lifedrawing.academy Reviews 15

I have been a member of the Drawing Art Academy program by Vladimir London for quite a long time, and I would like to express how well-structured and thoughtfully designed the courses are.
Vladimir is an instructor with deep knowledge of drawing, and he has created an ideal learning program for anyone serious about developing their skills. The level is highly professional—accessible enough to follow, but by no means easy. You truly need to put in the work if you want to reach a high standard.
The exercises are carefully designed with a progressive structure, meaning you must master each step before moving on to the next. This approach ensures solid and lasting improvement. Whenever questions arise, there is always guidance and support available to help you move forward.
I would highly recommend this program to anyone considering learning drawing. It is, without hesitation, an excellent choice.

The Life Drawing Academy is the best Online Art Course available on the market. I had been searching for a way to improve my drawing skills alongside my full-time job and to learn drawing properly from the ground up without having to pursue a degree at an art academy for a long time.

I come from the fashion industry and always struggled with the fact that although I had been drawing all my life, I never truly knew how to draw properly. Unfortunately, hardly anyone teaches those skills anymore. The Life Drawing Academy is different. You receive personalized feedback tailored specifically to your drawing skills and clear guidance on how and where you can improve them.

After that, you are guided from scratch by a highly qualified tutor who leads you step by step through the course. The program is also supported by excellent videos that leave no questions unanswered. Even though it is sometimes difficult for me to integrate the course into my life, as I occasionally miss the personal contact, there is no comparable course out there.

Anyone who truly wants to learn how to draw properly and is willing to put in the effort will find the Life Drawing Academy to be the right place.
I have now joined a local drawing group in my area to integrate drawing even more into my life.

I started your life drawing class last August, it is so unprepared that in about a year I come to the end of this course now. Before this course, I have no experience in sketch, especially in life drawing at all. Through your class, I have learned so much . You offer the best life drawing class I have ever had, from basic to theory and techniques , that really lifts my skill to a new higher level. Really Appreciate it!

I have loved art since I was a child. I have a PhD in engineering and used to work in the US defense industry designing large satellites and communication systems. Because of life changes, I became a full-time mother. I started painting in my spare time for a hobby and found that painting and large system design have similarities. As my child grows up, I find that art occupies an important place in my life.

Before ， I know little about sketching techniques. I have no clue on human body anatomy ratios, nor light and shades of an object. I felt It is tedious, lacks color, and requires a lot of time and effort to draw a high-quality sketch. After I took your anatomy and old master oil class, those benefit me very very much, I realized I have a bottle neck in my drawing and painting that I can not draw human or objects in 3-D accurately. With a goal to improve my skill do much better art work, I selected your life drawing class.

I watched Vladimir’s teaching videos, and get one-to-one tutoring from Natalie, I am very much appreciate your academe teaching quality. The teachers are restricted, knowledgeable, and the materials are well organized, high quality. I expected to learn more sketching techniques, and in addition I also learn composition, perspective and how to measure rations, which makes me can draw almost anything.

When I got the initial review test, I was very disappointed that my level is not even compatible with children’s level in your academy system. That makes me determine to seriously work on it. I really really like the tasks
Customized to my level, which effectively improves my skills.

Same as other classes I took, Russian teachers are very high quality and restricted, responsible, especially Vladimir and Alex. As I do not have any training in sketch, I did not develop right pencil holding nor good drawing style. When very restricted Vladimir found my errors, he made me go back two months to redo these tasks. Since I live alone with difficulty to find a life model, Alex tolerates me to use online image to finish tasks. Sometimes I misunderstood the tasks, Alex would let me redo them. Sometimes I asked questions, I got answers not all times, maybe occasionally he does not understand my Chinese-English that well.

Your class has top teaching material, and systemic customized teaching syllabus, which I like, trust and benefit very much. I like all your tasks, feeling not enough for me. As I also took your drawing class, watercolor, I did a lot of different kinds of drawing. For the past year, I DO feel my progress, even the local club teacher praises me for that. Alex once praises me that I have talents in art, even pointing out my style, that shows me something I do not even know about myself. So the restrictions standard of your teachers really helps me to learn something great solid. Unforgettable! Thank you.

I enjoy this course very much, every week I am looking forward to new task, eager to finish them sooner. Taking this course, not only I get video lessons, one-to-one teacher, but life long membership and opportunity for critiques, the price-performance ratio is extremely high. Normally in US learning art is very very expensive. Your academy charges very reasonable. I do not see any other teacher has your quality and level. I am sure recommend this course to others.

