Painting Course for Beginners

What you'll learn

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

Have you been wanting to express yourself by learning a new creative skill? Are you looking for art classes in Sydney? Then this painting course for beginners is for you! Maybe you have never painted before, or you are looking to refresh your skills and knowledge. With this course, you will take home real painting experience and creative skills that will last you a lifetime.

You will gain knowledge about the different painting mediums, tools and applications. Our experienced tutors provide you with well-structured lessons and a series of exercises. You will learn how to paint from still life, self-portrait and more while you develop your style and creative potential.

You may choose to paint either in acrylics or oil. The material list has been kept simple, so you can upgrade materials as the course progresses if you wish.

This painting course for beginners is designed to be ongoing, with students encouraged to re-enrol as many times as they like to continue learning to paint. Your tutor will structure each session to suit all levels of experience in the group.

Learning outcomes

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

Acquired a basic painting ability
Practised recognizing and organizing 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

Ni said: It was structured, but individual. The tutor was excellent - really helpful and insightful, good at demonstrating techniques but also coaching us to use them.
Marin said: I went to enjoy myself and I did.
Loretta said: The most encouraging teacher I’ve met. Learned so much each class from Elinor and I’m coming back.
Shel said: Eleanor is a good tutor. She taught us color, composition and different painting techniques. I finished a painting within 3 weeks and learnt a lot! Thank you!
Jackeline said: Gained the confidence to get started and keep going. I wish I received a little more theory up front about how to work with oil paints, cleaning techniques, brush stroke technique etc... Overall, a good course

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 3 Feb 2025 - Mon 24 Feb 2025

4 sessions, 10 hours total

6:30pm - 9pm (UTC+11:00) (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 3 Feb 2025	6:30pm - 9pm	A1-3: Visual Arts - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Mon 10 Feb 2025	6:30pm - 9pm	A1-3: Visual Arts - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Mon 17 Feb 2025	6:30pm - 9pm	A1-3: Visual Arts - 2A Gordon St, Rozelle
Mon 24 Feb 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