The Best Painting Lessons

Thursday, February 9th

2023 Painting Lesson Reviews

Virtual Art Academy

• Apprentice program starting at $79/month
• Mobile device-friendly
• Live lessons
• Collegiate-level instruction
• Free tips and videos

Virtual Art Academy is an online art school that offers the equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost. It promises collegiate-level education without the price tag. Offering eBooks, assignments, video lessons, and an integrated online campus, the program is designed to provide a comprehensive, classical approach to art for $79 per month for their flagship "Apprentice" program and $199 per month for the continuous "Learning Spiral" .

Good for both beginners and advanced students

This program isn't one-size-fits-all. If you are an advanced student, you can study lessons one Building Block at a time, picking and choosing areas you want to develop. However, beginner students or those looking for a more structured approach can follow a sequence of 16 monthly workshops which contain lessons from several Building Blocks at once.

Apprentice program

After signing up for the Apprentice program, you'll receive a new painting workshop each month (16 workshops in total). You'll also get instant access to 350 structured assignments to help develop your skills in the 9 building blocks of painting curriculum (more on that later).For beginners, there's a Foundation Workshop that covers the basics of painting. Plus, you get an app that allows you to follow discussions and chat with fellow students. Taken together, this simulates a college-level course, right down to the student interaction.

9 building blocks of painting

The nine building blocks of painting curriculum, included in the Apprentice program, are necessary to paint well. They follow a more classical, collegiate style of learning, and are covered through the 350 assignments you have instant access to after joining the program. The 9 building blocks include:

• Drawing - learn basic techniques such as gesture, contour, and mass, and advanced topics such as horizon lines, perspective center, and vanishing points.
• Form - learn how to make things look three-dimensional. Topics such as light/shade, selecting a viewpoint, and reflected light are covered.
• Color - creates excitement in your painting. Includes both basic and advanced principles.
• Composition - the key to successful painting. This is what will keep the viewer's attention.
• Brushwork - this is the difference between a painting and a photograph. Includes topics such as thickness, texture, and glazes.
• Notan - the arrangement of dark and light shapes. Almost every successful painting has a strong notan structure.
• Observation - learn how to "see" the color instead of trying to "paint" the color. Focus skills in three areas - values, color, and atmospheric perspective.
• Concept - communicate emotion and feeling with your painting. Learn why certain paintings are considered masterpieces.
• Process and Materials - learn the step-by-step mechanical procedures of creating a painting. This building block is specific to oils, acrylics, and watercolors.

Continuous learning with the Spiral

In addition to the Apprentice Program, the Virtual Art Academy also offers the Spiral of Learning membership. This offers a continuous learning program that helps you improve foundational skills and painting quality as you grow into your creativity. Students who use the Spiral have won awards, been featured in galleries, and gone on to be professional artists.

Spiral of Learning benefits

The Spiral of Learning is offered on a subscription plan like the Apprentice Plan and offers additional benefits like:

• Access to Zoom lessons in the Spiral of Learning series
• Access to a monthly art challenge
• 48 Master analyses
• Free monthly eBook download

Free tips

If you're thinking that $79 a month sounds a little steep, you might want to check out the free content at the Virtual Art Academy first. The instructor, Barry John Raybould, has collected some of his video tutorials from social media and offers them in a convenient "Free Tips" area to give you an idea of the level of instruction you will get when you subscribe.

Cancel at any time

If you're afraid of being locked into a long-term contract with monthly payments, don't be. At Virtual Art Academy, you're free to cancel your subscription at any time. Try that at a 4-year college or university.

Leads the pack

Virtual Art Academy offers lessons that take the traditional art school experience and make it affordable for everyone. Where most art school tuition is a minimum of $3,000 per semester, Raybould offers his courses at a starting price of $79/month. If you're serious about taking up painting, and want to learn it the right way, there's no better painting lessons program than Virtual Art Academy.

