When I finally retired from the information technology industry 14 years ago, I finally had time to pursue my artistic muse through digital photography. I’ve been quite successful with my photographic art, exhibiting in several local art shows every year since then. However, I felt some images needed more “artistry” — they seemed more suited to becoming painted art than remaining as photographs. But I couldn’t paint a barn door with a brush if my life depended on it. I did try a number of “automatic” painting programs, each promising to turn my photographs into fabulous digital “paintings” in the style of Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Monet … whatever I wanted. While they made the effort, each program fell short of what I had in mind — they just didn’t look like real paintings. And any attempt to paint digitally by hand with Photoshop or Painter fell even shorter — I just didn’t understand the “basics” of how painted art is created. Then I discovered Karen Sperling’s Artistry Academy. It offered to teach me how to turn a digital photograph into a hand-painted digital artwork, from initial preparation to final brushstroke. Karen is a master of both traditional and digital painting — it felt like the right path to achieve my vision. Furthermore, the cost wasn’t going to break the bank. So, I decided to try it for a year, just to see if it could get me closer to my goal. I must say that after these first few months, I have learned quite a lot from Karen. She broke things down, and presented them in simple, easy-to-follow steps that allowed me to understand both the “why” and the “how” of each step in the process. She is also a master of painting in Photoshop (where I am comfortable) and Corel Painter (where my learning curve is steep). And Karen is also very responsive when I email her a question about something — she replies, usually within a few hours, or at least by the next day. The Academy also includes a monthly member get-together over Zoom, where we discuss the “State of Our Art” and talk about our work and progress. We also get to see the work by other members, and receive feedback about it from Karen. Interacting with Karen in a live session is an important part of my learning process. The sessions are recorded and made available to Academy members a few days later, so there is no need to spend time note-taking, leaving more time to focus on the discussions. I am working on my first “masterpiece,” a Rembrandt-style portrait based on the first set of Karen’s Academy lessons. I feel that I am making better progress towards my goal than before, and I’m confident that I will have at least one finished digital painting to show at my photography exhibitions in the next year, thanks to Karen’s help and the Artistry Academy. There is so much to learn that I have a feeling my one year Artistry Academy trial will turn into something much longer. And I’m really looking forward to it. Thank you, Karen, for your help and support. Martin M.