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The Best Painting Lessons

Where Can You Find the Best Online Painting Lessons?

Do you love looking at art? Do you wish that you had the skills to put a brush to canvas and explore your creative side? Or do you want to take what you know about art and express it in a new medium? Fortunately there are lots of options for new and experienced painters to learn techniques online.

Painting is a popular art style for the creatively inclined. Over 55% of all craft enthusiasts take part in painting or drawing as a pastime. While it can be a little pricey to get into painting, there are ways to make painting work for you, depending on what kind of paints and brushes you use. Plus, researchers agree that painting is a great way to improve your overall mental health through better memory and reduced stress. So, you're not just bringing some color into your life, you're improving your health at the same time.

Tuesday, March 19th

2024 Painting Lesson Reviews

Virtual Art Academy Review Top Consumer Reviews Best-In-Class Blue Ribbon Award 5 Star Rating

Virtual Art Academy

5 Star Rating Top Consumer Reviews Best-In-Class Blue Ribbon Award

Virtual Art Academy may seem expensive at first glance (starting from $79 per month), but when you compare the collegiate-level instruction here to average tuition costs elsewhere, Visual Art Academy is an amazing deal. Plus, you're not locked into any long-term program - you can cancel at any time. This is the best option for someone looking to jump into painting and get a complete education.

The Virtual Instructor Review 4.5 Star Rating

The Virtual Instructor

4.5 Star Rating

The Virtual Instructor offers a top-tier art education option for everyone. The $19 a month price is amazing considering all the content you get. The instructor, Matt Fussell, focuses heavily on student satisfaction and offers a range of free and paid content to further all aspects of your art education, earning this program very high marks in our review of online painting lessons.

Artist's Academy Review 4.5 Star Rating

Artist's Academy

4.5 Star Rating

Artist's Academy is a top-notch online resource for visual art lessons. With their beginner to advanced video lessons, low prices, and online community built to support you, they have an amazing package for a low monthly cost. Artist's Academy comes in second only because it doesn't offer live lessons along with the asynchronous learning.

Learn & Master Review 4 Star Rating

Learn & Master

4 Star Rating

Learn & Master Painting offers a solid curriculum, even though the execution is outdated. This is a great option for learning from home, but even with top-notch instructors, these materials rely on DVD and CD players, which many modern students don't have access to. Check out this program if you want a solid foundation with old-school delivery and you prefer not to learn to paint online.

Painting Lessons with Marla Review 3.5 Star Rating

Painting Lessons with Marla

3.5 Star Rating

Painting Lessons with Marla is a pastel-focused painting program that is for all skill levels. However, the $40 per month price tag is a steeper than average monthly price and you still don't get all the content unless you commit to a yearly subscription. The free content might be worth a glance, though, if you don't mind an email subscription.

Take Lessons Review 3.5 Star Rating

Take Lessons

3.5 Star Rating

Take Lessons is a great, safe database to start searching for painting lessons. The database is growing and lets you search for particular prices, locations, or even teachers willing to come to your home if you're looking for painting lessons that are more personal. You'll need to use a different resource for online instruction you can start today, but consider Take Lessons for discovering painting lessons near you.

My Painting Club Review 3 Star Rating

My Painting Club

3 Star Rating

A solo-run painting program, My Painting Club is a video-based lesson style. Offering over 150 individual classes and live masterclasses, this is a unique option, but it's a little overpriced for what you get. If you want to learn any style other than the instructor's, you might want to look somewhere else.

Udemy Review 2.5 Star Rating

Udemy

2.5 Star Rating

Udemy is an online learning database for a variety of courses. If you're looking for a way to take various virtual lessons, painting is one of the many options they offer. However, with occasionally high prices and shorter courses than the competition, Udemy falls short compared with the other painting lessons on our list.

Compare the Best Reviews

Continued from above...

With so many different styles like watercolor, oils, and acrylic, there are tons of lesson options to get started with painting. Painting is such a personal experience, it can be hard to decide what's the best fit for your brush.