The Virtual Instructor

• $19 a month or $97 a year
• 7-day free trial
• Live lessons offered
• Critiques to help you grow as an artist
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Started in 2009 by Matt Fussell, The Virtual Instructor is a website that hosts video lessons for art students. Currently teaching students all over the world, The Virtual Instructor has helped more than 23,000 with its membership program which includes live lessons, video lessons, ebooks, opportunities for art critiques, and resources for students and teachers alike. At a very reasonable price of $19 per month (and they sometimes offer sales prices) The Virtual Instructor stands out in our reviews.

Vast collection of video lessons

The Virtual Instructor offers a vast collection of video lessons. As Matt is a student-focused teacher, the content is broken up into manageable pieces that build on one another as you go. The lessons aim to explain everything in detail and don't assume that you have any prior knowledge. However, even if you're not a beginner you can learn something from revising the basics, or you can move on to the more advanced content.

Choose your class

At this membership price point, you won't feel bad for picking and choosing what you want to get out of your art education. If you're looking for something specific, The Virtual Instructor offers lessons in:

• Drawing basics
• Graphite
• Colored pencils
• Pen and ink
• Acrylics
• Pastels
• Watercolor
• Oils
• Mixed media

So, whether you're looking for painting only or to pick up a collection of new art skills, The Virtual Instructor has an option for you.

In-person touch at a distance

The Virtual Instructor doesn't just leave you to learn on your own. Each week there are optional live sessions where you can attend real-time lectures. The live lessons are streamed from Matt's studio and offer opportunities for class discussion, questions about the art, and the ability to watch and follow along with that week's project. Each class lists the recommended materials so if you do want to participate instead of watch you know exactly what you need in advance. And, if you can't make it, there's no pressure. You can always review live sessions later. They're all recorded and saved for you.

Opportunities for growth

One of the things a lot of students feel they miss out on from a traditional art education is the critique of instructors. However, The Virtual Instructor offers a special page just for critiques. You can submit your work for critique on The Member's Minute, get your own work critiqued and help others by critiquing their work. Each week a new video episode is released with artwork critiques so you can review them for tips and tricks beyond your particular art submission.

Trial run

If you're not sure about jumping into The Virtual Instructor's membership right away, that's okay. They offer a couple options for you to try their teaching style before you commit. On top of a 7-day free trial, they also offer a 30-day money back guarantee once you start paying. If you don't like what you're learning in the first month, you can walk away with no questions asked.

Free videos to try before you buy

If that still sounds like too much commitment, hop on over to their blog page where Matt offers a series of free videos that you can use to begin working with different art forms or test out his teaching style. For free content, they offer extremely comprehensive tutorials that can have you painting still life oranges by the end of the video.

What can you expect with your subscription?

Your subscription provides you access to a wealth of information. Specifically, you'll receive:

• Access to over 1,000 logically sequenced, downloadable videos in HD
• Lesson plans including presentation materials, handouts, videos, and more
• Illustrated ebooks (available for print) with over 1,000 pages to reference while watching the video courses
• Weekly live streamed lessons where members can ask live questions. These videos can be saved and referred to later
• The ability to submit your art for critique and learn from the critiques of others

Top-tier virtual instruction

We can't say enough good things about The Virtual Instructor. From its student-focused design to the low monthly price, these painting lessons are an excellent way to get a mix of live and distance learning options as well as a comprehensive look at different styles of art. The Virtual Instructor is a great option for the beginning or advanced artist.

Artist's Academy

• $7 per month or $69 per year
• 30-day full refund
• Free trial option
• Video lessons
• Community included
• Works with smartTV streaming

Artist's Academy is an online resource for visual art lessons. They offer video guides and tutorials that range from basic art instruction up to advanced techniques. The online learning community is built for new and established artists who want to focus on painting and drawing, helping you find your creative inspiration and your unique approach to art.

