Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change – it can not only move us, it makes us move. -Ossie Davis
Can you live a day without art? Even if you are not quite an artist, art is actually embedded in your daily life. From the clothes we wear to the handphones we carry every day, art is present.
Naturally, humans have always been attracted to beauty. We constantly seek beauty, we work hard to create beauty and we are often amazed by the wide range of beauty. Whether it is a breathtaking sunset, a beautiful oil painting on the wall or a beaming portrait painting.
In this article, we will be looking at several ways to kickstart your painting learning journey via different platforms to take your passion for art to the next level.
Getting Started From The Basics
It is easy to feel discouraged when you think your drawing and painting skills are not on par with the “artists” in your class. You know, the ones that always win the first prize in any painting competition and the ones whose artworks are often passed around in the class as the best reference?
While it appears that some people tend to have natural artistic abilities, everyone can learn to paint and draw as well as subsequently improve as time goes by. Nobody sets out to be a painter right from the beginning without realising their interest and competence in painting. Oftentimes, it even takes years to realise your true potential. Even the famous Dutch painter, Vincent Van Gough practised perfecting his skill after completing his basic art education.
Photo by El Swaggy on Unsplash
Having said that, art and painting classes will teach you the basics of oil painting techniques, acrylic painting techniques and drawing techniques, mixing colours, perspective, and shadows, as well as some still-life painting skills.
As soon as you have mastered basic painting techniques and painting with different kinds of brushes, you will be the next one to produce a watercolour or oil painting masterpiece!
Taking Painting Lessons through an Art Club or Association
We get that self-learning is not for everyone, especially if you are an absolute newbie when it comes to painting. It is normal to be concerned about your learning progress, learning scope, cost of lessons as well as which painting tutor to go to.
Continue reading to see how you can overcome these factors.
Cost of long-term painting lessons
Do you know that in 2020, Calama Desert, a painting piece by local acclaimed artist, Datuk Ibrahim Hussein was sold for RM918,400?
You may be taken aback by the art and painting industry after hearing of expensive paintings being sold locally and internationally. The truth behind this phenomenon proves that art has always been regarded with high value and even serves as a long-term investment.
Whether you are learning painting as a hobby or you intend to turn this passion of yours into a full-time career, there’s always a place for you for your first lesson or advanced lesson.
In fact, there are many community painting clubs, associations and organisations that organise beginners' painting courses at very affordable prices. That way, you won't have to allocate a huge sum from your budget if you want to take oil painting and acrylic paint lessons from the beginners, intermediate or even advanced classes.
Without further ado, here are a few advantages of learning to paint at an association near you:
1. Affordability
Many painting and art galleries/associations provide long-term comprehensive painting classes on a monthly basis. For example, Senso Art Gallery organises 4 painting lessons per month (Duration is 1 hour and 30 minutes) at RM280.
Most art-based organisations also allow the students to pay solely for use of the facilities and just bring their unfinished artwork with them. Do look out for concessionary prices for senior citizens and students too.
2. Learning Environment
You can’t deny that the overall vibe in a small group community painting class is usually more relaxed than in an art school! The core purpose of these painting classes or workshops is to offer a supportive and conducive creating environment. Students and instructors are not tied to a fixed syllabus and are fixated on a specific grade. As such, there is also less intimidation and comparison between the learners during the lessons.
Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash
3. Flexible Learning And Pace
You’ll be surprised that many art organisations and clubs require their students to bring their own incomplete artwork and personal projects with them to class. Students are allowed to start on a wide range of projects using a variety of art materials, such as coloured crayons, watercolours, oils, pastels or paints. You won’t miss out on anything.
Granted that every student is allowed to paint whatever they want, you can also exchange ideas between yourself without worrying about wasting each other’s time. Furthermore, a smaller group class also means that your painting instructor can devote more time to each student individually and give them direct feedback on their painting techniques and suggestions on how to improve consistently.
Painting Lessons or Short Painting Courses Online
If you are a homebody who appears to be tech-savvy, you might want to try out online painting lessons or enrol in several online painting courses.
Finding a painting teacher online can be a hassle when you don’t know where to choose from. We get it, we are constantly bombarded with an endless list of adverts online. However, with the right amount of research and painting tutoring platform identification, you’ll be in good hands.
Let’s get the ball rolling by looking at how to kickstart your first online painting lesson.
Start by listing down the most important elements that you're looking for in your painting lessons.
- Know which level you’re starting from
You could be starting as a beginner, or you could be continuing your painting lessons after a short hiatus. Once you know which level you’re targeting, the following steps will come by easily.
- Industrial experiences and qualifications of the tutor
Are you looking for a painting tutor who is currently working at an art academy or are you looking for an artist who has their own personal studio? It’s important to know what kind of tutor you’re looking for as it could also affect the overall cost and teaching direction of your painting lessons.
