Learning how to draw or paint is not just about producing a masterpiece for your living room — or even staging your own exhibition. Though both of those are possible, art classes are about so much more, says Blanka Ros, owner of the new Seasons Art Class course in Takapuna.

“Art classes bring people joy and happiness. The thrill of learning skills to create something from your imagination, and having something at the end to show for it brings pure pleasure to the students, as does the camaraderie built over weeks of learning with others.”

Blanka is bringing the respected Seasons Art Class brand to Takapuna, offering 14-week art courses with a well-proven curriculum that teaches basic art skills in a variety of mediums. The three-hour weekly classes, specially designed for absolute beginners to intermediates, are held in the Takapuna Squash Club lounge overlooking Lake Pupuke.

“Whether you haven’t picked up a brush since school, or been told you were no good at art, or like to draw but haven’t had a chance to develop your skills, the classes help people learn all the basic skills they need to unleash their creativity,” says Blanka.

Seasons Art Class is a trusted brand with more than 10 successful years in the UK, says David Craggs, who has brought the courses to Australia and New Zealand.

An English couple designed a detailed curriculum and began offering the course in a small town outside London. Today there are more than 150 studios in the UK which offer the courses, teaching more than 6,000 students a week. Over the last decade, the course has introduced more than 38,000 new artists to the pleasure of creating their own personal masterpieces. It has also expanded to Germany, France, Holland, Canada and the US.

The Takapuna course is the among the first to open in New Zealand, says David. He says the classes have wide appeal, but are open to anyone. “In a recent one I ran in Taupo the youngest was 17 and the oldest 79.”

David says franchise owners like Blanka, a North Shore resident, are chosen carefully for their passion for the courses. “That is what builds the demand – the experiences that students have are so overwhelmingly positive that this fuels demand for more classes. Students often return to upskill further, and often their friends and colleagues join too.”

The course curriculum changes every season, so returning students learn new and more challenging material, and every course is tested in the UK’s head facility before being released globally.

Another driver in the increase in demand for art classes is the growing recognition from experts in the field of mental health of art having a therapeutic role. “People who complete the courses find the classes are confidence building, mood enhancing and can contribute to overall wellbeing,” says David.

The course, delivered by a qualified, experienced art teacher, is designed to teach all the necessary art skills, in four different media: drawing, watercolour, oil pastels and finally acrylics. In Takapuna the tutor is local artist Lesley Alexander, who is an experienced artist and educator.

The weekly modules build a step by step approach, which means total beginners have time to absorb new skills and practise them. Students are taught how to paint faces, figures, friends and family, and landscapes, and discover artists’ secret tricks of the trade to improve their results. As well as learning specific skills such as perspective, enlarging, shading, and illustrating, they also learn how to use tools and equipment, all of which are provided.

With the classes limited to an average of 20 people, students get one-on-one guidance from the tutor, and Blanka also assists in the classroom.

At the end of the course, students hold an exhibition. “People are often amazed with what they have achieved. Previously they may have been told that they can’t draw, and now they're producing work worthy of the local gallery,” says Blanka. “The course brings that masterpiece on your living room wall or that local exhibition in close reach – and may well be a life-changing experience that makes you lifelong friends.”