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Reviews of the Top 10 Teach Yourself Painting Guides of 2026

Welcome to our reviews of the Best Teach Yourself Painting Guides of 2026 (also known as Painting Courses). Check out our top 10 list below and follow our links to read our full in-depth review of each teach yourself painting guide, alongside which you'll find costs and features lists, user reviews and videos to help you make the right choice.

Learn and Master Painting

The Learn and Master Series is top of the range. Other courses offered by Learn and Master are guitar, piano, drums, ballrooms dance, and further guitar study. Learn and Master Painting is a thorough and comprehensive course incorporating a wide variety of materials and quality instruction. The advantage with learning at home is that you are able to work at your own pace but...

» Read the Full Review of LearnAndMaster.com/Painting

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A Real Art Lesson

A Real Art Lesson is an internet selling success in this category. The e-book by artist Delmus Phelps contains tips and secrets on how to paint realistic oil paintings. Using simple step-by-step instructions, the course takes you through the techniques needed to create dazzling images. Oil paints can be difficult to get right, but their advantage is their use in replicating the minute detail...

» Read the Full Review of Easy-Oil-Painting-Techniques.org

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The Virtual Art Academy

Requiring four years of self-study, this painting and drawing course created for the serious amateur by Barry John Raybould, MA, is one of the more comprehensive products in this category. The cost is divided into neat quarterly payments of $19.95 making this good value for money. The total cost over four years would be $319.20. Compare this with the instructor-led Famous Artists School Master...

» Read the Full Review of VirtualArtAcademy.com

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The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted (Kathleen Staiger)

The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted comes highly recommended and praised by its readers. Kathleen Staiger is an artist and teacher who graduated from Hofstra University in New York with a bachelor's degree in art education and a master's degree in arts and humanities. (To find out more about the author, Kathleen Staiger and to see examples of her art, see her website,...

» Read the Full Review of The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted (Kathleen Staiger)

The Thriving Artist

This product is unique in this category. It is a downloadable course full of advice on how to market yourself as an artist and make a profit. Deciding to turn your hobby into a living can be problematic and purists may feel like they are "selling out" by deciding to sell their creations. This e-book written by Steve Popkin is designed to tackle the...

» Read the Full Review of TheThrivingArtist.com

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The Carder Method

The Carder Method for Painting in Oil is a complete course in realistic oil painting. Mark Carder invented a device called the Color Checker that allows you to duplicate the colors you see in your still life into mixed paint on a palate. The Color Checker is shaped like a pair of tweezers with one end flat and the other round with a hole...

» Read the Full Review of TheCarderMethod.com

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David Bellamy's Complete Guide to Watercolour Painting

Sometimes when starting out on a new creative project it can be hard to find the inspiration to get you started. David Bellamy's Guide to Watercolour Painting covers a whole variety of subjects to paint and might give you ideas for more. Ranging through still life, figures, landscape, flowers and buildings, you are sure to find something that takes your interest. The step-by-step chapters...

» Read the Full Review of David Bellamy's Complete Guide to Watercolour Painting

The Famous Artists School

The Famous Artist's School supplies books, e-books and multimedia courses to choose from. Each product provides a slightly different learning experience, depending on what you are looking for. The Famous Artists School is comparable to Learn and Master Painting and the Virtual Art Academy in that they offer a comprehensive multimedia package including assignments. The Famous Artists School is set up for the serious...

» Read the Full Review of Famous-Artists-School.com

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Watercolour for the Absolute Beginner

Alwyn Crawshaw is known for his TV series on painting and is the founder of The Society of Amateur Artists in the UK. He and his wife June have produced a number of highly popular books and instructional DVDs to help people to get started in watercolors, sketching, oil painting and general painting techniques. The couple live in the beautiful Norfolk countryside in England;...

» Read the Full Review of Watercolour for the Absolute Beginner

Oil Painting for Dummies (Anita Giddings and Sherry Clifton)

How did we ever live without the Dummies Guides? Like the internet and mobile phones, Dummies Guides have become part of the information age. Whether you want to know how to plug in your Blackberry or want to make blackberry jam, you'll be sure there's a book all about it. (Actually we checked but Blackberry Jam making for Dummies does not exist, sorry). Are...

» Read the Full Review of Oil Painting for Dummies (Anita Giddings and Sherry Clifton)

A-Z of Teach Yourself Painting Guides

Latest User Reviews

Couldn’t enjoy it
User Review of The Virtual Art Academy by Flux on 22 November 2025

I stuck with it for two months, but it completely killed my creativity. I found the tone of the lessons boring and even a bit irritating. There’s a (mandatory) feedback system based on etiquette, which results in very unnatural criticism... (Read the full review)

Poor online art education compared to competitors
User Review of The Virtual Art Academy by Unhappy Customer on 05 September 2025

I wasted a year at VAA. At a similar price point, I received a better online art education at competitors like New Masters Academy (NMA) and Watts Atelier. Frankly, I'm pissed about it and wish I could get my money... (Read the full review)

Great Education for Aspiring Artists
User Review of The Virtual Art Academy by Shahina Baig on 10 February 2023

I have painted for many years as a hobby without any art education. I always felt that there was a lot of potential for me to improve my art but never had the time or resources to do anything about... (Read the full review)

You Won't Get Feedback
User Review of The Virtual Art Academy by Readerx on 19 October 2021

Whether you like this course will depend on how much feedback you want. The curriculum and the chronology is sound, although the reading assignments are pretty shallow and the video demonstrations are quite bad. However, it's easy enough to Google... (Read the full review)

Originated by Norman Rockwell and others
User Review of The Famous Artists School by Marybeth W. on 04 March 2017

My dad in 1970 originally purchased this for me but being young and foolish, I did not complete it. I vowed a few years later to complete the course, for myself and for the memory of my dad. I did... (Read the full review)