Painting Course for Beginners

What you'll learn

Unleash your inner artist with our painting short courses in Sydney!

Ready to tap into your creativity and learn how to paint? This fun and practical Painting for Beginners course at Sydney Community College is the perfect place to start your artistic journey.

In this course, you’ll choose to work in either acrylics or oil paints – whichever medium you’re most curious about or comfortable using. With guidance from professional artists, you’ll learn step-by-step how to use your chosen materials confidently, from the very first brushstroke to your final artwork.

Whether you're completely new to painting or returning after a break, you’ll enjoy a supportive environment where you can build your skills, experiment with techniques, and discover your own painting style.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this painting for beginners course, you should have:

Acquired a basic painting ability
Practised recognising and organising a good composition
An understanding of tone
Experience with colour mixing and ability to perceive and name warm/cool, transparent/opaque colours

Course content

What will be covered in this painting course?

Observation of still life to make representational imagery
Composition and formatting
Colour theory
Palette layout
Types of paints, mediums and brushes
Types of application and support
Setting a painting out from start to finish

Intended audience

Who is this painting course for?

These art classes are ideal for absolute beginners who want to learn to paint in a fun and relaxed environment or experienced students who want to brush up on their skills.

Course venue

Rozelle Campus

2A Gordon Street, Rozelle NSW 2039 (corner of Gordon St & Victoria Rd in the grounds of St. Joseph's Church)

Course materials

What to bring to class

Option 1: Purchase a full materials kit at enrolment checkout (select oil or acrylic paints). This will be supplied at your first class.

Option 2: Uncheck the materials kits at enrolment checkout and bring your own - consult the Painting Course for Beginners Materials List.

Additional information

Please note the following:

Closed-in shoes required
Please wear old clothes
Long hair must be tied back

Course testimonials

Kate said: Ellie is simply a fantastic teacher... supportive but instructive when evaluating our progress, gives individual time to every student and still seems to have time over. I have attended 3 classes with her and each class she manages to create a warm inviting atmosphere between the participants.
Lily said: I thought this was a really great intro class. I felt like we had enough time in four sessions to explore painting, while also picking up some tips and tricks to give us confidence. Ellie was really enthusiastic and kind.
Lana said: A wonderful experience. The teaching was excellent. Very encouraging and time spent with each student. I would highly recommend.
Glenda said: I enjoyed the tutor's interaction and teaching. She was excellent. Also the small class size. I also appreciated the materials kit as it's time consuming to purchase all the materials. Enjoyed seeing other people's work.
Rosalia said: Great course, group and good teacher - very personable, patient and knowledgeable. Thank you, Ellie for the wonderful experience. Hope to do another course with you in the near future.

Course tutors

Elinor Pickard

Elinor Pickard is a practising artist and a painter with drawing at the centre of her practice. She has a BA Visual Arts and Grad Dip from Sydney College of the Arts. Elinor also went on to...

View Elinor Pickard's profile

Classes Online Courses

Painting Course for Beginners

Mon 14 Jul 2025 - Mon 4 Aug 2025

4 sessions, 10 hours total

6:30pm - 9pm (UTC+10:00) (first session)

2A Gordon St, Rozelle

Elinor Pickard

Materials kit can be purchased at checkout - or uncheck it to bring your own.

When	Time	Where
Mon 14 Jul 2025	6:30pm - 9pm	A1-3: Visual Arts - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Mon 21 Jul 2025	6:30pm - 9pm	A1-3: Visual Arts - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Mon 28 Jul 2025	6:30pm - 9pm	A1-3: Visual Arts - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Mon 4 Aug 2025	6:30pm - 9pm	A1-3: Visual Arts - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle

If there isn't a class to suit you, please join our waitlist and we will notify you when we have places available. Join waitlist for Painting Course for Beginners