Colour mixing that behaves
Primaries, secondaries and neutrals. Mixing skin tones, greys and greens without ending up with mud.
See the module ›Free online painting course, from blank canvas to finished piece
Free course
Scotia Fin Art Academy is a small teaching studio in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. We took what it actually takes to paint a canvas you’d hang on a wall and turned it into online lessons you can follow from anywhere: materials, colour mixing, drawing the sketch, acrylic, oil, brushwork, and finishing. It’s free. No card, and nothing to buy later.
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Oil, slow and rich
Fat over lean, Alla prima versus layered work, mediums, and cleaning up safely with ventilation.
See the module ›Varnish, frame and share
Drying, varnishing, photographing your work, and hanging or gifting it. What galleries look for, plainly told.
See the module ›Where the course starts: a three-colour palette
- Titanium white
- plenty
- Ultramarine blue
- one tube
- Burnt sienna
- one tube
- Canvas
- 16 × 20 in
By the end of the colour module you’ll know why three tubes plus white can mix almost anything, and which brush to reach for first.
The course, module by module
The order is the order we’d teach a neighbour who showed up with a blank canvas. Each lesson builds on the one before it, and you go at your own pace.
Materials without the waste
Canvases, brushes, palettes and mediums. What to buy first, what can wait, and how to set up a corner table that works.
Drawing the sketch
Loose lines, proportions and values in pencil or thin paint, so the painting starts on solid ground.
Colour mixing that behaves
Primaries, secondaries and neutrals. Mixing skin tones, greys and greens without ending up with mud.
Acrylic, fast and forgiving
Layering, glazing and dry brush. Drying times, keeping paint workable, and fixing mistakes while they’re fresh.
Oil, slow and rich
Fat over lean, Alla prima versus layered work, mediums, and cleaning up safely with ventilation.
Brushwork and texture
Flat, filbert, round and fan. Edges, palette knife work, and when to stop touching the painting.
Light, shade and composition
Where to put the horizon, how light wraps around a form, and simple checks that make a canvas feel finished.
Varnish, frame and share
Drying, varnishing, photographing your work, and hanging or gifting it. What galleries look for, plainly told.
You can follow every lesson on a phone or laptop. To paint along you’ll want a basic set: a few brushes, student-grade paint, and any stretched canvas or panel.
A small studio first, a classroom second
We’re a small independent teaching studio in New Glasgow, in Pictou County. Friends kept bringing over blank canvases and leaving with paintings, so we wrote down how we teach it and put it online.
This course is that teaching, so you don’t have to live near us to learn it. We made it free because nobody should have to pay to find out whether painting is their thing.
- Where we are
- New Glasgow, NS, Canada
- Write to us
- [email protected]
Straight answers
Is it really free?
Yes. We don’t ask for a card, there’s no trial that turns into a subscription, and there’s no paid upgrade waiting at the end.
Do I need supplies?
Not to watch. Every lesson works as a watch-along. To paint along, a starter set is enough: a few brushes, a small tube set, and any canvas or panel.
Acrylic or oil?
We teach both, in separate modules. Most beginners start with acrylic: cheaper, fast-drying, soap-and-water cleanup. Oil comes later in the course.
Will I be able to sell my paintings?
No course can promise that, and we won’t. What it gives you is solid technique and finished canvases of your own, which is where everything starts.
What language are the lessons in?
The lessons are in English.
Who can sign up?
Anyone in Canada or the United States who is 13 or older. If you’re under the age of majority where you live, please check with a parent or guardian first.
What do you do with my email?
We send your access link and the course lessons. Academy news only if you tick that box. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe, and we never sell your details.