Wish to begin your painting journey without ever feeling intimidated by the paints and colors?
Want to enjoy the painting process and exceed your expectations of yourself as an artist?
Well, if yes, you can enroll in a watercolor training painting course and grab the needed skills. So, how do you find the best online watercolor course for yourself?
Our team of experts did their research and found eleven of the top courses on the internet. This guide will address these courses one by one.
Best Online Watercolor Classes
- BEST SELLER Beginners Watercolor. Get clear on the BASICS – [Udemy]
- Paint Realistic Watercolor and Botanicals – STUDIO BASICS
- Watercolor Painting For Beginners | By Award Winning Artist – [Udemy]
- Foundations for Mastering Watercolor Painting – [Udemy]
- Beginners Watercolor Techniques with Geoff Hutchins – [Udemy]
- The Watercolor Workshop – [Udemy]
Bonus Courses
- Online Watercolor Painting courses – [Domestika]
- Online Watercolor Painting Classes – [Skillshare]
- Watercolour Jumpstart: Free Course – [Angela Fehr]
- Watercolor workshop – [Watercolorworkshop.com]
- Getting Started with Watercolor & Gouache Paints – [CreativeLive]
11 Expert-Led Watercolor Classes for Different Levels
1. BEST SELLER Beginners Watercolor. Get clear on the BASICS – [Udemy]
| Rating | 4.6 |
| Enrolled | 20,376 students |
| Duration | 4 hours of on-demand video |
| Instructor | Nicola A Blakemore |
| Paid | Yes |
| Certification | Yes |
| Return or refund policy | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee |
| Cons | The instructor does get a little repetitive with a few things, which can be off-putting for some students. |
Ranked at the top of our list is this online watercolor course, which has been a constant Udemy bestseller for over a decade.
A great thing about this course is that you will learn through play, which makes the whole thing interesting. Broadly, the course will instill in you the motivation and the skill to pick up the paint from the box, put it on the brush, and reflect it onto the paper.
In this course, you will learn to paint the apple in three different ways to escape the traditional method you learned as a child.
Learning Outcomes
These best online watercolor classes will teach you an array of things. Some of them are:
- Knowing how watercolor paints work with water, so you know how to use them effectively
- Understanding and knowing the color wash principle
- Learning how the washes layers from the same color can give a shape and a shading effect.
- Knowing how to watercolor paint in a 3D object.
- Creating shadows and highlights in watercolor paints
- Gaining confidence to paint
- Knowing the art of watercolor mixing
Prerequisites
Some prerequisites to take this online watercolor course are:
- Black ink pen or felt tip
- Crayons, 2B pencil, and eraser
- A clear or white wax candle
- A round paintbrush(7 to 10 size)
- Absorbent kitchen paper
- Some watercolor paper – 300g or 140 lbs is the best
- Box of water watercolor paints
- Two jam jars to hold water – One to clean brush and second to mix colors
Further, you must have faith in your teacher and learn with an open mind.
Who should take this course?
This Udemy watercolor class will benefit:
- Anyone who aspires to learn to paint with watercolor paints
- Those with the gear but lacking the know-how
- Anyone with a knack for painting but needs more refinement
- Anyone who aspires to explore their creativity with watercolors
- Someone who feels intimidated by paints and believes they are never going to be good enough.
- Anyone who needs something to soothe their stress levels
- Anyone who would like to get better at painting
However, this online watercolor course will not benefit someone who has already been painting and working with watercolors for a while. Also, someone who wants a formal learning environment will not appreciate these online watercolor classes enough.
2. Paint Realistic Watercolor and Botanicals – STUDIO BASICS
| Rating | 4.6 |
| Enrolled | 14,069 students |
| Duration | 3 hours of on-demand video |
| Instructor | Heidi Willis |
| Paid | Yes |
| Certification | Yes |
| Return or refund policy | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee |
| Cons | This is a beginner’s course. So, anyone with even little knowledge or experience may not find this course useful. |
Next on our list of best online watercolor courses is this foundation course. This course is presented to you by a competent, experienced, and well-trained tutor. The course teaches you where you must start as a beginner and things to improve if you already have some experience in the field.
Further, if you are not sure whether watercolor is your thing or not, this course will help you discover that. It is an informative tutorial where you learn by doing. Overall, you will find many tips, hints, and insights on everything you ought to know in this painting class.
This course comprises two exercise levels that have been exquisitely designed to familiarize you with the prevalent watercolor techniques required for realistic watercolors and botanicals.