I have taken all your courses so far, love them very much. If you in the future will offer advanced class, 100% I will take.

My experience with the Life Drawing Academy drawing course has far exceeded my expectations. I can confidently say that this is a truly comprehensive course, providing me with a solid foundation and the knowledge I've always sought in a classical art course.

I learned constructive drawing in an extremely secure and in-depth manner, gaining a confidence I lacked before. The perspective classes (1, 2, 3, and 4 vanishing points) and aerial perspective were enlightening, and the concepts of shadow and light, hatching, observational drawing, and linear drawing were masterfully conveyed.

Besides the excellent content, I would like to highlight the exceptional quality of the teacher and the entire staff. Professor Vladimir London demonstrated immense knowledge, patience, and attentiveness, answering all my questions with great quality and competence. The staff was also very attentive and professional, answering all my questions promptly.

What impressed me most was how the school remains faithful to the traditions of the old masters, offering an approach that honors the foundations of classical art. I highly recommend this course to anyone seeking excellence and depth in drawing.

Although I haven't finished the course yet, I had to pause my studies. However, I intend to return as soon as possible to continue and further deepen my knowledge at this exceptional academy.

The Life Drawing Academy course is very thorough; it covers a wide-range of drawing topics and is tailored to the individual's level of skills. I have not seen any other drawing course that is as good and in depth as the Life Drawing Academy Correspondence Course. The information provided in the video lessons is very clear and purposeful. Also the task instructions and demonstrations I receive are easy to understand and follow. I wanted to improve my drawing ability and be able to draw from life and imagination whatever I see or imagine realistically, and this course will help me to achieve my goals. I would recommend Life Drawing Academy to other artists since it will help to enhance their drawing skills and it is a sure way to reach the advanced level.

Learning to draw what we see in real life, without relying on photos, is a transformative skill for any artist. "Life Drawing Academy" gave me the tools I needed to observe more closely and represent the human body with greater ease, confidence, and precision.

Thanks to this course, I learned to:
Draw human figures in motion or at rest, without the need for reference images,
Naturally integrate my knowledge of proportions and anatomy,
Boost my visual memory to create more expressive and personal drawings.

Life Drawing Academys progressive exercises, accompanied by clear explanations, gave me the confidence to draw what I see freely and accurately.

Life Drawing Academy wasn't just a course; it was the bridge between technical knowledge and authentic expression.

I want to get good at drawing

I enrolled in the Life Drawing Academy course because I need to get good at drawing and I wanted "homework". Somebody to tell me what to do and how to make it better; it will definitely be beneficial. I found the video lessons helpful. The theory is really good; I also like how this course is well structured and precise. I have learned how one is supposed to draw properly, tips and trick about professional drawing. It has helped me evolve, like any learning experience. I would definitely recommend this academy for someone who wants to learn good drawing skills!

I enrolled in the life drawing Academy course because I know I will benefit a lot from it. Ive already learned a fair bit so far, my drawing skills have improved since then.
The academy tutors have been very good and helpful and they gave me good advice and encouragement .
There are many other drawing courses online which are easy to follow, some of which I have taken, but they are not as great as this course.
I have been drawing and painting for around 25 years, and I just love to keep learning more.

I enrolled in the Life Drawing Academy Correspondence Course for multiple reasons. I already had the Drawing Academy and Anatomy Master Class memberships, so I knew the quality will be great. As there are no good art schools in my country, this online personal tutoring is a great solution for me. I needed an art teacher with the skills and knowledge who could help me.

I want to learn as much as I could in the 100 drawing tasks. Ultimately I would love to be able to draw realistic figures from imagination, and I figured this course would get me further with that than anything else I could be doing. But I also wanted to patch up the holes in my drawing fundamentals, so I was pleased with the way I knew the curriculum would be organized and tailored to my skill level. I get great tutoring and support. I receive critiques of my drawings and new drawing tasks without delays. I’m glad I enrolled.

The videos on life drawing are really good. I learned a lot from these lessons and found so much new information I hadn't heard it anywhere else. I was also right in figuring that the curriculum would be very thorough. And best of all, I didn't have to think about what to do next. I become a lot better in drawing portraits thanks to the anatomy lessons. The videos also helped me with life drawing classes. For example, I learned that in a very steep perspective, you shouldn't actually draw the figure as you see it, because the parts of the body that are the furthest away end up way too small, but that you should draw what you know. I had always drawn what I saw as I thought that's what the correct perspective was. My hand-eye coordination also got a lot better. I never would've thought I could improve that much so fast!

