Learn from Elli Milan, founder of Milan Art Institute.
$99, one payment. Lessons open when you join.
Maybe the Mastery Program has been sitting in the back of your mind for a while. This issue is two weeks of it: five projects from Part 1, a coach on every piece you post, and a straight answer to whether you can keep up.
All 14 lessons, 6 hours 27 minutes: Introduction to Charcoal, 6 min (optional). Portrait Proportions, 13 min. Plane Shifts Portrait, 32 min. The 3-D Drawing Method, 46 min. Vibrant Parrot, Steps 1 to 3: 32, 24 and 44 min. Monster Portrait, Steps 1 to 3: 36, 31 and 42 min. Van Gogh Bear warm-up, 18 min, then Steps 1 to 3: 13, 37 and 12 min. The days are a suggested pace.
Most of us still draw the eyes up in the forehead, the way we did as little kids. Elli Milan moves them halfway down the head. Dimitra Milan teaches the charcoal portrait.
“Your first charcoal portrait is allowed to look rough.”
Jake Dunn, Getting Started video
Three moves run this drawing: determine your middle, define an angle, drop a line. Elli Milan reads each angle off a clock face, so this horse's nose sits at eleven o'clock.
“When I'm talking to somebody, I'm drawing their face.”
Elli Milan, The 3-D Drawing Method
The canvas starts thin and dark green. You lift the light out with a sponge and a Q-tip, the Old Master way, then glaze the color on and finish in opaque paint.
“If you mess up, it is no big deal. It is very forgiving and easy to fix.”
Elli Milan, Vibrant Parrot
No sketch underneath means nothing to protect. Four colors block in the head, it looks like a monster for a while on purpose, then big brushes build the face and the strokes stay put.
“I know she's gorgeous, she's absolutely stunning. Look at her. Looks just like the picture, doesn't it?”
Elli Milan, early in step 1
Nothing gets mixed on the palette. Pure color goes on straight from the tube in separate strokes over black, and your eye mixes the browns. It cures a blender fast.
“I didn't mix any colors together. I didn't mix red and green together to make a brown. I optically mixed it.”
Elli Milan, Van Gogh Bear
I'm enjoying doing this class so far I did the two week challenge and it was fantastic I am now currently in the master program and it so far has been very informative and has helped me to improve in my artistic abilities!
…I can't believe what I've learnt and how well I can paint since I have taken the 2-week challenge…
More than 700 people have joined the 2-Week Challenge since April 2026.
Get the 2-Week Challenge, $99
You post it. A coach writes back with what to keep and what to try next.
This is the column where your work gets read. Every piece you post gets a note back, so the next one starts from what a coach saw in the last.
Over six weeks this fall, coaches commented on 176 of 181 pieces posted in the Challenge feed.
Supplies aren't included, so here's the bill before you start.
Not in any kit: canvases, paper, solvent and glazing medium.
Download the supply list (PDF)Yes, start me on the 2-Week Challenge.
Finish the Challenge and join the Mastery Program within 30 days of your Saturday start, and your $99 comes off your tuition. New Mastery Program students only. Your code arrives when you finish.
I took the 14 Days Creative Challenge….
Elli is an amazing and gifted art instructor, she makes oil painting so much easier to learn and so much enjoyable.
Lessons open the moment you join. Coaching starts with your Saturday cohort. Supplies are separate (supply list, PDF). Refunds within 48 hours of purchase.
Milan Art Institute is rated 4.7 on Trustpilot from 578 reviews and 4.9 on Google from 160 reviews.
The questions people ask before they order, answered by the school.
MILAN ART Yes. It starts with drawing, a face in graphite and charcoal and then a horse, and it moves fast: you're in oils by day 5. Two weeks is the suggested pace, and you have 30 days if you need them.
MILAN ART The lessons add up to 6 hours 27 minutes. Your own drawing and painting time runs about 30 to 60 minutes for the face sketches, 1.5 to 2 hours for the charcoal portrait, 1 to 2 for the horse, 3.5 to 8 for the parrot, 4 to 10 for the Monster Portrait and 5 to 10 for the bear, plus its warm-up.
MILAN ART Keep going. Your lessons and coach feedback run 30 days from your Saturday start. You've finished the Challenge when you've posted all five pieces in the community, rough ones included.
MILAN ART Supplies aren't included. Kit 1 ($460) covers the drawings and the bear, Kit 2 ($350) covers the two oil paintings, and the Mastery Drawing Set ($30) covers the two drawings. Canvases, paper, solvent and glazing medium are separate. Download the full supply list.
MILAN ART A coach who finished the full Mastery Program. You post each piece in the Challenge community, in the Milan Art app, and a coach writes back with what to keep and what to try next. The two weekly Zoom calls are check-ins for your questions about the assignments, and an advisor checks in along the way.
MILAN ART Your lessons open the moment you join. A new cohort starts every Saturday, and coaching starts with yours.
MILAN ART Every lesson comes from Part 1 of the Mastery Program, at a challenge's pace. Finish all five pieces and you get a code: join the Mastery Program within 30 days of your Saturday start and your $99 comes off your tuition. The code is for new Mastery Program students.
MILAN ART Yes, within 48 hours of purchase. The window is short because every lesson opens the moment you join.
Five pieces, 14 lessons, a coach on each one, $99 once. Lessons open the moment you join, and a new cohort starts every Saturday.
Learn from Elli Milan, founder of Milan Art Institute.