Extraordinary price for a priceless art education

Artist's Academy is a membership-based learning system. You can subscribe on a monthly basis for $7 a month or save a little money by choosing the option to be billed annually for $69 per year. With your membership you get a range of learning benefits, including:

• Unlimited access to exclusive painting and drawing lessons and articles
• Painting and drawing tips and techniques from talented art instructors
• Video streaming available on mobile devices, tablets, or desktop computers
• Special discounts on video downloads, classes, and more in the Shop

Single purchase classes available

If you don't feel like subscribing monthly, Artist's Academy also offers single-purchase classes in their shop. This is great if you only want to learn one or two things. As noted above, you still have to pay for these even if you subscribe, but you can get them cheaper.

Try it before you buy

Artist's Academy isn't all about the cash. They also offer a range of free learning videos that go over some of the very basics of painting and drawing like "Portrait Drawing: Photos vs. Models" and even more advanced techniques like "Varnishing an oil painting" , which can give you an idea of what their teaching style is like before you subscribe. And the best part? These can all be streamed to your TV or smart device, making sure that you can take art school with you anywhere you are.

What you'll learn with Artist's Academy

The curriculum is as important as the pricing. Artist's Academy breaks their learning modules into three categories: Skills & Techniques, Subject, and Tools & Materials. Across these categories the lesson materials cover key subjects in any painting program. These include:

• Color mixing
• Drawing techniques
• Painting techniques
• Starting methods
• Landscapes
• Portraits
• Sketchbooks
• Sill life and florals
• Drawing materials
• Painting materials

Connect with the art community

With clear instructions and five highly-educated and prizewinning artists as your teachers, you'll never be confused about what you need to succeed. Alongside the curriculum you get access to the art community of Artist's Academy. You're encouraged to connect with teachers and fellow artists on social media, ask questions, share your work, and seek out support from people who know exactly where you're at.

Great price, great choice

Artist's Academy is an amazing deal, and we definitely recommend it. With a low price, no requirement to commit, and a comprehensive lesson plan for new and experienced artists, the quality of Artist's Academy is clear. However, without a live lesson component, Artist's Academy has to come in second to our first-place winner, but only just. The flexibility of their video training and art community make Artist's Academy our second-place pick among painting lessons.

Learn & Master

• $249 single purchase
• CD and DVD lessons
• Student support site
• 60-day money-back guarantee

Taught by master artist Gayle Levee, the Learn & Master Painting program offers DVD lessons along with music CDs to teach oil and acrylic painting. With a multimodal approach, Learn & Master offers a comprehensive lesson plan. The 20 instructional DVDs, 3 Music CDs, and lesson books are supplemented with access to their online student support site. However, many modern students will look at this package and find it woefully outdated, especially with free resources for lessons and music available across the internet.

What's your art style?

Topics and styles are important to deciding on painting lessons. Learn & Master offers lessons not just on painting techniques but also color theory, brushstrokes, and perspective. On top of techniques, Learn & Master Painting also offers work in multiple styles, so you aren't limited to just one era of painting.

What do you get?

With Learn & Master you can expect to see:

• Alla Prima: the process of painting directly on the priming of the canvas with no underpainting
• Impressionism: painting the impression of an object with bright colors and implied light
• Chiaroscuro: blending light, mid, and dark tones to create roundness
• Realism: lifelike painting
• Impasto Painting: thick heavy paint application with a palette knife
• Scumbling: painting semi-transparent colors over others
• Wet into Wet: applying new wet paint onto an already wet area

Secure and student-focused

Learn & Master does offer some security if you feel like the instruction quality is worth trying. If you get the CD and DVD lessons and realize they don't work with your technology or your lifestyle, Learn & Master offers a 60-day money-back guarantee for the lessons. They offer free access to customer support and student discussion boards if you have questions or worries during your learning. This on top of the student community shows that Learn & Master does care about their students.

Happy students make better art

Learn & Master has testimonials from students across the world who are happy with the quality of the painting lessons. Some students noted that they were worried about the DVD format, but found the style of instruction from Gayle Levee provided an easy learning environment even without being there live. Almost all customer reviews agree that instructions with Learn & Master are clear and precise and helped the student's progress with their painting technique.

