Small-group classes for grown-up beginners

Remember when you loved to draw?

Come back to it. In a small, friendly class where a real teacher watches you closely and helps you get better, week by week.

Pick Your ClassFrom $47 · 10 seats a class · No experience needed

Adult art students smiling together and showing the winter paintings they completed in class — “Wait… I actually made that?”
Said in almost every first class.

students maximum per class

2 hrs

unhurried, once a week

10+ yrs

of teaching adult beginners

experience required

THE HONEST PART

You loved to draw as a kid, so much you'd lose whole afternoons in it and come out feeling completely happy.

Somewhere along the way, life told you to put that down.

Maybe it was a parent who said there's no money in it. Maybe it was just marriage, kids, work, and the years slipping by, one on top of another.

That old spark is flickering back to life. But something is still holding you back.

Your mind doesn't stop circling thoughts
At night, at the store, in the middle of an ordinary conversation, and you're tired from carrying a mind that won't just be quiet.
You lost someone close to you
Even though time has passed, some days the weight of it is still right there in your chest.
You're not sure who you are without the roles you used to play
The job, the kids, the schedule that used to fill every hour, some of that is gone or changing now, and the space it left behind feels bigger than you expected.
You don't know where to start anymore
The materials are out, the table is cleared, and still you sit down and don't know what to draw or where to begin.

Almost every student says the same thing on day one: “I just want to feel like myself again.” That's exactly what this class gives back.

Student pastel painting of a rose in a glass vase beside a cup of coffee

What changes

What happens when you finally pick it back up

Something shifts the moment you sit down with a pencil or a brush again. Your mind gets quiet. The busy thoughts fade into the background, and for two hours you are simply here, looking at light and shadow, mixing a colour until it is right.

A quiet mind. Two hours where the noise in your head just stops.
The version of you that existed before the roles did. The one who liked things for no reason.
Proof, on paper, that you can still learn something new, at any age.
A door back to someone you lost, if that's what you're carrying in with you.

Start where you are. Tan has plenty of patience to take you the rest of the way.

Tan holding one of her lavender field paintings

Lavender field at sunset, an acrylic painting by Tan — One of Tan’s own paintings, acrylic on canvas.

Meet your teacher

Hi, I’m Tan.

I’ve been teaching for years, and I still get excited every time a student looks down at their paper and says, “Wait… I actually made that?”

I know what it’s like to want something creative for yourself and not have the time or the confidence to chase it. That’s why I teach the way I do: small groups, real attention, and no judgement. Whatever your paper looks like right now, we’ll make it better together, one step at a time.

I understand this from the inside, not just as a teacher. A few years ago I went through anxiety myself, the kind where your thoughts don’t stop, day or night. Art was what brought me back. When I paint, there’s no room left for those thoughts, just the brush and the page in front of me. That’s part of why I teach the way I do.

My father was an artist and a musician. He passed away in 2023, and losing him taught me what grief actually feels like, not the idea of it, the real weight of it. I believe people find their way to a class, to a teacher, for a reason, not by accident. So whatever you’re carrying when you walk in, you don’t have to leave it at the door. Sometimes that’s exactly what the painting is for.

I teach the real basics most classes skip. Once you understand those, everything else gets easier.

Tan beside a display of her paintings and artwork — The artist behind the teacher
A practising artist who brings the same care to your work as she brings to her own.

What you’ll actually learn

Four fundamentals that change everything

Most classes hand you a brush and hope for the best. We build the foundation first: slowly, properly, in plain language.

How to actually see

Light, shadow, edges, proportion. Once your eye knows what to look for, your hand catches up faster than you’d believe.

How to hold and handle a pencil

The grip, the pressure, the angle. The small technical things nobody ever taught you, that change everything on the page.

How to mix a colour that matches

Not “green”, but that green. You’ll learn to read a colour and build it on the palette from three tubes.

How to finish a piece

Layers, patience, and knowing when to stop. You leave with work you want to frame, not hide in a drawer.

Inside a single lesson

This is what one afternoon of learning to see looks like

Six moments from one class. On the left, the first careful circles. On the right, the same hands a little later, with light, shadow and a sphere that finally sits on the page. Nothing here is talent. It is just attention, shown step by step.

A collage of six photos from a drawing class: students sketching and shading a sphere, and their finished sphere studies with shading notes

Real progress, quickly

One lesson is usually enough to surprise yourself

Marc came in having never painted. After a single session he sent a photo of his own watercolour leaves with a note: “I try to do paint your first picture. Was a lot of fun.”

That is the pace here. Not someday. This week, on your own paper, with your own hands.

Try a single class for $47

Drawing class results

Not every result is a painting. In the drawing classes, students finish a single session with perspective studies and shaded forms they are proud to hold up.

Five adult students standing in a line holding up sketchbooks with perspective drawings of books — After one sessionPerspective studies in pencil, every sketchbook showing a confident three-dimensional form.

Ten adult students posing together holding up sketchbooks with shaded pencil drawings of apples — After one sessionShaded apples in pencil, each one showing real light, shadow and form.

SEE FOR YOURSELF

What a few weeks of guidance looks like

Real student work from a few weeks into the course, made by people who hadn't picked up a brush or pencil in years. This is what real teaching gets you.

Student artwork of vivid red cherries drawn in coloured pencil on a dark background — Coloured pencil study from later in the course, focusing on light and shine.

