Art Course

“Life-changing!” Those are the exact words used by almost every one of the students who took my week-long intensive instruction in The TruPaint™ Artist Training Course. And the students who are now enjoying the lower-cost video version tell much the same story. In a world filled with hype, those words, “life-changing”, might be construed to be just another buzz phrase designed to get your attention; an over-the-top statement injected by some high-priced ad man. However, life-changing is precisely what I aim for with every student.

Those early student/artists came from all over the world – as far away as Queensland, Australia. They paid $4,550.00 in tuition and hundreds of dollars more for airfare and room and board. Plus, they took a week out of their lives to come to Durham, NC and take this course.

Most of these folks were not well-to-do people who could easily afford this substantial cost, either. Some took drastic measures to attend. They sold their cars, borrowed from relatives, whatever it took to get the funds together and travel here to learn The TruPaint™ System. They came with the hope of a better lifestyle – the opportunity to earn a substantial income (perhaps in excess of $100,000 per year) doing what they love to do – what they are totally passionate about; to paint beautiful works of art and get paid well for it.

Few artists work full time at their craft.
They have "day" jobs. That's because it can be difficult to earn a decent living doing what they really love. Perhaps that describes you. Or maybe you are committed to your artwork and work full-time at it, except that you're just scraping by. Well, I have found that making my living as an artist is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done in life. The fact that I make a lot of money from it is icing on the cake.

How can you not love getting that kind of praise. I get responses from my clients like that all the time and the thought that always comes to me as I read them is, "Holy cow, these people are actually PAYING me to do what I love." Is that cool, or what?

TruPaint™ is a hybrid system that begins life in your computer. (Wait!!!! Before you get all crazy about using a computer, please read the next 2 paragraphs.) Then, it's migrated to canvas, where it's finished with real brushes and medium. But it's about 10 times faster than traditional painting - AND MUCH MORE ACCURATE.

The development of TruPaint™ has been nothing short of a miracle for me. In a series of “aha” moments, I saw the possibilities that existed in the merging of modern digital technology with traditional painting techniques. And, from early on, my goal was very focused.

I wanted to use the power of the computer to create portraits and paintings on canvas in a fraction of the time that it normally took. And, I wanted them to be so good, that they could literally be hung side-by-side with the finest traditionally painted artwork in the world, with no one being able to tell the difference.

Oh, come on! Is this even possible? There's a lot of digital artwork being created, today. And very cheaply, too. Some of it is OK, but most of it would never be considered to be great art. It could hardly be compared with real paintings.

However, my paintings hang in some very prestigious locations. Often, they are displayed right next to traditionally painted artwork. And, not only can no one tell the difference, but I'm told that observers often want to know why my painting is so much better than the others.

Where are these paintings displayed? They're in the offices many corporations, the military, foundations, municipalities, etc. Of course, most of my paintings are for individuals, many of whom are very art savvy. But here's a short list of several educational locations where they definitely hang side-by-side traditional oil-on-canvas paintings:

These folks did not commission me to paint because I was less expensive. They chose me because of my eye for detail and a level of accuracy that is uncanny. And here's that all important feature: The finished paintings are so good that they can be compared to the finest artwork in the world.

A tear-jerker of a story
Before I get into specifics about TruPaint™ , I want to tell you why I'm so passionate about this system. . .and why you should be, too. Early in my career, an order came in from Denise Mason, a grieving mother from Brandon, MS. Her oldest child, a 17 year-old son had been killed while preparing for his high school graduation. She wanted a formal portrait of her 3 children, but had never had one done. And now, one of them was gone and it was impossible.

She had separate photographs of all the children taken at various formal events and wondered if I could combine them into a single, large, painted portrait. If you've never done anything like that before, I can assure you that there are some fairly difficult technical problems involved. For one thing, photos taken under different lighting conditions don't look right when they're placed next to each other. The direction, color, and quality of the light is usually all wrong. In this case, some were taken indoors with flash, others outdoors in broad daylight. And then there are the problems of poses that don't fit together.

