Better Than Art School Review

Disclosure: When you sign up through my referral link, I get a percentage of the sales, at no additional cost to you. I have also included the link along with instructions at the end of the post.

BTAS was very helpful and I would say that it played a vital part in my art practice. I would not be here if it wasn’t for Amira’s teachings and this course. I will break it down for you in different groups so it is easier to understand. Throughout the review I will refer to the program as BTAS (Better Than Art School).

This was the very first piece of art I painted in the first couple of weeks of starting BTAS.

How the course works:

The course’s duration is 8 weeks. During those 8 weeks, you are part of an active Facebook group, in which Amira and other coaches are there to guide you and answer all your questions. Every month you will have one live painting session with Amira, two mindset coaching calls with Sarah Guthrie and 1-2 Office Hour calls with other coaches. I did the course from Feb to mid April 2020. You will have life-time access to this course; meaning that the course will be with you forever.

After 8 weeks you will be removed from that group and moved to the BTAS Alumni group where you will have access to all past students and coaches. You can post your questions and past students and coaches will answer at their earliest convenience.

Being removed from that fb group means you will no longer be able to attend live zoom calls with Amira or other coaches. If you would like to stay in the fb group, there’s a small fee you need to pay. Live zoom calls will be recorded and uploaded in the BTAS bonuses on the site so you can watch the replays.

Above are the pieces that I painted in early weeks of BTAS.

Live Calls with Amira & Coaches:

Live calls happen on Zoom. All calls are recorded and added in to the BTAS Bonus content section. You can ask questions on this call with any of the coaches. It is optional whether or not you have your camera on. You can re-watch all the sessions you attended while in the active Facebook group, and you can also replay all the calls that have happened in the past years. And they are packed with so much good information too. Not only that, but all future calls will also be recorded and added to the bonus content section for you to watch at your own convenience.

Above works were created within the 3rd to 4th week of the course.

Course:
Week 1: Gathering art influences, course book and mindset

Week 2: Color Mastery

Week 3: Composition

Week 4: Composition 2.0

Week 5: Creating depth in paintings

Week 6: Texture, detail and mark making

Week 7: Styles of Abstraction

Week 8: Completing your paintings (signing, titling, varnishing, packaging, pricing)

As you can see, my color palette and composition started getting a little bit better than it was in the beginning.

It is very normal and okay to feel overwhelmed in Weeks 2, 3 and 4. These three weeks are packed with so much information that it was impossible for me to complete in the given time frame. The good thing is that you can take all the time you want for these sections, because these three weeks are going to build a strong foundation for your art practice.

Another piece that I painted almost in the middle of the program.

Regardless of which week’s module you are in, after 8 weeks of time, you will be moved to the BTAS Alumni group.

I did take more time in Weeks 2, 3 and 4, and what helped me relax a bit was that the modules in the end do not have homework. The topics like texture, trying different mediums, packaging, pricing, varnishing, titling, and signing are part of the process but they do not require any homework or action on your behalf. So even if you take longer in those weeks, you're going to be just fine. In fact I would urge you to take your time in these weeks, because you're going to build a foundation from this knowledge. I took almost 8-10 days to finish these sections, because I have kids and a family to take care of, so if you don't have similar responsibilities, you may be able to do them in a shorter amount of time.

Above are the works that were created close to the end of the program.

Important things to remember:

(I get these questions all the time on IG and I thought I would answer them here)

1. If you take this course, it does not mean you can only paint abstract paintings. Amira will give you all the tools needed to become a better artist in whatever direction you wish to go. If you choose to do landscape art, you will learn to understand how to create depth in your landscapes. If you choose to paint floral, seascapes, real life, fruits or really anything at all, you will have the knowledge to go in that direction. The world is your oyster!!

I painted this towards the end.

Amira suggests to go through the course at least twice to get the maximum benefit from it. And I did. The second time I felt like I absorbed more information compared to the first time. And why not? You have the course with you for a life time…

2. Amira will not teach you how to paint like her. She shows her process and techniques and encourages you to copy her for learning purposes, but then add your own twist and build your own style of mark making.

3. Amira emphasizes on a lot of experimenting and playing on the canvas. So be ready to play and experiment a lot because that is how you're going to grow as an artist.

4. Mindset and abundance thinking are part of the artist’s journey and that’s why Amira focuses on these two things too. So start this course with an open mind and an open heart.

Over the year, as I implemented more things from the course, my work got better and matured significantly.

5. You will benefit from this course if you start with a mindset of learning. If you have taken courses and art workshops in the past, it is best to leave that all behind and learn and listen openly. If you have a pre-conceived notion of what art should be, there will be less room for learning and improving.

6. This course is not about how to sell your art. It is not a marketing course.

7. This course does not guarantee that your paintings will start selling right away.

8. This course is not for you if you want to paint exactly like Amira.

After almost two years I am creating work like this.

Also if art is not something you would like to do as a profession, even then this program will benefit you for your personal art growth.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have more questions regarding the course. I will be as transparent as possible. Because I benefited from it, I just couldn't stop bragging about it. It helped me so much to become a better and confident artist in a very short amount of time.

Please kindly note that the above opinions are my honest and true experiences. There is no question of the progress I made in my art after this program. The artwork is speaking for itself; how it was before and how it progressed during and after a year of the program.

Amira has an amazing referral program for BTAS. When you sign up through my referral link, I get a percentage of the sales, at no additional cost to you.

If the sales page doesn’t show up, try it in incognito mode or in a new browser where you haven’t visited the sales page before.

https://arehman--passioncolorjoy.thrivecart.com/better-than-art-school/5d603ab0cf64c/

Thank you for reading and using my referral link.

Leave your comments and questions below.
All the best in your art journey!

Aatika Rehman