Beginner painting classes in London, Ontario: a two-hour master class with Elena Ant

Yes. Master classes are made for people who have never held a brush, so no drawing or painting experience is needed.

For each master class, Elena Ant works out a technique that a complete beginner can follow, and leads the class through it one stage at a time.

Research on making art has found its benefits in people without art experience too. In an experiment with 42 US university students, drawing a picture after seeing upsetting images lifted their mood more than copying shapes, and students who were not art majors benefited as much as art majors (De Petrillo and Winner, 2005 (opens in a new tab)). In a study of 39 adults, levels of the stress hormone cortisol fell after 45 minutes of making art in about three in four of them, whatever their previous experience of art (Kaimal et al., 2016 (opens in a new tab)).

A painting master class is $70 per person for two hours, with all materials included, in Canadian dollars with no tax added.

To keep learning after a master class, Elena Ant teaches regular classes for adults: a group class is $40, or $175 for five, and an individual class is $45, or $200 for five. See every price.

At Elena Ant’s studio in London, Ontario, on a date arranged with her: there is no fixed timetable.

Elena Ant’s dedicated studio is at 31 Parkside Cres, and a master class takes at most six people. Send an enquiry and she will arrange a date, for you alone or for you and friends.

Master classes are for adults and teenagers.

Elena Ant offers several subjects, each one a beginner can finish in two hours, and you choose which to paint.

Earlier master classes painted lilacs in a basket, a bullfinch on a snowy branch and red poppies, shown on this page.

In studies, even a single session of making art lifted people’s mood and eased anxiety.

In a randomised trial with 50 adults aged 18 to 30, 20 minutes of drawing reduced negative mood and anxiety more than 20 minutes of looking at and sorting art prints (Bell and Robbins, 2007 (opens in a new tab)).

A 2018 review found that making art, such as drawing or working with clay, significantly reduced stress and anxiety in eight of the eleven studies it examined (Martin et al., 2018 (opens in a new tab)).

In a survey of 7,182 adults in England, people who had done arts or crafts in the past year, painting and drawing among them, reported higher life satisfaction and a stronger sense that life is worthwhile (Keyes et al., 2024 (opens in a new tab)).

A master class is a single two-hour event: one painting, and nothing to bring. A course builds skills lesson by lesson.

In Elena Ant’s regular classes, students learn line, form, light and shadow, tone, composition and colour, one lesson at a time, and bring their own materials. For a course, see classes for kids, for teens and for adults.