Mastrius

Mastrius is an online art school and community that puts mentorship with working artists at the center, then surrounds it with live workshops, weekly events and pre-recorded courses. The company behind it, Mastrius Marketplace Inc., describes the place as "A non-competitive learning community, where artists grow fast, shoulder-to-shoulder, and THRIVE", and the homepage sums up the offer in one line: "Your path. Your pace. Your budget." It is a learner product for painters and other fine artists who want guidance and feedback from master artists, with options running from a free trial of weekly events up to one-on-one mentorship.

The site sets out four ways in: mentorship (in a small group or one-on-one), live workshops, weekly events and on-demand courses. Everything runs online, and the homepage keeps repeating that it all happens "from the comfort of your studio". The footer puts the idea in a sentence: Mastrius "helps motivated artists accelerate their journey by combining live interactive mentorship with trusted community."

Small-group mentorship

Small-group mentorship is the program the homepage leads with, and the one that makes Mastrius a cohort product as much as a course catalog. Each group pairs 3-10 artists with a Master Artist Mentor, and the site gives four reasons to join one. It is affordable, because the entire group shares the cost of the mentor. You work with a master artist and get personalized teaching, feedback and homework. You gain peer-to-peer support and friendship from the other members. And it stays small and personal; the homepage promises "You'll never feel lost in the shuffle."

The site presents mentorship as the step for artists who want to go deeper and grow faster than workshops and courses allow: "guidance, teaching, and support that responds to you", your work, your goals and your creative questions. Mentors named on the homepage include Cameron Schmitz and David Langevin, both described as Master Artist Mentors, and a testimonial comes from an emerging artist working with Aimee Erickson. A success story quoted on the homepage gives the flavor: "Now, I know that I'm doing the right things in the right order."

One-on-one mentorship

For artists who want every session to be about their own work, Mastrius offers one-on-one mentorship, which the homepage labels "Premium": one-on-one and face-to-face with a Master Artist, and "The most personalized experience available for fast growth." It promises teaching, support, encouragement and accountability "for your path, at your pace." A testimonial from Stacie Craig, an emerging artist, reads "Mastrius art mentorship is life changing" and adds "I've made more progress than I ever thought possible."

Live workshops

Workshops sit between the courses and mentorship. The homepage contrasts watching pre-recorded videos and tutorials, which "can spark ideas", with a live workshop for the moment you are ready to "sharpen a specific skill or solve a creative challenge". Each workshop is an interactive session led by a master artist, built on focused teaching and live demonstrations aimed at the exact area you want to improve. An artist working with Aimee Erickson is quoted on the homepage: "It's inspiring, encouraging, and very educational." Many of these workshops later become on-demand courses, labeled on the course page as a recording of a live workshop.

Weekly events and the free trial

Weekly events are the entry point. The homepage calls them the "EASY FIRST STEP into the community" for artists not yet ready for mentorship, and offers a one-month free trial. The events cover demos, webinars, critiques, panel discussions, painting challenges, interviews and real-time Q&As, with Master Artists teaching and a community of artists who are, in the site's words, "growing right alongside you." The aim, as the homepage frames it, is fresh inspiration, practical guidance and a reason to keep showing up for your art. A testimonial from Dusti Gomery, an accomplished artist, says Mastrius offered "a place where I could share my art" without fear of judgment, and that "it's had a profound impact on me as an artist." The site's menu also lists a free membership alongside the paid programs.

On-demand courses

The on-demand catalog is the self-paced part of Mastrius: master-led, pre-recorded courses you can pause, rewind and revisit, with lengths on the course page running from 45 minutes to 15 hours. Painting technique dominates. Lorraine Watry's Realistic Watercolor Glass Still Life runs 15 hours, Dave Santillanes' Capturing the Atmosphere 14 hours, and Ann Willsie's Impressionistic Florals and Victor Wang's Titian's Glazing Technique 12 hours each. Larry Moore's Principles of Abstraction runs 10 hours. Michael Solovyev teaches Portrait in Watercolor and Seascape and Waves in Watercolor at 9 hours each, Manon Sander teaches Gouache on the Go in 6 hours, and Deborah Tilby teaches Paint Atmospheric Skies in Oil and Snowy Landscapes at 4 hours each.

Shorter courses deal with composition, value and light. Pat Fiorello teaches Design and Composition for Artists and The Power of Value at 1 hour each, Mitchell Albala's 5 Core Practices of Composition takes 2 hours, and David Langevin teaches Mastering Light & Color in 2.5 hours and 3D Texture with Acrylics in 45 minutes. Samantha Williams-Chapelsky's Abstracting the Natural Landscape runs 5.25 hours, Sharon Lynn Williams spends 2.25 hours on simplifying reference photos to tell one story, and Eileen Murphy's Tonalism and Tree Techniques takes 2 hours.

Digital tools and the business side have their own courses. Jessica Oliveras teaches Photoshop for Fine Artists in 8 hours. Kristen Palana teaches AI-Driven Innovation in the Art Studio (2 hours), AI for Artists: From Curiosity to Creative Systems (4 hours), Slow Art Meets Smart Tech (1 hour) and Find your collectors & increase sales (5 hours). Jeffrey Boutin teaches Start Selling The Art You Love! in 2.5 hours, and Laureen Marchand covers Artist-Generated Exhibitions in 2 hours. The course page says the business material covers marketing strategies, gallery representation and how to sell solo, and that the pre-recorded courses include built-in activities and prompts to keep them interactive.

Access, terms and discounts

A course purchase gives one year of unlimited access to the course recording through the Mastrius platform. The terms say the recording "shall not be downloaded, rebroadcast, duplicated, or shared", that buying it "does not entitle purchaser to personal access to the instructor(s)", and that "All purchases are final, and no refunds will be issued." On registration you receive a welcome email with a link to log in to your course.

Registrants are placed in a private MastriusChat group, an online discussion feed where they connect with and support each other. The group is also where the session recordings live, along with a link to join course sessions and a library the instructor uses to share resources.

None of the pages show prices for courses, workshops or mentorship. They do give one discount: high school, university and college students get 20% off any course, set against the non-member price, by emailing the company to enroll in its Student Program.

Instructors

The course page says "Mastrius has the highest criteria for instructors, in the industry" and calls its teachers "Master and Professional Artists". Professional artists can apply to mentor or to offer an on-demand course of their own. Course testimonials single out Kristen Palana as "passionate about her topic and a skilled instructor", and say David Langevin shares a great deal "in a friendly, open manner".

Who it suits

Mastrius suits painters and other fine artists who want feedback from a working master artist and a group of peers rather than learning alone. The small groups suit artists who want personal teaching and homework at a shared cost, while one-on-one mentorship suits those who want every session spent on their own work. The weekly events, with their one-month free trial, give a low-risk way to see whether the community fits. The on-demand catalog suits artists with busy schedules, who get a full year with each recording, and students can take 20% off with the student discount.

The catalog leans toward traditional painting media such as oil, watercolor, gouache and acrylics, with a smaller set of courses on Photoshop, AI tools and selling art. Artists who want to keep a course for good should note that recordings stay on the platform for one year and cannot be downloaded, and the no-refund rule on on-demand purchases is worth reading before buying.