Online Painting Course

This lesson will start by discussing some common obstacles to painting and then provide practical guidelines to those with a limited experience and budget. We will then define painting, explain why it is relevant as a art medium today and introduce the different genres of painting.

In this lesson, we will discuss the essential tools, materials, mediums and space that you will need for a simple painting work space and why a small range of tools is better than an large one. We will then teach you some essential art vocabulary and how this can help you to appreciate almost any artwork.

In this lesson, you will start still life artwork! We will do this by understanding and drawing geometric forms with the help of a still life template provided by the educator. Other skills covered will be understanding overlap, proportion, distortion and perspective and how to use a reference image.

In this lesson, you will discover how lighting is essential to a still life artwork. We will then add tone to artwork to unify and dramatise your still life.

In this lesson, you will learn how to add different colours to your still life and how to choose colours that go well together. In order to do this we will discuss the essentials of colour theory. You will also learn how to mix colour using a limited amount of paint tubes.

In this lesson, you will learn how give your still life a believable and smooth look by blending different areas of colours. You will also learn how to paint more confidently as you build layers from thin to thick.

In this lesson, you will take the colours of your still life to the next level. This will be achieved through the technique of 'pushing and pulling' colours: either making colours more vibrant or dull, or varying paint application between thick and thin.

In this lesson, you will learn how to create a realistic, finished look to your still life painting through the use of various finishing techniques.

This lesson will introduce you to the popular genre of landscape painting. We will discuss the guidelines for good composition, including how to use the rule of thirds and the theory of angles. We'll finish off by putting our theory into practice by creating some compositional sketches.

This lesson will introduce you to practice of plein air painting — painting outdoors! We will capture this experience by using watercolour paint, which will require some discussion about the specific technique and materials you will need to finish your plein air painting.

Let's get outdoors again and explore different locations for shooting photographic reference! We will look at how to use dynamics of lighting, atmosphere and weather to your advantage as well as how to do post-production photo editing.

Let's go big! In this lesson, you will explore the advantages of working at large scale, and also what techniques and tools work best when painting at this size.

While it might seem easy to start a big painting, it requires perseverance and planning when it comes to finishing it. Join the course educator as you take on this challenge together.

In this lesson, you will study the subtleties of cloudscape painting and learn how to use atmospheric techniques such as scumbling.

This lesson is all about thinking outside of the box! Contemporary art offers a wide variety of approaches to landscape painting, giving you the opportunity to experiment with a new unique style.

In this lesson, the course educator will take you through the process of executing a contemporary style landscape painting.

From the beginning of time, people have created images of themselves! In this lesson we will zoom in to head-and-shoulders portrait and discover why this is widely considered the most powerful type of portrait.

They say you never forget a face! Remember that every face has a unique personality and variety of shapes that requires careful observation! Starting with an accurate underdrawing, you will paint and finish your own close-up portrait!

Forget about lifeless stick-men, it's time to get some movement and proportion into your drawing! In this lesson, you will cover all of the techniques necessary to create life-like full-length sketches.

It's time to do your own full-length portrait photo shoot! In this lesson, you will experiment with different ways of creating interest and mood as you move onto full-length portraiture.

Keep going! In this lesson, you will increase paint application using blending, and apply the final touches to your full-length portrait.

It's time for Fauvist fever! In this lesson, you will learn how to use wild and unexpected colour in portraits.

What are portrait artists up to nowadays? You will explore contemporary approaches to portraiture as well conceptualise your final project.

Finish with a bang as you complete your contemporary portrait painting.

This lesson is all about simplicity, straight edges and exact lines — 'less is more'. This seems opposite to the idea of personal expression, but this lesson will show you how to make this style personal and powerful!

Get ready for some serious fragmentation! Cubism is about playing with space and breaking the rules of perspective. The result is off-beat but interesting.

There are few things as strange as the style of Surrealism. Don't let its dream-like playfulness fool you — this is a technically precise and exact style!

Let's break away from describing forms and dive into the world of swirling emotion and abstract painting! We will discuss the logic and technique behind this seemingly illogical style.

In this lesson, you will explore the paradox of finding beauty within the mechanical style of Photorealism.

Get ready for flat lines, bold colour and cartoonish characters! This lesson will explore how to appropriate mainstream culture in painting as we reference the style of pop art and lowbrow.

Post-modernism is all about breaking out of the 'ism' and picking and choosing your own combination of styles - in other words fusion! Get your groove on as you conceptualise your final painting.

End with a bang as you finish your post-modern painting.