Excellent instruction, even with the outdated delivery

Overall, we can see that Learn & Master offers a comprehensive program, but with rivals selling modern options for streaming and multi-device viewing, these video lessons and CDs for art music feel outdated. However, with Learn & Master's highly-reviewed teacher and focus on multiple techniques, this can be a great way to build your painting repertoire if you have the tech to make it work for you.

Painting Lessons with Marla

• $40 per month or $395 per year
• Workshops for specialized lessons
• Free email lessons
• Lessons that focus on pastel art

Developed by professional artist Marla Baggetta, an art instructor for over 30 years, Painting Lessons with Marla offers lessons in pastels, oils, and acrylics and explores a variety of quality art supplies. With her website Marla works to create the best possible art lessons. She offers video lessons, critiques, guided assignments, PDFs of lessons, and access to a community of like-minded artists.

Monthly pastel painting online

Advertised as Marla's "flagship offering," the monthly lessons focus entirely on pastels. While Marla herself is an award-winning artist in the medium, there aren't any other styles offered in the main lesson to develop other kinds of painting. The course is designed for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners.

What you can expect

Now in its fourth year of production, the lessons are divided into monthly sessions with new lessons regularly scheduled. The monthly subscription includes:

• New Sessions Each Month
• Hundreds of Hours of Video
• Step-by-Step Demos
• Detailed PDFs
• Members Only Facebook Group
• Exclusive Offers

Painting paywall

While the instructions are comprehensive, it's important to note that not all packages are the same. If you choose to subscribe monthly, you get access to only four sessions each month, although you do get access to the "Nocturne" sessions right away. If you want full access to all the course material you have to choose the annual plan. However, on the bright side, subscribers get $20 off workshops.

Free creativity

If you're looking for free content, Painting Lessons with Marla has a few free lesson options. Marla offers free livestreams and mini-lessons sent to your email. These include:

• Pastel Painting
• Watercolors
• Acrylics
• Oil Painting
• Sketching
• Free Livestreams

So, if you don't want to commit to the heavy price tag of her subscription, there are some lessons with Marla for you. All you have to do is sign up with your email.

Workshop your artwork

One of the best features of Painting Lessons with Marla is the masterclass offerings. Each class offers hours of lesson content focused on a particular topic. These can be as simple as techniques all the way up to specialized lessons on painting animals. On their own these workshops are almost $70 a piece, so the $20 off from subscribing can really make a difference if you want to get into a particular topic. Otherwise the workshops are a little steep, so it's important to consider how many of those you would want to take.

Really professional, but too expensive.

While Marla and her technical offerings are fairly impressive, the price is steep compared to the other options on our list. With fewer lessons that come with the actual subscription, less free content, and a lot more paywalls if you don't want to pay full price, Painting Lessons with Marla isn't the best deal. However, we recommend you take a peek at her free content if you don't mind an email subscription.

Take Lessons

• Free search engine to find teachers in your area
• Filter results by price
• In person and online options
• Safety features include background checks

Take Lessons isn't a painting course itself; however, the database is a great place to start looking for the best painting teacher for you. Divided into private lessons, group lessons, and video lessons, Take Lessons offers a streamlined way to sift through different teachers and artists to start your painting journey. You can search for particular painting styles or discover what's out there in a generalized painting search.

Art in person and online

Since this is a search engine, it's limited only by the number of teachers who are part of the database. Take Lessons is a great way to find a painting teacher in your area if you're looking for something in-person instead of virtual. Some options even offer teachers who will come directly to your home to teach you painting in the comfort of your home art studio.

Security for your creativity

One of the best features of Take Lessons is that it takes security seriously. Take Lessons ensures that you know which teachers have completed and passed a background check before you even get to the part where you pay. Take Lessons also allows teachers to put up photos and videos of themselves and their lessons so you know exactly who you're looking for if you meet up.

Student-focused

The focus of the site is to provide an easy way for students to connect with instructors. The reviews for Take Lessons reflect just that. Student reviewers are thrilled with the safety features and the search engines that allow you to find exactly what you need for an art teacher. It doesn't cost anything to join, and you only pay when you book with a particular teacher.