But I assured her that I could do it and proceeded to paint a 36" X 48" portrait on canvas of the children. This would have cost her well in excess of $15,000 to have painted by an artist working with conventional means - a price she could ill afford. My price to her was a fraction of that. It was a miracle for her and I still made a good profit doing it for her. If you want to see it, here's the link: three_kids_formal_portrait.htm

When I talked with her on the phone after it was complete, she could hardly talk to me through all the tears. So she wrote to me, instead. Here's part of what she wrote:

"You will never know how precious this painting is to me. You have made the impossible, possible. I appreciate your talents in bringing to me the most precious thing I will ever own. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart."

It’s not just about the money!
A lot of the allure of painting with The TruPaint™ System is in the money that can be made. But honestly, how can anything compare to the satisfaction of participating in that?

It was right then and there that I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Over the last few years I've painted hundreds of portraits for many other grieving moms, dads, sisters, and brothers. It never fails to get to me. And the letters and emails I get from these folks are the greatest treasure I'll ever have. I read, and re-read them over and over, again. To make it even better, these testimonials are not spaced out over a long period of time. They come in all the time. And they feed me! (Of course, most portraits are quite joyous, not tear-jerkers.)

Yes, but what about YOUR art?
Well, that's all fine and good, but what does this have to do with the art that you would be able to create?

My students tell me that they have shocked their friends and family with the level of their increased competence. People can hardly believe the beautifully crafted paintings they are now creating.

If I were able to create the magnificent paintings that I'm talking about, and not be able to show you, precisely how it's done, it would be criminal. My goal is to rapidly get you to the point of creating your own world-class paintings.

Take the time to check out my work and the work of my students. See if that is something that you would be proud to display, share with family and friends, and sell for a substantial profit.

A problem that needed to be solved
As well received as the TruPaint™ Course was, there was a serious limitation that was inherent in that 5-day course. As intense as it was, it wasn’t enough. Oh, I could teach them all the fundamentals about painting in this new way. And every, single student left here knowing how to do it. But, they all wished they could take me home to look over their shoulder and continue to teach them the finer details.

In addition, the cost of the course, time for travel, etc. was impossible for many artists. What good is it having such a tremendous course available, but completely out of reach due to the impediment of time, money, or physical handicap? It was time for a change.

So, I put the whole course on a series of 12 hour-long DVDs where you can watch, step by step, the exact way that I create my paintings. It’s a 7-step process that leads to a successful conclusion. . .every time!

Not only has this allowed me to teach you for a fraction of the cost – in fact at a ridiculously low price – but you can return over and over to the lessons. You can view the specific video and chapter where you need help in accomplishing the exact goal you hope to achieve. This continually re-enforces the techniques that will bring you success.

By the way, in the Lesson #1 video that I’m going to give you for free, you'll learn that the basic concept behind TruPaint™ is not exactly new. It started about 600 years ago and has been practiced by some of the most famous and highly regarded artists in the history of the world.

To really learn what TruPaint™ is all about, you need to request access to Lesson #1 toward the end of this page. There’s absolutely no cost nor obligation and this lesson will open your eyes to avenues you never dreamed possible.

Here are the basics of what’s included:

Hour after hour of step-by-step visual instruction
I’ve taken 5 days of instruction and boiled it down to it’s most fundamental elements. I’ll step you through every part of the process from setting up your software and hardware to putting the finishing touches on canvas. Every aspect of the seven steps of the TruPaint™ System will be demonstrated in great detail, including how to deal with many of the problems that you wouldn't believe crop up when you have to work with less-than-ideal photographs. In a very short period of time, you’ll be at a level that has taken me many years to reach.

Because everything is shown visually on DVD videos, you’ll never be left guessing about what’s going on. To make it even easier for you, each video is broken up into logical chapters, so you can return to watch the exact segment you want to view - as many time as you want to watch it.

