There’s a pattern I’ve come to recognize in my creative life. I cycle. Not on a bike—although that might be easier to explain—but between creative pursuits. I’ll go through an intense writing phase, then slowly find myself drifting toward visual art. Then back again. It’s not predictable, but it’s consistent enough that I’ve stopped fighting it..
I used to feel guilty about this, like I needed to pick a lane or “stay focused” if I ever wanted to make progress. But the truth is, fighting the shift always leads to burnout. When I let it happen, it’s a kind of creative migration. Thinking of it that way helps me to see it as a positive, natural process that’s good for my mental health.
This month, the art side woke up again. I can feel it in the way I’m looking at things and wanting to hold a pencil and draw them. I feel it in the nudge to make something, even if I’m not sure what. Writing’s in a good place for now, which means I’ll be able to easily pick it back up again when the art phase ends and the writing phase starts up again. So... it’s time to start drawing again.
Only, what now? That’s the part I always forget. Do I dive into an art challenge? Pick up a new medium? Watch a hundred art YouTube videos and call it “research”? I want to be outside more, now that the weather is turning, so I searched “how to get started with plein air painting.” That led me down a rabbit hole of online classes and video reviews, which is how I found New Masters Academy—and Julie Miette’s videos about her experience with the program. Seeing the kind of work she was doing helped make the whole thing feel more real.
The Hesitation Phase (a.k.a. Tabs Open, Decision Closed)
I wish I could say that once I found New Masters Academy, I signed up immediately and dove into the world of drawing foundations and color theory. I didn’t. What I did do was open about fifteen tabs, skim a few course previews, and then go get a cup of coffee.
There’s always that gap between wanting to create and actually deciding how to create. Do I start with a new medium? Do I try one of those daily challenges that always seem to fall apart after Day 3? Do I follow a structured class, even though I sometimes resist structure like a cat being offered a bath?
And of course, there’s the deeper stuff underneath:
- What if I commit and then lose interest?
- What if I’m not consistent enough?
- What if I’m... not good?
I’ve done enough creative work over the years to know these thoughts are just noise. But even so, they show up like clockwork whenever I’m about to begin something new. I think they’re part of the ritual at this point. (Step 1: Doubt yourself. Step 2: Try anyway.)
In the end, it was the structure that won me over. New Masters Academy has a long-term curriculum—like an actual art school—but it’s flexible enough to fit real life. It felt like a foundation I could grow from, not a box I’d be trapped in.
So I took a deep breath and enrolled.
Then came the next question: what track do I pick?
Choosing a Track (and Meeting the Art Horse)
When I signed up, I opted for the annual subscription, which included something called the 2025 Spring Cohort. I’m still not entirely sure what that means, but it sounded promising—and came with a substantial discount on the first year, which certainly didn’t hurt.
Thanks to all the research I’d done beforehand, I already had a strong feeling about which track I’d pick. NMA offers quite a few: portrait painting, figure painting, entertainment design, sculpture, comic art, animation, landscape painting, 3D character art, and illustration. Honestly, they all look like fun. But I chose illustration because it has a little bit of everything.
One of the best parts is that I’m not locked in to the strict “course track”. As long as I meet the prerequisites, I can explore courses from other tracks too. The program allows for both digital and traditional media, and the emphasis is on building core skills that translate across tools and techniques. That flexibility really appealed to me.
Once I chose illustration, I was assigned a specific course list. At certain points, I’ll need to make decisions about which classes to take next—and those choices will shape my future coursework. But for now, the first few weeks are focused on drawing fundamentals. Stuff I’ve seen before, but I figured a refresher wouldn’t hurt. And—no surprise—I learned something new in the very first lesson.
Enter: the art horse. It’s on the list of suggested materials for the Drawing Foundations 1 course. I had never heard of this before. Was it a model of a horse? Some kind of tool? A personal pet?
Nope. It’s a bench that artists use in studio drawing settings. I have a drawing table and an easel, so I don’t need one, but it was oddly comforting to know that it exists.
Even better, the instructors demonstrated how to set up an alternative using regular chairs—no new equipment required.
So, Week 1: complete in a couple of hours. I breezed through the intro videos, which walked through the materials list for the Drawing Foundations course. Then I tackled the first assignment: take a photo of my workspace and a few photos of my previous artwork.
The point was to make sure I can get clean images for critique later on.
Critiques are a built-in part of the Academy structure, and they work on a token system. I received 10 tokens with my subscription; each written critique costs at least one token, sometimes two. You can buy more if needed, but at $12 apiece, I’m saving mine for moments when I really need help or a second set of eyes on something tricky.
So no, I’m not spending one on someone evaluating the lighting in my studio corner. But it’s good to know that kind of support is there when I hit a wall.
Looking Ahead
Right now, I’m totally convinced this was the right decision.
Watching Julie Miette’s YouTube videos about the program—and seeing the work she’s done through it—definitely helped push me over the edge. There’s something about seeing someone else make tangible progress that makes the whole thing feel more real and reachable.
My plan is to keep track of each week here on the blog, both as a way to stay accountable and to document the journey. I want to be able to look back and see the progress over time—but I also hope this helps anyone out there who’s considering the program but isn’t quite sure if it’s a fit. Maybe these posts will offer the nudge that you need, the way Julie’s videos did for me.
