace, from the comfort of home.

(Please note that this pre-order with the code gets you a 10% discount, but the class itself launches on May 20, 2025.)

My Modern Met Academy is proud to present our newest online class, Botanical Watercolors: Learn to Paint Realistic Flowers.

Taught by expert botanical watercolorist Victoria Beyer, the course guides students through various phases of botanical observation and illustration.

Students will learn the basics of botanical observation and advanced watercolor techniques, and end the course with their own realistically rendered botanical painting of tulips and daffodils.

Take advantage of our presale running until May 19 and save 10% on the course with code botanicalart10.

My Modern Met Academy: Website | Facebook | Instagram 

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READ: Learn How To Create Vibrant Botanical Watercolor Illustrations With My Modern Met Academy’s Newest Online Course