Online fine arts education allows anyone to learn how to express themselves

Online arts classes, which offer a flexible schedule for learning, have opened up a convenient space for amateurs to get a start in the world of art. Tang Yingshan, a professor from The Open University of China in Beijing, launched an online fine arts education program that is open to learners from all over the world and who have no prior expertise in the field.

Tang Yingshan records an online course video. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

“Everyone can create a masterpiece painting” is what Tang believes and also the key selling point for his online fine arts education program. Bai Li, who had previously engaged in colorimetric studies at the Henan Academy of Sciences in central China’s Henan Province for more than 20 years, became a student of Tang’s class despite having thought that oil painting was too difficult to learn.

Shan Lin, a woman from Guilin, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has been learning fine arts online for 17 months, which is longer than she had originally thought she would be doing it for. “I like beautiful things, but I have never learnt oil painting, except for some basic fine arts classes that I had,” said Shan.

Shan takes oil painting classes mainly in her spare time, such as watching instructional guide videos during lunch breaks and practicing during her off-work hours. “There is a flexible learning timetable and the guide videos can be played repeatedly for us to better absorb the knowledge,” Shan expressed, adding that the courses are cost-effective and teachers from arts schools were invited to give classes to them.

Xiao Fei gives guidance to students online. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Since it was launched, the online fine arts education program has provided a series of courses. By January 2022, more than 36,000 people had enrolled in it, including those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as international students from the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Japan, Malaysia, and Kenya.

Among the learners, there are people from all walks of life, including office workers and retirees, apart from others. Since the age difference between the learners is large, the question of how to popularize arts knowledge among these people tests the wisdom of the teachers.

According to Bai and Shan, students at the beginner level are introduced into the world of arts by imitating world-famous paintings, such as those by Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, so that they can understand more about the artists’ styles and techniques.

Bai Li draws from life. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

“As I have observed, everybody has a potential for drawing, especially when it comes to the use of colors in drawing,” said Xiao Fei, a teacher of the advanced class for the online fine arts education project, and who also serves as a professor at the school of fine arts at Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University in east China’s Jiangxi Province. “What we do is to help people learn to observe and express the world like painters do, or did,” said Xiao.

With the courses specially tailored for them, as well as the introduction of activities held to boost interaction during the classes, the students can learn fast. After learning basic drawing techniques after one year, Bai signed up for an advanced class. At present, she is already getting ready to graduate from the advanced class.

In May, an exhibition will be held in Beijing to display the oil paintings made by students attending the online fine arts education program, which is going to be the second of its kind. “Happiness is my biggest gain from learning oil painting,” said Bai, whose work will be among those exhibited, having added that painting gives her a chance to forget about her age and feel full of vigor once again.