Customized brushes, samples and ready-to-go backgrounds
There are very specialized virtual brushes that I have designed for use with TruPaint™. All of these are on a disk, ready to be loaded onto your computer. In addition, there are samples that you can work with to match what I’m demonstrating onscreen. As a bonus, you’ll have a number of pre-made backgrounds that can be used if you're painting portraits. These can be modified in an unlimited number of ways to suit almost any situation.

Corel’s Painter 11 software
This is the core of The TruPaint™ System and is bundled with it. This professional-level paint program retails for $429.00, but it’s included right with the course. Owning this amazing piece of software is like having the world’s largest art store right on your desktop. You’ll get a good look at this in the video, “Lesson #1 – Introduction to TruPaint™.” If you already own Painter 9.5 or above, there's an alternative offer available.

Written documentation
The manual that comes with Painter is very hard for most artists to wade through. Part of that is because this program is designed to be all things to all people. They tell you what you CAN do, but never tell you WHAT to do to accomplish a specific goal. In their defense, I suppose that if they were to cover all the tools in great detail, the manual would weigh 60 pounds. The written course materials for the TruPaint™ System takes you on an easy to understand journey that supplements the videos, perfectly. Because it was written to complement the videos, it is clear, concise, and to the point. Nothing is left to chance. I’ll keep you out of the nasty pitfalls that I’ve faced in painting hundreds of portraits and other fine-art paintings.

TruPaint Deep Flow Artist Medium
One 8 oz. can of this incredible painting medium will be included with the course. This product is custom made for me and is not available anywhere else. What this does on canvas is nothing short of miraculous.

Here are the characteristics of TruPaint™ that are so important to you as an artist:

Speed: Simply stated, the faster you can paint, the more work you can create. Even a little faster makes all the difference in the world. But 10 times faster? Wow! That gives you a huge marketing advantage. You can keep your prices where they are, but sell many more paintings. Or, you can lower prices to be more competitive, and still make more profit on each painting. But bear in mind, speed is worthless if you can’t also paint at a very high level of excellence. Speed plus excellence is a winning combination.

Accuracy: Getting the details right is important in every painting. But most of my works are portraits and that’s what I feature in the course. It’s not that TruPaint is restricted to portraiture. It’s just that in that venue, every detail must be extremely precise. It can't be pretty close. It has to be 100%, exactly perfect. Anything short of that is simply not acceptable. If you can paint at that level, you can paint anything. So, even if your focus is still life or landscapes, the ability to get important details nailed to perfection is an absolute necessity.

Ability to Experiment: Painting in the traditional manner has some serious restrictions. For instance, if you've spent a lot of time creating your painting, but you're wondering if it could be improved by trying something a bit different, you're going to hesitate. After all, if it doesn't work out, you've just destroyed everything you worked so hard to create. But when you have total freedom to experiment without losing where you're at, you'll try a lot of things. That means that you learn what works a lot, LOT faster. It makes you bold. And that makes you a better artist. You’ll be amazed at how fast your skills will develop.

Control: This is what really surprises most artists. They think they will be giving up creative control to some dumb computer program. Well nothing is further from the truth. If you can see it in your mind's eye, you can paint it. Nothing is out of bounds. You have complete artistic control over every aspect of the painting. If we didn't have this, I'd abandon it, myself. This is so crucial to turning out great artwork that it is in the "MUST HAVE" category.

Read what Sarah Smith had to say:

"I have learned things that I did not think were possible, let alone finding myself doing them with any level of competence. Yet through your concise explanations and teaching tools I now have the skills to build a successful business doing something I love. Thank you Jerry for sharing your knowledge in so many different areas and giving me more than mere painting lessons. I have learned an entire system that I can utilize, and develop, and adapt for myself in a way that I easily understand."

Or, this from Shirlene Hicks:

"By now you seem like a dear friend or family that I see daily. Only difference is that I am enjoying the time sooo much more. I cannot remember the last time I was so totally STOKED about anything. Please add me to the ones who feel Providently guided to your door. I cannot find words to express my gratitude."

