The Best Places to Learn Watercolor Painting

Where to find watercolor courses

Below you can find easy watercolor painting tutorials and tips for free along with places to find subscriptions for courses.

Typically fine art programs require watercolor painting courses, or general painting courses like Painting 1 and Painting 2 as foundational training. In order to find these courses, the reality used to be that you had to enroll in a course through a college or university as part of a program. You could also attend a private art school with expensive tuition and have the option of taking the course. Painting skills were popular before the advent of computers and illustrators used ink, watercolor, and other mediums to create commercial art.

Online Watercolor Courses

Today, you can learn watercolor painting online without ever stepping foot into a classroom. Thanks to the internet there are many options. Some enjoy courses through Skillshare or Udemy, although anyone can upload a course through their platform. I have found several courses on each platform from exceptional creators. However, these creators may not have experience working as teachers and will each have different approaches to teaching the subject they present. This is another reason why I take a look at content published through Youtube and find artists I want to learn from there. Then I’ll enroll in their courses independent directly through the creators website. I also diversify the different types of courses I enroll in. I pick specific subjects I want to learn such as botanical art, illustration techniques, and marketing for artists, based on where I am at professionally. These few examples show topics I’ve been interested in throughout the years.

This summarizes the various places you can find watercolor courses. Some online universities will provide illustration programs. For example, I enrolled in a Children’s Book Illustration program through UC San Diego. The program was entirely online and it was exceptional. I got a lot of theory out of the courses and fundamentals. Youtube can also provide you with a lot of free resources. A simple search will reveal videos on all of the techniques you need to learn. However, if you need a roadmap for learning watercolors, you can begin with my Youtube playlist for beginners here, or follow the articles on my blog in the left sidebar here.

1. Skillshare

2. Udemy

3. Community colleges

4. Online universities

5. Youtube

6. DVD’s at your local art store (you can find these at your local art store).

7. Art books at your local book store

In Person Watercolor Learning

There are many other places to learn watercolor painting today such as community programs. For in person learning, you can find a lecturer through the community they participate in. For instance, I located a botanical art society in my area and then sourced courses from their website. Thankfully the internet has opened up opportunities, so students do not have to attend expensive art schools to learn how to paint. The local botanical art society has a lot of resources for learning to professionally illustrate from people currently working in the field. I think it’s important to diversify.

1. Art societies

2. Facebook groups for watercolor painting

3. Art Community Groups

The different styles of watercolor painting approach technique differently depending on the country, culture, and tools you will be using. Chinese watercolor painting approaches painting with a different theoretical framework. It’s important to remember communities will help you to learn more about the approach and the way of thinking behind watercolor painting. Doing research on communities will help you select an instructor or course that fits your style of learning and learning goals.

Additionally, many art courses assume you already have basic art skills as a foundation. If you take a course with a master painter, you will need to be prepared for the course to not tackle beginner questions. Often these courses are highly specific and geared around learning a specific theory. I took a course years ago just on the idea of learning painting light. Another course I enrolled in with a dutch artist, focused on still lifes of food and specifically oil painting techniques.

Find a community to grow with. I created one for watercolor beginners here.

The community on Gab grows every day as new artists join and share their work. The group also has a mix of ability, style, and experience. There are a lot of advanced artists to bounce ideas for composition off of, and a lot of beginners who are looking to learn from others. This mixture of experience and ability will help you to find where you are and what you need to learn.

Courses

Watercolor Beginners Course

If you’re still looking for a walkthrough of the basics of traditional watercolor painting, you can also enroll in my beginner watercolor course here. The course launched in March and comes with an optional starter kit. You can purchase the course here.

You can also start with my free video playlist of easy watercolor painting tutorials.