Paint Realistic Water
Layers, brushwork & colour tricks for believable water.
Painting with Nicola
Gentle, practical tuition for beginners and improvers. Learn at your own pace, with clear guidance from Nicola.
45,000+ students worldwide · Beginner-friendly teaching · Courses, live events & community
Start here
Popular paid courses
Great next steps once you’ve tried a free taster.
Skies & Clouds (Made Easy)
Simple techniques for skies that feel light and real.
Trees & Foliage (No Panic)
A repeatable method for trees, shrubs and foliage.
Paint from Your Photos (Plan First)
Plan better compositions and paint with more confidence.
Watercolour Perspective (Made Simple)
The perspective rules you actually need (explained simply).
Paint-Along: French Turret (6 Steps)
Paint-along project for an instant “finished picture” win.
What students say
“Very useful information for the novice… relaxing friendly manner… Gets straight to the point, all simply explained.”
“I see many that are exactly the type of thing I need to practise at the stage I'm at… and many more for the future.”
“I am a beginner and can do them. Just follow along… not to overthink it… No need to stress over these.”
Meet Nicola
Nicola is a calm, encouraging teacher who focuses on practical steps and confidence-building (especially for beginners and improvers who feel overwhelmed). Lessons are clear and friendly, with plenty of “watch me, then you try” demonstrations — plus tips for fixing common mistakes without stress. Nicola teaches students worldwide online and also runs painting holidays in the south of France.
A broad range of courses, LIVE events and more.
For the beginner, improver and the explorer.
Thank you for dropping by. Come in and look around.
Admission to my 'Painting with Nicola' school is FREE.
If you like playing with paint, especially watercolour, you have found your tribe.
Maybe you're a beginner and don't know where to start. Or you have been painting for a while but don't seem to be improving. Or you just feel stuck. Fear not, I'm here to guide you.
- Have a good look around. Take a look at my blog where I post about things to do with paint and my life in France
- Try one of my FREE workshops to get you started. No commitment.
- Like what you see? Then, enrol in the school and stake your claim with a marker on my map of students
- Now you have done that you will be eligible to for any special offers and discounts.
- This could be discounts on brushes, or paints or new courses. And don't forget the COMMUNITY in the shool.
- You can even join in on my LIVE and INTERACTIVE workshops and events via zoom and get answers straight away.
A painting school spanning over 16,000km across 5 continents.
WITH
over 45,000 students world wide.
You can even book to come on a painting holiday with me in the south of France.
Oh la,la