A student's graphite still-life drawing of a pear with pencils beside it — Graphite still life from the drawing course, working on light, shadow and form.

From the studio

What students are saying

Unedited words from people who walked in nervous and left with work they were proud of.

As an absolute beginner who had never taken a sketching class before, I learned a tremendous amount. Our teacher was excellent and clearly knew what she was talking about, as well as how to teach.

Donna

It was a small group, so the training was intimate and personal. The instructor was excellent and had plenty of time to assist each of us.

Kimberly

The class was wonderful. The teacher was so patient and encouraging. The entire experience was delightful.

Ismet

The class was very well organised and executed. Tan was delightful as an instructor, knowledgeable and thoughtful.

Mary

You are an excellent teacher. I look forward to future classes with you!

Deb

An interesting and fun reintroduction to some basic principles of drawing. I would take Tan’s courses again.

Craig

Inside the studio

What a class actually looks like

No lectures, no pressure. Just a small group of people at a table, making something with their hands, one careful step at a time.

A group of adult students painting at a long table in a studio, canvases in early stages — Brushes in hand, backgrounds going down, everyone still figuring it out.

Tan demonstrating at a whiteboard while adult students paint at a long studio table — Tan walks through each step at the front, then comes round the table one by one.

Adult students drawing with soft pastels at a bright studio table by tall windows — Quiet, focused hours with pastels and pencils, coffee still warm on the table.

More than a class

Make art, share it, and find your people

Some days are playful and experimental. Others end with work proudly displayed on a gallery wall. Both belong in an artist’s life.

A group of adult students holding their colourful paintings in a neon art class — A joyful experiment with colour, movement and glow.

Tan with artists at a gallery exhibition surrounded by paintings — From Tan's own exhibition, work by her students hanging alongside hers.

Three ways in

Pick the path that fits you

Try a single class, commit to 10 weeks, or go all in with private mentoring.

A Single Class

$47

one class, 2 hours

Perfect if you just want to see what this feels like. No pressure, no commitment. Come once, meet Tan in person, make something the same day.

One full two-hour class
All materials set out for you
Personal help at your easel
Leave with a finished small piece

Reserve a seat

Most chosen

10-Week Full Course

$247

10 lessons, 2 hours each

Spend ten weeks really learning the direction you choose. Ten weeks is long enough for real technique to settle in your hands.

Choose one course: Drawing for Beginners, Acrylic, or Watercolour
Ten weekly classes, two hours each
Personal feedback on your own work every week
Finish pieces you’ll want to hang
Catch-up session if you miss a week

Start this course

One-on-one Mentoring

$597

all courses + 16 private hours

For the student ready to stop dabbling and actually become a painter. All courses are included, plus 16 private hours on a schedule you choose yourself.

Acrylic and Watercolour courses, both included
16 hours of private one-on-one lessons
You choose your own schedule
A personal learning plan built around your goals
Portfolio review at the end

Book your spot

Not sure which one? Start with the $47 class

For those who want to go all in

Premium one-on-one mentoring

This is the package for the student who is done dabbling. Acrylic and Watercolour courses are both included, plus 16 private hours on a schedule you choose yourself.

$597

16 private hours · you choose the schedule

Book your spot

Acrylic and Watercolour, both included
Plus Drawing for Beginners. The complete foundation, taught in the right order.
You choose your own schedule
No fixed timetable. Book your private hours around your life, not around ours.
16 private one-on-one hours
Just you and Tan, over two months. Every hour spent entirely on your work.
A plan built around your goals
We start with what you want to paint, and work backwards from it.

How a class goes

From your seat to your first finished piece

STEP 1
Choose your seat
Pick a single class to try, a ten-lesson course, or the full premium path. Ten seats per class.
STEP 2
Come as you are
Bring your own pencils and sketchbook if you have them. If not, the studio has what you need for the lesson. No experience required.
STEP 3
Work with someone beside you
Two unhurried hours. Tansholpan moves around the room and works on your page with you, not at the whiteboard.
STEP 4
Leave with something real
Every session ends with finished or nearly-finished work, and one specific thing to practise next.

A few questions you might have

Everything people ask before their first class

I haven’t drawn since I was a kid. Is this really for me?

Yes. My last group of new students walked in never having held a pencil, and by the end of one class they were shading and adding light and shadow. Most people who come to me start exactly where you are.

What if I’m just not talented?

One student told me her first circle looked more like a potato than a circle. I told her that’s a completely normal first attempt, and by her second class she was already tighter and more confident. Skill here comes from practice and a few technique fundamentals, not from natural talent.

Do I need to bring my own supplies?

You’re welcome to bring your own pencils, eraser, or sketchbook if you have them. If you don’t, no problem, I’ll always have what you need on hand for your class.

I’m nervous about being the “worst” in the class.

Nobody’s the worst here. Almost everyone starts as a complete beginner, and progress happens fast enough that comparisons don’t come up.

How long is a class, and how often do they run?

Each class is two hours. Courses run one lesson a week for ten weeks. Or choose your own schedule with the Premium One-on-One Mentoring.

What if I’m late or need to reschedule?

If you’re running a few minutes behind, we’ll hold the class for you, up to 15 minutes. After that we start without you, so a quick heads-up helps. If you know ahead of time you’ll miss a class entirely (sick, something came up), just let me know and I’ll move you to another session at no extra cost.

You don’t need permission to start again. You just need a first class.

Your paints have been waiting long enough.

Pick Your Class Still have a question