Want to take a watercolor class, but not sure how you can make time for it? Online watercolor classes offer flexibility for busy schedules, catering to both beginners and experienced artists, and providing a diverse range of courses to suit your preferences and skill level.
In this guide, find a range of exciting watercolor classes to inspire your work, with simple courses for beginners alongside creative classes to make you fall in love with this beautiful medium.
Looking for information about paints, paper and more? Find out everything you need to know with our in-depth watercolor painting guide.
Here's what you need to get started:
- Watercolor paints - Check out our pick of the best watercolour paints out there to inspire you
- Watercolor brushes - Investing in a set of watercolour brushes is key to getting the best out of your work
- Watercolor paper - Give your drawings, sketches and paintings the quality pages they deserve with an excellent sketchbook
12 of the best watercolor classes online
1. Watercolor painting diploma course
Best for ambitious beginners
Key features:
- 150 hours
- 10 modules
- Certified and accredited course
The Centre of Excellence offers an extensive ten-module watercolor course, ideal for beginners seeking structured and comprehensive learning.
Estimated to take 150 hours to complete, this wide-ranging course covers everything from materials to composition.
Pros: In-depth and covers a lot of ground, lifetime access available, study group access.
Cons: Expensive when it’s not on offer, 150 hours to complete.
- Buy now from Centre of Excellence (£127).
2. Watercolor properties - Watercolor pigments, colour mixing and setting up your own palette
Best for understanding your materials
Key features:
- 25 lessons
- 2 hours
- Focused on colour
Geethu Chandramohan's Skillshare course provides an excellent introduction to watercolor painting, covering fundamental concepts and equipping you to confidently mix shades and build your own palettes.
Even if you’ve already got some watercolor experience, you’re likely to pick up some useful tidbits of information from this course.
Pros: Explains how to use your paints effectively, simple color theory and how to choose your materials.
Cons: Only 2 hours, you will need to sign up for Skillshare, however, there is a free one-month trial available.
- Buy now with a one month free trial from Skillshare.
3. Watercolor Without Fear: Painting for pattern design
Best for budding pattern designers
Key features:
- 15 lessons
- 1 hour 40 mins
- Skillshare staff pick
Patternmaking is a brilliant exercise for artists seeking to enhance their watercolor skills. You could use this skill to create your own unique wrapping paper or fabric, which you can print through websites such as Spoonflower.
Catherine Jennifer Charnock's course is ideal for intermediate artists who want to try something new and get out of a creative rut. She teaches you how to transform your artwork into captivating repeating patterns.
Pros: Perfect for anyone who wants to design repeating patterns, develop your painting skills, creative and fun!
Cons: You’ll need a Skillshare subscription, not suitable for beginners.
- Buy now with a one month free trial from Skillshare.
4. Real winner beginners watercolor course
Best for absolute beginners
Key features:
- 4.5 hours
- 32 downloadable resources
- Beginner techniques
This fantastic short course from Udemy is designed for complete beginners.
Led by professional artist Nicola A Blakemore, the watercolor class offers a relaxed and informative experience with practical painting exercises like apple painting and greeting card creation, taking about four and a half hours to finish.
Pros: Covers essential watercolor skills, good value for money.
Cons: You need to buy courses individually unless you want to sign up for a personal plan on Udemy. There’s a free trial period available if you’d like to try it out.
- Buy now from Udemy (£49.99).
Interested in trying pencils? Check out the best watercolour pencils for colourful creations.
5. Creative watercolor sketching for beginners
Best for creative inspiration
Key features:
- 23 lessons
- 5 hours 25 mins
- 20 additional resources
To rekindle your painting passion during a creative rut, consider watercolor sketching as a playful and experimental approach.
This course created by artist and illustrator Laura McKendry encourages students to be experimental in their work, pairing unconventional tones together and filling their sketchbook with expressive paintings. Laura has created illustrations for brands such as Laura Ashley and Papyrus, so she knows what she’s talking about!
Pros: Great for when you’re feeling uninspired, exploring a new painting style, playful painting sessions, lifetime access.
Cons: This course is not suitable for people who want to paint realistically, may be too easy for more advanced artists.
- Buy now from Domestika (£8.90).
6. Realistic watercolor botanicals
Best for flower lovers
Key features:
- 3 hours
- 5 modules
- 2 downloadable resources and an article
Master the skill of botanical painting with guidance from natural history artist Heidi Willis.
This class, designed for those with some watercolor experience, covers essential materials, setup, and techniques to create realistic blooms. The course includes approximately three hours of video content, including practical exercises.
Pros: Real expertise and valuable advice, perfect for intermediate to advanced painters, practical exercises to try.
Cons: There’s a lot of theory and information, so it’s not ideal for anyone who wants a more practical course, could have more additional resources to accompany the classes.
- Buy now from Udemy (£49.99).
How to get into watercolor painting
If you’re new to watercolor painting and you’re not sure where to begin, take a look at our watercolor painting for beginners guide for lots of expert tips and advice.