Moreover, this comprehensive course helps you get on the right foot to keep growing further and further. In this course, you will find three hours of rich content to enable you to get started in this medium.
Learning Outcomes
These online watercolor classes will teach you:
- How to get started on the right foot
- Understanding the materials, studio sound, and technique basics required to produce a realistic botanical and watercolor painting.
- Learning about the materials you must invest in to produce an excellent painting, so you do not waste money on the wrong things.
- Learning to better your environment, approaches, and results of your work
- Feeling confident in yourself by acquiring the requisite information
- Preparing for subsequent, hands-on tutorials
Prerequisites
This is a beginner-friendly Udemy watercolor class. So, there are no prerequisites to take this class.
Who should take this course?
These online watercolor classes will benefit:
- Someone with an interest in watercolors
- Anyone who enjoys realistic painting and natural subjects
- People who enjoy painting in watercolors
- People with some background in painting, wishing to expand their knowledge
- Anyone who has doubts about water coloring
3. Watercolor Painting For Beginners | By Award Winning Artist – [Udemy]
| Rating | 4.6 |
| Enrolled | 17,340 students |
| Duration | 4.5 hours of on-demand video |
| Instructor | Broderick Wong |
| Paid | Yes |
| Certification | Yes |
| Return or refund policy | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee |
| Cons | The instructor should try to make the content more compact and meaningful. |
It is a bestseller course. These are the best online watercolor classes because they do not use the age-old boring lectures. In this course, the instructor tries to teach from a beginner learner’s point of you.
They have broken down their lectures into laser-focused lessons, wherein you precisely learn what you should learn to move on to the next level. In this class, you learn, sans feeling the information overload.
With a fine amalgam of theory and practice, this hands-on course gives you a fundamental essence of things in a very straightforward and easy-to-understand language. All the materials are well thought out, and straightforward, sans any fluff.
What’s more? All the videos in the class are shot in HD. So you will see over the headshots of the whole set and the close-up shots of color mixing with clear and crisp audio of the speaker. This will give you a breakthrough learning experience.
Learning Outcomes
This is one of the best online watercolor courses and will teach you:
- Essentials of painting before you learn the basics
- Knowing how watercolor behaves
- Understanding how much water is adequate
- Learning how to get the lighter/darker shade with the colors
- Painting new activities, sans any repetitive drills
- Mastering basic watercolor techniques
- You’ll learn to avoid washed-out paintings with these online watercolor classes too
- Avoiding overworked or patchy paintings
- Painting land animals and sea animals
- Preparing the puddles
- Doing a wash the right way
- Blending the washes with one color
- Making smooth and gradual blends
- Mixing the washes with two colors
- Painting in details
- Painting shadows without getting muddy
- Adding more features to your painting
- Layering or glazing to make your paintings glow
- Paint without feeling it to be a task
- Utilizing masking techniques
- Painting elements, such as grass, wood, trees, and leaves
- Handling the brush to make simplistic textures
- Mixing different colors
- Painting backgrounds
- Knowing which element to paint first, next, and last
- Mixing more colors with a perfect blend
- Using just three pigments
- Knowing about watercolors theoretically
- Common mistakes people make and tips to avoid them
Prerequisites
Some prerequisites associated with this online watercolor course are:
- Desire and willingness to learn new things
- Computer to take the class
- Cost-effective but good materials that can be decent for use in class
Are these the best online watercolor classes for you?
This Udemy watercolor class will benefit:
- Someone who has tried painting beforehand but needs a little more guidance
- Anyone who seeks a fresh approach to painting
- Those with absolutely zero art background
- Anyone who aspires to learn something new
- Someone with watercolor supplies wants to use them
- Anyone who has always had a desire to learn painting but has never dared to paint
- Anyone who needs some freshness in life
- Someone looking for a break from career goals
- Anyone older than 25
4. Foundations for Mastering Watercolor Painting – [Udemy]
| Rating | 4.7 |
| Enrolled | 9,428 students |
| Duration | 3.5 hours of on-demand video |
| Instructor | Jill Poyerd |
| Paid | Yes |
| Certification | Yes |
| Return or refund policy | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee |
| Cons | Unfortunately, the course does not teach the fundamental techniques of painting but instead focuses on the history of the materials. Therefore, it implies that this is not a hands-on course. |
For a good watercolor painting, you must know about the painting’s surface, water, and pigment. This course will teach you just that. The course is designed to provide you with an in-depth insight into the properties of every material used in the watercolor painting process.
