Evolve Artist Program Student Interview – Miryam Doty | Her Experience

In the digital age art is no longer accessible only to those in certain schools or under certain teachers. Art is accessible to everyone and so are lessons by teachers from all over the world. There are many art courses and programs to choose from but there is one that is a bit unusual.

With the digital age most online art courses are teaching digital art. However, Evolve Artist has stayed true to the classical and historical medium of traditional oil-based painting, while harnessing the reach of the internet to create a comprehensive, online art program bringing anyone to a professional skill level by the end of their course in their step-by-step process.

Today I’ll be interviewing a student who has gone through the Evolve Artist program and has been active in the community. Her name is Miryam Doty and she is a stay at home mom and mixed media artist based in NJ.

She has always had a deep love for creating and crafting growing up, although she never imagined she would pursue it as a career.

Her inspiration comes from capturing moments of the everyday life, and painting objects that one may not consider anything special.

She believes it is important to appreciate even the little things in life that we usually take for granted, and hopes that through a variety of color, perspective and interesting brush marks, she can make even the most simplest thing beautiful.

Have you always been artistic or is this something you’ve developed over time?

I think like many artists, art was something I did as a pastime. According to my mom, I was obsessed with doodling and coloring ever since I could grip a crayon.

Releasing that creative energy through drawing was always a thing, however, I also let go of art many times throughout my life. I went to a vocational high school that was focused on the medical and science fields so we did not have any extracurricular activities such as art. I only began taking art seriously in 2018.

How did you hear about Evolve Artist and what made you want to jump in?

When I decided to get serious about art in 2018, the internet did this funny thing that it always seems to do when you express an interest in something- send you ads. I got all kinds of ads, from different art schools and online courses but then an ad for the artist academy (brick and mortar school of Kevin Murphy) popped up on my Facebook page and at the time I had just given birth to my first born. I really wanted to attend his school because they emphasized learning the technical aspects of painting but with a newborn at home, it just wasn’t something I could do. Instead, I decided to take to the internet and learn as much as I could on my own. Fast forward to 2022, an ad came up on YouTube with Daniel Folta talking about evolve. The ad sounded way too good to be true, so I began to look into the online course. I soon realized Kevin Murphy, the founder of the artist academy was also the founder of evolve. Although I had already learned quite a bit in my own struggles, and had already been working on commissions, I still felt the need to join something that would provide me feedback. I felt that I hit a ceiling in my self teaching journey. Then I learned that Evolve uses the same curriculum online as Kevin does in his school. I felt that I could fully trust the program because I trusted Kevin Murphy’s methods and I’ve seen what his students could do. I also watched their YouTube videos and watched their livestreams and knew this was it for me.

Tell me about the structure of their program and how it impacted the way you learned.

Their program structure is pretty simple but genius! It is based on learning the fundamentals of realism and combines that with repetition and feedback. In each phase you are given a method or technique to focus on and build on improving before adding another technique or method in the next phase. After each assignment, an instructor will give you feedback on which techniques were done correctly and what needs to be worked on. This way of learning has greatly impacted my own personal studies outside of the program. It has helped me to slow down and focus on one thing at a time. It has trained me to really take in the subject I’m studying, and approach painting in a much more structured way.

What’s been your biggest challenge with art and did Evolve help you overcome that?

My biggest challenge with art has always been structure. When I was self-teaching, I would jump all over the place. I’d go from watching videos on values, to how to paint a portrait, to the fundamentals of drawing. Evolve has taught me how to be more organized, in more ways than just learning to paint. It has taught me how to think while I paint. Before Evolve, a lot of my paintings were just intuitive paintings which I love. However, now I can combine intuitive painting with what evolve has taught me and create pieces that are my own. I haven’t approached painting the same way. I have a conversation with myself while I paint now instead of just painting.

After this program do you feel you have an illuminated path on how you can continue raising your skill level to where you want it to be?

Definitely, there is still a long journey ahead but Evolve has given me the tools to learn effectively. Even after the program, they have given me the structure that I need to learn any style or form of art.

What genre are you currently painting and is there anything you’d like to try in the future?

I’m currently painting mostly still life and portraiture, it’s something I really enjoy. I would like to create pieces in the future that tell a story, and find my artistic voice. I’m not quite sure what that looks like yet, but there’s no pressure to figure it out. I’m focused on learning as much as I can about the technical aspects of painting.

Do you feel Evolve has given you the knowledge and the tools to be able to tackle that?

Without a doubt, Evolve puts everything aside and teaches only the building blocks in the first portion of their program. Later on, when I’m ready to explore my artistic voice or my own style of painting, I will not be held back by the lack of understanding the fundamentals of painting.

Who is the Evolve Artist program for?

I believe the Evolve Artist program is for anyone. Whether you went to art school, or art is just a hobby or if you are a beginner, or a seasoned artist. There are all sorts of artists that are in the Evolve program, it’s pretty cool to hear their stories and personal journeys in the study groups. I believe it might be more challenging for artists that already have experience, because we are asked to leave all of that aside and focus on how Evolve wants us to paint but it is so worth it. I also really wanted to join for the feedback, as a self-taught artist there comes a point where you just don’t know what to work on next, so you kind of just work on all of it. Just practice and practice and practice aimlessly. With feedback, you know what to work on. There is an instructor to tell you where your errors are, and how to improve them. Overall though, Evolve really helps you hone in on those technical skills regardless of your skill level. If I could have joined sooner, I would have. I believe Evolve would have helped jumpstart my art journey years ago.

Thank you Miryam. Check out her art here:

Anyone who is truly skilled in something continually practices the fundamentals. Whether it’s an NBA athlete, a 5 star chef, or a commercial air pilot the same is true, which is a continual commitment to the fundamentals which are the pillars of any practice.

Evolve artist does the same by making very clear the fundamentals of art to raise your skill level the fastest with the least amount of effort.

Evolve artist is a program to become a master of the rich history of oil painting and seems to be the fastest track to becoming a pro in the least amount of time. Once you learn the language of art with the right kind of practice, you’ll be on your way to becoming a master.

Evolve also offers free mini courses and tutorials on their YouTube channel. If you want to learn more about Evolve Artist and the program they offer you can check them out here:

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