Here are parts of a long letter from Misty Beauchamp:

"This customer has really enjoyed being able to make changes and thus be part of the creative process. Unlike traditional layouts where the customer gets shown a couple of ideas and has to choose, usually without the faintest idea how it will all look once finished, with TruPaint my customer can be a part of every step of the process. This horse painting is a complicated image and we revised probably twenty times- and I bet I have only put forth maybe four hours of effort! The same layout done traditionally with all the changes probably would have taken me four months, and I would have been ready to kill the client! As you know, I do several media, and right now clients really seem to like the TruPaint for four reasons:

Even though it looks like a traditional oil, TruPaint tends to be more bright and luminous like a watercolor or pastel whereas traditional oils are less so. I think this is from the use of archival quality water based inks that allow the light to bounce through the layers, like watercolor, instead of an opaque oil film that merely reflects.

The time frame is much faster.

The cost factor is much more in line with their budgets right now with the economy like it is. I have adopted the slogan, "If you can't see the difference, why pay the difference?" which seems to make sense to them.

People love to feel they had a personal hand in creating their own private masterpiece and it makes it that much more special for them- plus it lessens the "aggravation factor" of misunderstandings or the client not liking something that I assume that they will. Because it is so easy to make changes, I look forward to the client's input.

If you aren't familiar with the incredible results that can be attained with TruPaint™, I would encourage you to visit all the pages on this website, plus the website featuring some of my students at:

There, you will be able to see many portraits and paintings that I've done for clients - including typical "before and after" images. Do you think these works are of high quality? Do you think you can't do as well? I think you can - and I'll teach you how!

However, this system is not for everyone. I can teach a good artist to be better than they ever thought possible. I can teach great artists to work at a speed that they never imagined. But I can't turn a poor, no-talent, artist into a Michelangelo. Sorry, it just isn't possible!

Of course, paintings don't need to be portraits, at all.
I've painted just about everything imaginable. Portraiture is just something I'm passionate about. For you it might be landscapes, city scenes or still-lifes. Heck, I’ve even done some abstracts. The TruPaint™ System is large enough to encompass all of them.

And, I’m no kid, either. I’m already into my 60s. I’ve done a lot of things in my life; worked a lot of different jobs; built my own company from scratch. And I can honestly say, that I’ve had more fun in the last several years as an artist than anything I’ve ever done. It’s a total blast!

So, is The TruPaint™ Artist Training Course all that it's cracked up to be? I could tell you, but I'd rather you hear it from one of my students. Here's what Jim Murphy of Port Townsend, WA had to say after completing the course in September of 2006:

“I don't know where to start! ‘Thanks’ seems pretty mild for what I think was a life changing event for me. I think you said that would happen. What an incredible week!”

“The TruPaint process is like a magic key to open creative doors. I am not the laziest artist, I'm the most impatient. The speed of the process allows me to explore a dozen ideas in hours rather than days. I love it.”

I want to invite you to view Lesson #1 – Introduction to TruPaint™ free of charge right on your computer. You can be watching it within a minute after registering, below. This will give you a complete overview of the process so you can see what this is all about. It's almost an hour long (although it’s broken up into segments) and provides you with deep insight into The TruPaint™ System. You'll be stunned to learn both the historical context of this method as well as the range and complexity of the beautiful paintings that can be created with it.

The history lesson that traces this basic process back 600 years is worth the price, alone. You won't believe the famous, and revered, artists who used the technical advances of their time to do exactly what you'll do with TruPaint™ - speed up the process and attain an extremely high level of accuracy.

The first video of the The TruPaint™ Artist Training Course gives you a complete overview of the process so you can really see what this is all about. It's almost an hour long and provides you with deep insight into The TruPaint™ System. You'll be stunned to learn both the historical context of this method as well as the range and complexity of the beautiful paintings that can be created with it.

Gain immediate access to the videos that make up this lesson.
Remember, there is no cost and you are under no obligation, whatsoever.
Further, your email will not be sold or divulged to any third party.

PS - If you have any hesitation about watching this lesson, here's something to think about: It took 5 years of intensive experimentation, trial and error, and testing for me to develop The TruPaint™ System. Is it not worth taking a close look at what these lessons can do for your art career?