I recommend this course to other artists because it teaches much more than the fundamentals of drawing, and it's incredibly cheap for its value. Compared to other courses, it doesn’t skip drawing steps you must know and gives such lessons that are not available anywhere else. Every drawing task is thoroughly explained and you will get in-depth critiques of your drawings with explanation of mistakes and how to fix them.

I do not know another drawing course that provides such classical drawing curriculum as Life Drawing Academy. Perhaps Florence Classical Arts Academy gives good tutoring as well, but it is much more expensive. Everywhere else, it's just copying photographs, which is not a useful skill if you want to learn to draw from life or imagination. Even the ARC (Art Renewal Centre) approved academies worldwide teach mostly copying and sight-size drawing. The FCAA and Life Drawing Academy are the only ones I've found that I know to teach the classical drawing curriculum, i.e. the only curriculum that teaches you real drawing skills instead of copying skills.

The Life Drawing Academy's mentorship program exceeded my expectations in professional artistic development. As a parent-artist craving structured feedback, the personalized tutor reviews became my compass for growth.
Through the correspondence course, I learned to analyze my work with surgical precision. My tutor's critiques revealed how subtle adjustments in observational drawing could dramatically improve spatial relationships and kinetic energy in figures. While initially daunting to receive such rigorous assessments, this high standard pushed me to confront weaknesses in proportion measurement and hand-eye coordination.
The course's genius lies in its practical philosophy: "See first, draw second." Weekly exercises transformed how I perceive forms - I now instinctively break down subjects into geometric relationships before touching pencil to paper. Though challenging, this method cured my tendency to "guess" details rather than truly observe.
What truly shines is the program's flexibility. I could submit midnight sketches after putting my children to bed, then implement feedback during weekend practice sessions. For artists craving academic-level training without rigid schedules, this correspondence model is perfect. It's not just about drawing better figures - it's about cultivating a professional artist's mindset. The course rewards commitment with tangible skill elevation, making it worth every moment of focused effort.
I wholeheartedly recommend this program to all art enthusiasts and formal art students, as its curriculum demonstrates exceptional professionalism and pedagogical coherence. Beyond correcting my entrenched painting habits, it equipped me with crucial skills: understanding cranial proportions, mastering anatomical balance principles, and assessing weight distribution in dynamic poses. Most remarkably, drawing has evolved into a luminous dialogue with my son – he now analyzes cloud formations using the observation techniques learned here, and even arranges tableware to demonstrate golden ratio compositions. Art has organically become our shared language of wonder.

My passion in drawing is doing portraits and figures and I wanted to be good at it. I am already a lifetime member in Darwing Academy, and I was thrilled to find out that they also offer Life Drawing Correspondence Course. After reviewing the content of the course, I have no doubt this is the course that will help me to advance in my drawing skills in portrait and figures and I enrolled immediately without hesitation. I found that the drawing academy courses provide very clear and precise instructions and demos so I can go back to it anytime I need for clarifications. I love the classical methods used by the academy for the instructions and I love the different aspects that are in the course, such as perspective, foreshortening, hatching skills, comparative measuring techniques, and many more. When I watched the rendering technique demos, it opened my eyes to proper ways to render a smooth final product, I am very impressed with what I can learn and take away from these lessons. I wanted to continue to improve my skills so that I would eventually be recognized as a real artist, that would be my goal and dream. Another benefit I found is the interactive aspect of the course. If I have questions, I can always send in a request for help and I will receive instant replies to my questions and careful instructions on what to do and exercises to help improve my skill level. I can also do the lessons on my own leisure and never feel pressed for time. I know I have found the right course and in the right place for what I wanted to do with my art.

I enrolled in Lifedrawing academy in July 2022. I was in search of some professional guidance/tutoring and Lifedrawing academy (Vladimir London) was the best fit. Following are the highlights of this academy

1. Curriculum- extremely in depth, each task provided me with knowledge I couldn’t have found on YouTube/ in books. It is very similar to some of the best classical art academies I have visited ( ex. Florence classical art academy)with an added advantage that it is personally tailored to student’s level. It is also very beginner friendly and gradually progresses to ensure that there is no knowledge gap.

2. Some of the techniques/ features are exclusive to/ invented by the tutors of Lifedrawing academy themselves.

3. Very reasonable pricing- not only do they provide all the knowledge, step by step at a great price but also provide with templates of paper models( in case one doesn’t have access to live/ actual models), for example, the skull or ionic capital.

During my journey, I never stumbled upon any significant “obstacle” and could learn easily from my home! I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to make some serious progress in Lifedrawing, totally worth it!

