Artist Makenzy Beard who sells art for £23k gets first painting lesson

A teenage artist who has already sold works for £23,000 has just passed another milestone – her first ever painting lesson.

Makenzy Beard, 17, made waves back in 2020 when a portrait she painted of her neighbour went viral on social media.

The painting went on to appear at The Royal Academy of Arts, a prestigious London gallery.

She said she had learned “some quite important habits” after the lesson and was determined to continue refining her work.

“I’ve learned a little bit more about impressionism – so, not trying to make everything so realistic all the time, which I find difficult,” she said.

“Up until now, I’ve taught everything myself – just what feels right, what I find easier, watching YouTube videos and stuff like that. I got to a point where I felt like I wasn’t improving anymore.

“So, I went on this course and if I’m honest, I found it so difficult.

“I still had freedom and I could do what I wanted, but there were some things I was told… there is sort of a right and wrong way to do things, or at least, that’s how to make it easier for yourself further down the line.”

Ms Beard first took up painting canvases during lockdown in March 2020, using her mum’s old paints from the comfort of a leaky garden shed.

At the age of just 14 she launched her career as an artist, with her work now being sold to fans across the globe.

Art enthusiasts in the Middle East, the US and the UK have expressed interest in her work.

Her recent exhibition at Blackwater Gallery in Cardiff included ten original artworks as well as a collection of six prints.

The originals attracted buyers paying up to £23,000 for her work.

Since then, Ms Beard has sought to develop her art further – she joined Millfield boarding school on an art and hockey scholarship in 2023, and began painting lessons to help develop her style and technique.

“I’ve picked up some weird little things, like understanding that it’s better to use longer brushes when you want to paint something more freely,” she said.

“These are things you would completely overlook had you not been told to do that.

“I’ve never understood colour theory or anything – I just did whatever I fancied, but it’s helped me to understand that.

“How to mute things down, and more technical things that I was maybe doing intuitively to begin with. It helped me to understand what I was already doing and then making that better.”

As well as improving her own technique, Ms Beard wants to help other young artists develop their craft.

She has donated three paintings to a charity auction taking place on 28 February at the Atkinson Gallery in Street, Somerset.

The pieces will raise money for Millfield’s Discover Brilliance campaign – the very scholarship Ms Beard received to help her on her own artistic path.

“I really want other young people to be given the same opportunity I was, and so this is going to be my way of giving back,” she said.

“I’m in a very fortunate position to be able to go to such a good school, and I wouldn’t have been able to go had I not been financially supported.

“That’s not a reason I want someone else to not reach their full potential.”