Elaina Moore-Kelly
Elaina Moore-Kelly
Elaina lives in sunny SouthWest Florida (although if she had the option, she would probably move to the mountains of North Carolina. “All I need to do is to win the lottery!” ). After spending 15 years at IBM she never expected to have a computer in her own home, but in 1997 her husband decided he wanted to be “plugged in” and he bought a MacIntosh with a whopping 32 megabytes of RAM. He finally convinced Elaina to give it a try and she was immediately hooked, but soon got tired of sharing, so she bought a PC for herself and got a free version of PrintMaster with it. Her interest in computer graphics continued to grow…and then in 2005, she learned about Digital Art and the exciting world of Corel Painter!
Having dabbled in art from time to time for many years but often being annoyed by the necessity of “having to clean brushes” Elaina had finally discovered the perfect medium. After taking several classes on how to use Painter, she realized she had discovered the perfect vehicle for her artistic ambitions. She began using the program to draw and paint from scratch, and at last was able to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming an “artiste”. You may view some of Elaina’s digital paintings here: Elaina’s Gallery
Eventually, in 2008, she began teaching beginner students how to use Corel Painter, and has continued to do so ever since. Currently all of her classes are set up for Open Enrollment which means you may enroll at any time from January 1 through October 15 of the current year. Each class consists of four lessons in PDF format, and includes learning materials and an occasional supplemental video. (Students are given a full six weeks to complete each class.)
The lessons start from the absolute basics of the program and continue through a level of knowledge which will give the student the confidence to take any of the more advanced classes offered at DAA. Students are given full instructor support via a private class forum, and many of Elaina’s students have gone on from the basic beginner classes to the more advanced painting classes and have become digital artists in their own right, many of them surpassing their instructor. 
Elaina has had the honor and privilege of being a Beta tester for the past three versions of Corel® Painter™, Corel® Painter™ X, Corel® Painter™ 11, and Corel’s newest version, Corel® Painter™ 12. She maintains a blog where she posts on a semi-regular basis about current changes and/or updates to the program and upcoming classes here at the Digital Art Academy.
Elaina gains enormous satisfaction from teaching. In her own words, “The best part about teaching people how to use Painter is that sudden “Aha” moment, when all becomes clear, and the student is able to use that new knowledge to create something wonderful and soul-satisfying. This makes the time and work invested totally worthwhile.”