- Size of the class
Even though you are opting for online painting lessons, there are art instructors who teach in groups of three or five. If you are more comfortable learning alone, be sure to verify and confirm with the tutor that is a one-to-one painting lesson from the very beginning.
When you’re the only student, you’ll certainly receive undivided attention and face minimal distraction during your lessons.
- Specialisation of painting lessons
Given that there are many types of painting techniques, it’s best to choose one that you’re most interested in. Some of the painting lessons that are offered online are working with gouache or watercolour paints, oil painting, Chinese painting, acrylic painting and many more.
Photo by Marina Yalanska on Unsplash
- Availability and response time of the tutor
This is often an underrated quality when you’re looking for a private tutor. (And it applies to any subject you’re learning). At the end of the day, we don’t want to learn from a tutor who randomly “ghosts” you randomly and replies nonchalantly and super late especially when you are communicating about important schedules and matters.
- Budget
You can’t avoid money talks when you are learning a specific subject online. Set a feasible budget and be clear about your maximum budget (hourly rate) before saying yes to the tutor.
Also, we got good news for you too! There’s a super tutoring platform that can help you to find your desired painting tutor that matches all your preferences according to the above criteria.
Finding a Superprof Art/Painting Tutor
Introducing to you a one-stop global tutoring platform- Superprof!
At Superprof, we have more than 11798 painting tutors from all over Malaysia and some abroad to provide you with the best online painting and art lessons. This platform is really both student-friendly and tutor-friendly as it is so easy to use and most of our tutors offer the first lesson or hour for free (regardless of the subject that they are teaching).
Thinking of it as taking a trial lesson with the first lesson. It serves as a great way of making sure you are a good fit with the tutor and if the tutoring direction will meet your expectations.
All you need to do is go through the tutors’ profiles and review their tutoring experience, qualification, teaching methodology, hourly rates as well as past students’ reviews before deciding to contact them for the next step.
Interested in starting Side Hustle In Art Education? Become A Superprof Tutor In These Simple Steps
Instead of looking for online lessons, you can also be an online tutor at Superprof.
You can become a Superprof in three simple steps.
Step 1: Create your tutoring ad for free (Your basic information and latest ID photo)
Step 2: Describe your terms in terms of your preferred teaching mode, teaching schedule, offered subjects, hourly rate per lesson etc)
Step 3: As soon as your tutoring ad is approved, it will be published on the Superprof Malaysia homepage following the subject that you have stated. Interested students will be able to view your details and contact you directly via your profile.
With Superprof, learning and tutoring have never been so easy!
Is It Necessary To Enrol In An Art School To Be A Professional Painter?
If you are currently in your final year of secondary education and deeply passionate about painting and art, you’ve probably asked yourself this question many times.
Technically, the standard route for a painting-related tertiary studies programme in Malaysia is to pursue a diploma/degree in fine art.
It is undeniable that there’s no end when it comes to perfecting your craft as a painter wannabe. Also, no matter how talented you are during your primary/secondary school days, you’ll soon realise that there’s always something extra that you have to learn or “unlearn” when it comes to different styles of painting.
While it’s important to set a strong foundation of basic drawing and painting techniques during your SPM level, STPM level or Pre-University programmes, we highly recommend you enrol in a specialised diploma and degree in fine art to develop a comprehensive view on the journey to becoming a professional artist.
Here is a list of Malaysian universities that offer fine art diploma/degree programmes:
- The One Academy
- Malaysian Institute of Art
- Universiti Sains Malaysia
- Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
- Universiti Teknologi Mara
- Sultan Idris Education University
The essence of pursuing a fine art programme after completing your secondary education is this. It gives you lots of opportunities to dive deep into a wide range of projects and foster creativity and critical thinking during the lectures.
Some of the taught modules such as history of art, fundamentals of art criticism, 3D studies and many more will allow you to look at the world of painting from different angles.
You’ll no longer be restricted to only one style of drawing or painting. Furthermore, when you pursue your fine art studies with like-minded peers, you are more likely to improve as you learn from one another.
As an artist, it’s extremely important to be like a sponge and absorb as much information and inspiration during the creation process. Having a painting partner and collaborator makes the whole process less lonely too. And who knows, some of your coursemates might really end up as your colleague or partner when you are opening an art studio in the future. Oftentimes, networking begins in the classroom.
Photo by Daphné Be Frenchie on Unsplash
Another worth-mentioning experience that you will gain through your studies is you get to build a good art portfolio under the guidance of an experienced lecturer. Every single painting that you have submitted through your assignments speaks volumes. Make sure you keep them for future reference.
Also, you can try out as many painting competitions locally or internationally during your time as a student. Most of the time, the registration fee tends to be cheaper for university students too. Before you know it, you’ll have a thick compilation of your artwork that you can pitch to future clients or employees upon your graduation.
There you have it. A guide to taking painting lessons in Malaysia and how to go about a fine arts programme for your tertiary studies. We’re looking forward to seeing you as a professional painter one day!
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