Having this knowledge makes it easier for beginners and experienced painters to perfect their skills and solve a potential problem. However, please know, that these are not hands-on painting online watercolor classes.
Instead, it is a lecture-based course that has the information you will not find elsewhere.
Learning Outcomes
In this online watercolor course, you will learn:
- Watercolor techniques to streamline the process of painting
- Learning what watercolor paint is and how it is unique
- Knowing how a particular paint will perform on the pigment property
- Understanding the role of water in the water media painting process
- Appreciating the importance of surface texture
- Knowing the proper structure for painting
- Learning the difference between different brush materials
- Problem-solving, if something goes amiss in the painting process
- Developing your unique artistic voice
Prerequisites
As such, there are no prerequisites to take this course.
Who should take this course?
These online watercolor classes are ideal for:
- New and experienced painters
- The contemporary painters will learn the techniques that will help them in the art
- Professional painters will develop a deeper insight into the art
5. Beginners Watercolor Techniques with Geoff Hutchins – [Udemy]
| Rating | 4.7 |
| Enrolled | 5,130 students |
| Duration | 3.5 hours of on-demand video |
| Instructor | Geoff Hutchins |
| Paid | Yes |
| Certification | Yes |
| Return or refund policy | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee |
| Cons | Some aspects of the class are not detailed. The instructor should have paid more attention to it. |
In this online watercolor course, the expert artist Geoff Hutchins will guide you with the drill of painting. All of this is imparted via ten exercises, and each of them is filmed in real time.
In the first five exercises of this Udemy watercolor class, you will demonstrate elements, such as skies and trees, and in the subsequent exercises, you will learn the drill to produce a complete painting.
Across the course, Geoff will take you through the step-by-step process to help you understand the painting drill.
An incredible thing about these online watercolor classes for beginners is that it comes with no risk. If you do not like what you get, you can reach out to Udemy and get your full money back. This painting course also has ensured that the supply requirement is kept to a minimum.
This is good to ensure that beginners do not have to spend a fortune to take the course. This is a hugely organized course, wherein every lecture contains a list of paint colors and brushes you will use at the start of the course.
So, once you are done with the course, you will be given exercises to assess what you have learned.
Learning Outcomes
Some things you will learn in these online watercolor classes are:
- Several valuable techniques to produce excellent watercolor paintings
- Basics of texture, detailing, composition, and perspective
- Brush, paint, and paper types
- Selecting the best supplies for your watercolor painting
- Knowing the drill to paint skies, trees, boats, buildings, and a lot more
Prerequisites
These are beginner-friendly best online watercolor classes. So, you need no prior experience to take this course. Once you take this course, you will be well-equipped to complete a watercolor painting from start to finish with absolute confidence.
You may need some details on the materials and the tools used before starting with the course. The same can be found on the PDF that comes with the course.
Who should take this online watercolor course?
This course will benefit anyone who desires to paint their first painting at home. So, anyone who wishes to learn painting will benefit from the course.
6. The Watercolor Workshop – [Udemy]
| Rating | 4.5 |
| Enrolled | 6,785 students |
| Duration | 4.5 hours of on-demand video |
| Instructor | Matthew Fussell |
| Paid | Yes |
| Certification | Yes |
| Return or refund policy | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee |
| Cons | The video playback has multiple issues. |
The instructor will commence the course with the fundamentals of painting and gradually explain more complex subjects and concepts in this course.
In the course, you will find 19 modules, which are sequenced together logically. Hence, every module will be a build-up of the previous module.
Across these online watercolor classes, several different techniques, concepts, subjects, and forms of watercolor are discussed. In addition, the course comprises 18 illustrated ebooks.
Learning Outcomes
A few things to learn in this online watercolor course are:
- Picking the right materials for your painting, including the surfaces, brushes, and forms of paints
- Applying the color theory to your watercolor paintings – dry on wet, wet on wet, wet on dry, painting with a sponge, using salt, and more
- Mixing colors from different pigments
- Aesthetic compositional strategies
- Application of the different techniques in painting
- Arranging successful compositions
- Mixing skin tones
- Creating light and shadow effects in painting
- Image Transfer
- Understanding the difference between pan or cake watercolors
- Painting portraits with confidence
- Painting cityscapes and landscapes with confidence
- Transferring the images to painting surfaces
- Applying watercolor pencils with proven techniques
- Mixing related media with watercolors
- Applying gouache or opaque watercolor painting techniques with proven techniques
- Developing contrasting backgrounds
Prerequisites
These online watercolor classes for beginners and intermediate-level students need no prior experience or knowledge. You will be taught whatever that is to know in this course. However, for this course, you do need:
- Watercolor pencils
- Watercolor paints
- Paper
- Brushes
Who should take this course?