7. Line and wash essentials: urban sketching
Best for painting on the go
Key features:
- 13 lessons
- 3 hours 46 minutes
- Beginner urban landscapes
Line and wash is an excellent technique for capturing a scene quickly, which is why it’s often used by landscape artists. It involves combining line drawings with washes of watercolor paint – and the finished artwork can be very striking!
This course offers engaging exercises to help you master this approach, allowing you to create dynamic urban landscapes, including shops, townhouses, night skies, and fiery sunsets with watercolor and line drawings.
Browse the best travel watercolour sets for painting on the go.
Pros: Learn the line and wash technique, creative projects to work through, lots of technical painting tips.
Cons: Not suitable for painters who prefer realism.
- Buy now with a one month free trial from Skillshare.
8. Level up your watercolor: master layers
Best for developing your painting skills
Key features:
- 11 lessons
- 1 hour 10 mins
- Focus on layering
Layering is an important skill to learn if you want to be a better watercolor artist. It takes patience, but it is well worth taking the time to develop this technique.
Hannah Katarski works with watercolour and gouache to create several different layering techniques, such as glazing, transparency and negative layering. Even experienced artists are likely to pick up some useful tips from this class!
At the end of the course, you can put your new skills into practice by painting your own sea turtle.
Pros: Covers layering techniques well, cute project to complete the course, even intermediate artists may learn something new.
Cons: May be too simplistic for advanced artists, you’ll need a Skillshare subscription, fairly short course (just over one hour of video).
- Buy now with a one month free trial from Skillshare.
9. Paint landscapes in watercolor part 1
Best for traditional painting style
Key features:
- 1 hour 30 mins
- 13 downloadable resources
- Second part available
Discover the serene joy of landscape painting with this Udemy watercolor class led by expert Andy Walker, who imparts a loose brush technique for creating your own scenic masterpieces in just a few lessons.
If you find it valuable, a second part of the course allows you to further refine your landscape painting skills.
Pros: Great landscape painting techniques, there’s a second part if you enjoy the course, lifetime access.
Cons: The course is very classic and traditional in style, so not suitable for anyone interested in a more contemporary look.
- Buy now from Udemy (£39.99).
10. Water painting class
Best for painting watery scenes
Key features:
- 41 hours 21 mins
- 85 lessons
- Paint every day for a month
Mastering the art of painting water, whether in watercolors, acrylics, gouache, or oils, can bring a polished and professional touch to your work.
This course provides a comprehensive foundation, teaching skills ranging from composition to material understanding. You will learn how to effectively capture light's interaction with water and depict surface ripples and more.
Pros: Shows you how to master a tricky technique, lots of technical info and exercises to have a go at, you could paint every day for a month!
Cons: Skillshare subscription required, extremely long course (one day and 17 hours of video).
- Buy now with a one month free trial from Skillshare.
11. Exploratory Sketchbook: Find Your Drawing Style
Best for mixed media
Key features:
- 16 lessons
- 2 hours 34 mins
- 27 additional resources
Explore creative methods for drawing from observation using gouache, watercolor, and colored pencils in an online course by illustrator Sarah van Dongen.
Whether you're a beginner or an experienced illustrator, this course is designed to enhance your observational drawing skills and help you discover your unique style.
All you need is a sketchbook or loose pages, gouache, graphites, colored pencils, pens, and any drawing materials of your choice to embark on this inspiring journey.
Pros: Allows you to explore a range of mediums, and learn how to mix watercolor with other tools.
Cons: If you don't already have the materials it could be quite expensive to acquire them.
- Buy now from Domestika.
12. Watercolor Travel Journal
Best for journalling in watercolor
Key features:
- 17 lessons
- 2 hours 26 mins
- 13 additional resources
Join artist Alicia Aradilla in an online course designed to help you artistically document your travel experiences using watercolors.
Learn fundamental watercolor techniques to illustrate the first page of your travel diary, focusing on landscapes, colors, and details like shadows, pencil sketches, and text. This course is suitable for beginners and those interested in starting a travel diary.
Pros: Introduce watercolor painting into everyday life by taking a journalistic approach.
Cons: The lesson is in Spanish with English subtitles, which may be tricky to follow if you're looking down (unless you're aiming to learn Spanish as well as watercolor!)
- Buy now from Domestika.
Why online watercolor classes are essential for busy artists
We get it – not everyone has time to fit in an evening class or commit to a regular painting time. That’s why online watercolor classes are so brilliant – they’re flexible enough to fit in around work and other commitments. You can just dip in and out of the class whenever you have time!
Taking a watercolor class online also means that you can pick your teacher, or choose a course that reflects your passions. Whether you’re a novice or a painting pro, you can find the right class for your level of experience.
Watercolor is such a beautiful and versatile medium, it’s worth taking the time to learn how to get the most out of it. You’ll be creating your own fabulous paintings in no time, whether you enjoy portraiture or want to produce more abstract work.
Creative watercolor ideas to try right away
It can be frustrating if you’re in the mood for a painting session and can’t decide what to paint. Don’t worry, we’re here to help!
We’ve put together a selection of stunning watercolor projects for you to explore, from dreamy galaxies to fabulous flower designs.
Explore amazing watercolor painting ideas brought to you by Gathered.
