Painting
The word "painting class" covers everything from a guided paint-and-sip where 30 people copy the same canvas, to a serious studio session in oils. They attract completely different people and neither is a substitute for the other.
The techniques, and how they differ
Studios list all of these as “painting”. They are not the same evening.
Acrylic
Water-based, dries fast, mistakes can be painted straight over.
Good for Beginners and single-session classes. Almost every guided class uses acrylic for this reason.
Watercolour
Transparent, unforgiving, worked light-to-dark. You cannot easily cover a mistake.
Good for People who like precision and patience. Harder than it looks.
Oil
Slow-drying, blendable, the traditional fine-art medium.
Good for Multi-week courses. Rarely a good one-off, because it stays wet for days.
Life drawing / figure
Drawing or painting from a live model, usually in timed poses.
Good for The fastest way to improve at drawing people. Nude models are standard and unremarkable.
If it's your first time, book this one
For a fun evening, a guided acrylic session. To actually get better, a life-drawing session — the timed poses teach you more in two hours than a month of copying.
Before you go
What to wear
Acrylic and oil do not come out of clothes. Wear black or bring an apron.
What your hands do
Seated, calm, verbal instruction. The least physically demanding craft here.
Do you take something home
Yes — canvases go home with you, wet. Acrylic is dry in an hour; oil is not.