This is one of the best online watercolor courses for intermediate and beginner learners who wish to better or explore different painting techniques. However, advanced learners will not find the course helpful. For them, it might be quite elementary.
Bonus Courses
1. Online Watercolor Painting courses – [Domestika]
On Domestika, you can find a plethora of watercolor classes. There are going to be courses for every skill level and experience. You can check out the available courses on their platform and pick one that appeals to your expertise and interest.
Do not forget to read the offerings of the course before enrolling for the same.
A few of the best online watercolor classes that appealed to us are:
- Modern Watercolor Techniques
- Architectural Sketching with Watercolor and Ink
- Exploratory Sketchbook: Find Your Drawing Style
You might also like these online drawing classes too.
2. Online Watercolor Painting Classes – [Skillshare]
Skillshare, too, has an array of classes to choose from. You can take a look at their available classes, segregate them based on duration, popularity, paid/free, and skill level, and then pick one of the best online watercolor courses, that works well for you.
A few of the classes that you can check out are:
- Anyone Can Watercolor: The Basics for Creating Magical Pieces
- Painting Fruits & Florals in Watercolor with a Modern Twist
- Negative Watercolor Painting in Procreate
- 30-Day Watercolor Challenge: Let’s Celebrate World Watercolor Month
- Watercolor in the Woods: A Beginner’s Guide to Painting the Natural World
- Learn to Paint Botanical Watercolors with a Modern Twist
- Organic Expressive Florals With Watercolor and Ink
3. Watercolour Jumpstart: Free Course – [Angela Fehr]
In all honesty, the art of painting can feel a bit overwhelming, regardless of how good your instructor is or how well they demonstrate things. At times, you may feel like you understand it all so well, but you feel all lost when you get to it.
If that’s what you have been experiencing, you are not alone. Even great artists feel lost sometimes. If that is the trouble you have been facing, this is one of the best online watercolor classes for you. It is a free course, which provides you with the necessary encouragement and direction in your painting journey.
Learning Outcomes
A few things covered in this online watercolor course are:
- Fundamental watercolor techniques
- Understanding wet-on-dry and wet-on-wet techniques
- Working with photo references
- Negative paintings
- Planning a composition
- Landscape painting
- Floral painting
- Complete list of materials and supplies
- Reference photos so you can paint with the tutor
Here are some online illustration courses that you should check out.
4. Watercolor workshop – [Watercolorworkshop.com]
In this online watercolor course, you get more than 30 instant videos to learn the art of painting with watercolors. With the step-by-step tutorial videos, you will grow as you go along.
Prerequisites
You can follow along in class and learn as you go. There is no prior experience needed.
Learning Outcomes
In this one of the best online watercolor classes, you will learn the following:
- Wet on Wet Techniques
- Find out what different supplies and tools you need
- Ink & Wash Style
- Shading & Light
- Making Patterns
- Water Usage Tips
- Painting Exercises
- Wet on Dry Techniques
- Splattering & Lifting Techniques
- Color Palette Creation
- Digitizing Your Paint Work
- Masking Techniques
- Layering
5. Getting Started with Watercolor & Gouache Paints – [CreativeLive]
Now, we have arrived at the last online watercolor course. Do you wish to work with watercolor and/or gouache paint but do not know how to begin with it? Well, your instructor at CreativeLive, Mary Jane Begin, is here to help you.
16.6K students have availed of this class, and each one of them had a positive thing to say about it. It is a brief course comprising 2 hours and 37 minutes of class content and 13 Video lessons in HD.
Whatever resources you get with this course come with lifetime access. The course is accessible on mobile and desktop. You can even download and view the course offline. It can be synced across iPads and iPhones, too. More so, the instructor assures a 100% satisfaction guarantee on the course.
Learning Outcomes
- Motivation to pick a brush and start painting
- Knowledge of different gouache paints and watercolors available in the market
- Which brushes or paper to use when painting
Who should take this course?
This is one of the best online watercolor classes for beginners who need a medium to begin their painting journey.
Conclusion
So, these are the eleven best online watercolor courses. Across this guide, we have attempted to present wholesome information on these courses. However, if you seek additional information on any course, you can browse the linked website and find further details.
Long story short, regardless of the online watercolor classes you pick, you will not regret your selection as these are all the best courses. Happy painting!