I thank very much the Life Drawing Academy correspondence course for their art education. This is the best art education I have received in my entire life !
I have been their student for 14 months and I feel my drawing skills have already improved significantly, one step closer to the Russian academic drawings you find online. Although I have a MFA degree in the United States and experience in realistic drawing and painting at ateliers, I decided to start the course from scratch, like “How to hold a pencil”. Basic assignments of the course help me to fill in the missing part of my drawing knowledge and skills. They are not less important than advanced figurative drawing but are essential in any type of realistic drawing. I am hoping I will finish the basic tasks successfully in the not-so-far future and move onto the portraits and figure, my most interested area.
This is a serious correspondence drawing course but not a course for fun. All you need is dedication, consistency and patience.

I’ve been doing the ‘Life Drawing Academy Correspondence Course’ (the more expensive, but better option) for about 8 months.

This course is beyond anything I expected - you can tell the tutors know what they are doing!
You get 100 drawing tasks customised to your individual ability. My first lesson, I had to learn to hold a pencil properly! Now, I am drawing classical architecture and still life objects, and I will be moving onto anatomy and drawing portraits eventually.
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How it works:

The tutors send you an email with your ‘lesson’ (which you do at home, step-by-step.) You send photos/videos to show your completed drawing. Then, the tutors (my tutor is Vladimir London) critique the drawing and give feedback on what you did right/wrong, and how to improve. You keep improving/getting feedback until you have mastered a certain skill (2-point perspective, for example), and then you are given the next ‘lesson’. Everything is given in an order which makes sense, gradually getting more complex as you acquire basic skills.

I love that Vladimir actually tells me what is wrong with my drawing and how to fix it, instead of sugar-coating it like most people. My family & friends are really impressed at my drawings already, even though I have just started learning!

I was a bit worried about it being an online course, since theoretically it might be difficult to learn art over the Internet. But, it is actually fine because you can send them videos, visually asking any questions you have. The academy tutors respond with detailed feedback via email. Vladimir London has made custom YouTube videos for me a few times, where he visually answers specific questions I have. You can find their YouTube channel (it's called Drawing Art Academy)...

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What is studying at this academy like?

To make progress here you will need grit and persistence.

The tutors trained in traditional Russian art academies for many years, so standards are high. They teach you step-by-step, but you have to put in the sustained effort. However, the rewards are endless - to be able to draw anything you want from life or imagination is AMAZING.

This isn’t just another ‘art’ course - it’s the real deal for anyone who wants to learn time-honoured, TANGIBLE drawing skills. You will find none of the ‘just express yourself’ crap that most art colleges teach nowadays. (I went to art college for 2 years, and have already learnt way more drawing skills from doing this course!)

The education here is rigorous, requiring patience & dedication. This is a very good thing, but I’d recommend that you make your experience as holistic as you can. (When I’m finished working, I read art books for fun, go to galleries, sketch my surroundings, chat with other artists etc. - food for the soul, inspiring you to keep learning)

I spend the majority of my day doing the Life Drawing Academy correspondence course assignments. My goal is to become a professional artist, so I take my work seriously. I don’t work super long hours, but I consistently put in time to develop my drawing skills 6 days a week.
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In Summary:

INSANE VALUE FOR MONEY - literally a one-time price for unlimited private tutoring. You learn SO much. I don’t know any other online courses that are at this standard, for such good pricing.
The course will require patience and practice if you want to succeed. It is not a ‘quick fix’ (there are no shortcuts to true mastery of art). It is a genuine path to learning to draw.

The tutoring is highly professional and practical, and you will learn master artists ‘secrets’ to drawing realistically.

So, if you want to learn to actually draw, and are willing to put in the effort, this course is definitely for you. With the tutors there to answer any questions, and the step-by-step instructions, I feel totally supported to reach my goal of being a portrait and figurative artist!

I have been studying with the Life Drawing Academy for some years now. I have found them wonderful for a number of reasons. Firstly I can study at my own pace and own place, important as I work fulltime. Secondly the Life Drawing Academy course was tailor made for my needs and took me step by step through the basics of drawing from types of lines to drawing solids and then elliptical curves. Hatching and rendering are covered in detail. Drawing using a dip pen and ink are also covered. The course at the Life Drawing Academy gave me a great foundation and built up my drawing skills with tasks such as still life of manmade objects on to those with organic objects and the drawing of interiors and the environment around me. All the time the tutors were there to support and encourage. Just an email away was advice and guidance. My drawing skills have developed more than I could have imagined thanks to the wonderful course at the Life Drawing Academy.