Drawing & Painting Course: Beginners

Learn drawing and painting skills with our drawing courses and painting courses in Sydney!

Discover an enriching daytime course offering a comprehensive introduction to observation-based drawing and acrylic painting. Your course fee covers artist-quality acrylic paint, brushes, palettes, and canvas paper. To participate, bring either an A3 pad, an A3 spiral sketch pad or 4 sheets of A3-size cartridge paper per session, along with a lead pencil (B3 to B6 range) and a regular white rectangular eraser.

This course is designed to deliver a clear and well-structured initiation into observation-based drawing, with a focus on honing skills in rendering three-dimensional objects on paper. Initially, students will acquire essential techniques for analysing and drawing various shapes and angles from our studio sets (still life), followed by instruction in colour mixing and acrylic paint handling.

Not sure if committing to the entire 8-week course is right for you? No worries! Contact customer service to explore enrolling in the 4-week option. If you decide to continue, simply reach out to us, and we'll help you to continue with the Drawing and Painting 8-week Introduction course, where you'll delve deeper into the subjects covered in the initial 4 weeks.

By the end of the course, you'll have gained practical foundational skills and approaches to drawing and painting, empowering you to tackle independent projects at home or pursue further classes requiring prior experience.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, you will have explored concepts and techniques such as:

• Develop the ability to observe and accurately draw three-dimensional objects, shapes, and angles.
• Learn essential pencil and charcoal techniques to create effective lines, shading, and tonal values.
• Gain confidence in mixing and applying acrylic paints to achieve a broad range of colours.
• Practice brushwork, palette knife use, and other skills for handling acrylic paints effectively.
• Build foundational skills to create independent drawings and paintings or progress to further courses.

Course content

During the course, participants will work with techniques and ideas such as:

• Drawing from observation using a variety of drawing techniques
• Use of pencil and charcoal to create line and tone
• Painting using acrylic paint on paper, learning to mix and match a broad range of colours from a simple base set
• Paint handling, brushwork, palette knife use, etc.

The learning will be experienced step by step, with an emphasis from the tutor on meeting the learning needs of every individual. You will be informed and encouraged every step of the way.

Intended audience

Who is this drawing and painting course for?

This course is for absolute beginners. Anyone looking to learn drawing and painting basics in a structured and dynamic way would benefit from this course.

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

• A3 spiral-bound sketchbook
• 2B pencil
• 2x medium charcoal sticks
• eraser and pencil sharpener
• 2-3 cloth rags (eg, old tea towel, sheet, etc, cut to 30cm squares)
• Your tutor will advise you in class if any other materials are needed throughout the course

We provide acrylic paints, brushes, plus one sheet of canvas paper per session.

Additional information

Please note the following

• Closed-in shoes required
• Please wear old clothes
• Long hair must be tied back
• Content may vary slightly depending on class pace, participant interests, and instructor approach.