Whether you're looking for something for the beginner artist or for an enhancement to your current art training, we've got all the best options here.

So, how do you choose the best painting lessons for your needs? If you're not sure where to start, here are some factors that can help you decide which direction to go:

  • Art style: Are you looking to learn a particular style of painting or do you want a more general art education? Do you mind if your teacher only uses one style?
  • Price: How much are you looking to spend on your art education? Do you prefer lessons priced as a hobby, or do you want to spend serious cash for an accredited education?
  • Modality: Does in-person or online make a huge difference in your learning style? Do you prefer the freedom of video lessons, or the personal touch of a live masterclass? Do you need a course that offers a blend of both?
  • Instruction type: Are you looking for something laid back and open or a more rigorous education? Do you want something freeform and go-with-the-flow or a heavy focus on classical art styles?
  • All-inclusive: What are you getting when you pay or subscribe? Do you want to pick and choose your content, or pay one time for something that comes all in one package for the price?

To help you find the right option to exercise your creativity, Top Consumer Reviews has evaluated and ranked today's most popular painting lessons. We hope these will make it easy to choose the best painting lessons so you can start getting in touch with your creativity right away!

The Best Painting Lessons Compare Painting Lessons Compare Painting Lesson Reviews What are the best Painting Lessons Best Painting Lesson Reviews

Painting Lesson FAQ

When you sign up for an online painting class, you'll usually receive downloadable videos that have a series of lessons to watch. You'll get step-by-step guidance from a master painter. Depending on the type of painting you're interested in learning, you'll be instructed in all the techniques that you'll need to know to improve your painting skills. Some classes also offer an eBook with helpful tips you can always refer to, as well as the option to submit your artwork for critique.
Taking painting lessons online is just like being in-person, except you can pause, play, and rewatch anything you're learning. You'll have your own papers, brushes, and paints at home to work with and you'll follow along with what you see in the class to create your own artwork. The idea is that you can create your own masterpieces from home on your own time and not have to find a local studio to go to.
Most classes have downloadable videos that can be viewed from nearly any electronic device. If you're using a smartphone, iPad, tablet, or computer, you should have no problem viewing your painting lessons. Some older courses have you buy DVDs that ship to your home, so you might watch those on your laptop or TV. In short, you can plan on being able to access your painting class from anywhere at any time since they are more accessible than ever now!
Any and all! You could select a paint class that specifically teaches a paint medium you're interested in like acrylics or watercolor. The other option would be to find a class that touches on a little bit of everything so you can dip your toes in the water and decide what you like best. Online learning is so popular now that you can find painting lessons that cover all mediums, topics, and techniques with just a few clicks.
Compared to the cost of doing in-person painting classes, online courses are fairly inexpensive. Not only are you avoiding driving to an art studio at scheduled times during the week, you also can spend as long as you want learning from your online class without worrying about the cost. Some companies offer online courses on a subscription basis and you pay month-to-month, or you can purchase the class outright and have it forever.
If you have a question about the class itself, you should always be able to reach out to customer service and get answers that way. If you're wanting help with your painting, we suggest choosing a course that offers live Q&A sessions, the chance to submit your artwork for critique, or video chatting with an instructor. Although online painting courses are done remotely, there are still many ways you can connect with other students and teachers as you learn.
The beauty of an online painting class is that you can start, stop, and rewatch any parts of the lesson. You don't have to "keep up" like you would in a face-to-face class. You can master techniques by watching them over and over again and take as long as you want to finish the whole lesson. Online paint classes are 100% flexible and can be done around your schedule.
Not all online painting platforms allow you to get your money back if you're unsatisfied. If you're unsure if a painting course is right for you, it would be wise to choose one that offers a trial period or money-back guarantee if the class isn't as you'd hoped. Companies want customers to be happy with what they're offering, so if you don't want to use your painting class anymore, you'll likely be able to cancel your subscription or get a refund within the first few weeks.
The Best Reviews of Painting Lessons