Amazing database, but doesn't offer lessons itself

If you're looking for a course that's ready to go, Take Lessons isn't the site for you. However, as a database for online, in person, and in your home lessons this website is amazing. With all the different teachers on here you can specialize in one style of painting or explore them all.

My Painting Club

• $20 per month
• 150+ lessons
• Monthly workshops
• Options to purchase individual lessons
• 7-day free trial

My Painting Club is run by New Zealander Richard Robinson to offer art students top-quality painting lessons. The lesson collection provides over 150 complete videos with new lessons added regularly to the curriculum. Everything with My Painting Club is inclusive, so once you subscribe for $20 a month there aren't any more paywalls. The only drawback? There isn't a lot of style variety with My Painting Club.

Lesson materials

At My Painting Club, every lesson comes with resources. Some of these include:

• Photos
• Tips and tricks
• A professional self-critique system
• Printable and downloadable lesson
• Student critiques for you to learn from

On top of these in-lesson resources, Robinson also provides ebooks including his own textbooks: the Painter's Handbook, Robinson's Hawaii, Robinson's Queenstown, California Painting and The Complete Artist's Success Guide.

Monthly workshops

One of the most exciting parts about My Painting Club is the monthly online group workshop. This workshop is a part of the membership, and five student paintings from each monthly workshop get critiqued by the instructor. But you have to be quick: spots in these workshops disappear quickly. However, if you're willing to pay a little extra you (or you and a friend) can get a private lesson with Robinson. The only catch: each lesson costs $350.

Take it home with you, literally

If the in-home instruction wasn't exciting enough for you, My Painting Club also offers the opportunity to buy some of Richard Robinson's artwork from the demonstration videos. On top of your education you can join international collectors by bringing home a Robinson from your favorite lesson demonstration. And, after a year of subscription you get a free print of Richard Robinson' s favorite work to hang in your home, just for being a member.

Some parts are unique, but stylistically limited

While there are some cool things about learning from a working artist, My Painting Club doesn't hit the mark like some of the other painting lessons on our list. While the monthly workshops are unique and bring something live to an otherwise asynchronous learning environment, the price is higher than many rival options, and you only get to learn one style: Robinson's. However, if you're interested in his teaching style, you can try it out for seven days at no cost. We recommend that you take advantage of that before committing to these painting lessons.

Udemy

• Database for finding online classes
• Options to personalize the best fit for you
• One-time purchase
• Multiple course options
• Get a certificate of completion from courses

Udemy provides a place to start looking for online and video courses if you don't know where to start. However, it's important to note that this is a database and not an actual course. This database is similar to Take Lessons (another option in our review), but with fewer lessons to choose from. Udemy's painting courses often provide less than ten hours of content for high prices. Udemy doesn't stand out next to our other options which are more comprehensive.

Hundreds of options

Painting is a pretty popular subject on Udemy. The database lists over 300 different painting course options with watercolor painting offering the most options across the site. Interestingly, all of the courses offer a certificate of completion along with the program. There are several styles available on Udemy including:

• Watercolor
• Acrylic
• Oil
• Abstract
• Digital

Select what you need, remove what you don't

One of the nice things about database sites are the ways you can limit criteria to find the best painting course for you. There are courses geared toward every skill level, and you can limit your searches to what you need most. You can also limit painting lesson searches by ratings, features, and video duration, to best fit your learning style.

Great sales, but expensive full price

While Udemy is a nice place to try out small courses, you have to keep an eye on the price. At the time of this review most of the courses cost about $16-$20 each; however, they were all on sale from an original price of $70-$90. It's not clear how long and how often these sale prices are available, so keep an eye on Udemy and catch them when they're on sale, and you could get a great deal on an online course.

Not bad for a first search, but we've seen better

There's nothing bad about Udemy, it just doesn't stand out. There are over 300 options for courses, so it's a great first search, but compared to other fully realized courses and databases on our list Udemy isn't our favorite. But, if you can grab a good sale, it might be worth the low price to check out a quick online class.