The 9 Best Drawing & Painting Classes in Austin (+ Supplies You'll Need)

Ask any figure drawing instructor what pencils to buy and you'll hear the same answer: STAEDTLER Mars Lumograph. These are the pencils you'll find in the supply lists at Atelier Dojo, the Contemporary Austin Art School, and university drawing programs across the country. There's a reason they've been the default for decades.

The 12-pencil set spans from 6B (soft, rich darks for shadow work) through HB (the everyday midtone) to 4H (hard, precise lines for construction and light hatching). The super-bonded lead is the key differentiator: it doesn't crumble under pressure the way cheaper graphite does, which means your marks stay clean even when you're bearing down during a timed gesture drawing. The erasability is excellent — you can lift graphite cleanly without ghosting, which matters when an instructor asks you to rework a contour.

At $16 for twelve pencils in a metal tin, these cost roughly twice what a generic sketch set runs. The difference shows immediately in the consistency of your line work. Cheap pencils produce gritty, unpredictable marks that fight your technique. Lumographs let you focus on seeing and drawing rather than wrestling with your materials. That matters enormously when you're learning.

Charcoal is the medium of figure drawing. Where graphite gives you precision and control, charcoal gives you speed, drama, and the ability to fill a 24-inch sheet with bold, gestural marks in a two-minute pose. If you're taking a life drawing class at Atelier Dojo or the Contemporary Austin, you'll be asked to work in charcoal — and this KALOUR set is the most cost-effective way to show up prepared.

The 12 compressed charcoal sticks span three grades: soft for rich darks and expressive gesture work, medium for general drawing, and hard for precise lines and subtle halftones. The three white charcoal sticks are the secret weapon — on toned paper (gray or tan), white charcoal lets you push highlights while the paper provides the midtone, which is the fastest way to create three-dimensional form in a timed drawing session.

At $13, this is almost an impulse buy — and it unlocks an entirely different mode of drawing than graphite allows. Charcoal forces you to think in broad shapes rather than fussy details, which is exactly the habit that figure drawing classes are designed to build. Pair this with the Strathmore drawing pad below and you're set for any life drawing session in the city.

The Strathmore 400 is to drawing paper what the Mars Lumograph is to pencils: the industry default that earned its status through genuine quality. The 18×24-inch format is the standard classroom size — it fits standard studio easels, gives you room for full-arm gesture drawing, and forces you to work bigger than the 9×12 sketchbook you've been hiding in.

The medium-tooth surface is the ideal all-rounder: it grabs charcoal and soft graphite without being so textured that fine lines become ragged. The cream tone is a deliberate choice — it reduces the glare and eye strain that comes with staring at bright white paper under studio lighting, and it provides a warmer midtone that makes charcoal drawings feel more natural. The 80 lb weight is heavy enough that aggressive charcoal application won't buckle or tear the sheet.

One pad will last you roughly four to six weeks of weekly classes, depending on how many drawings you produce per session. At most Austin drawing programs, you'll go through two or three pads per course. At $26 each, it's a modest ongoing cost that directly impacts the quality of your work — cheap newsprint tears under charcoal, and its gray tone muddies your values.

If you're taking Jeff Markowsky's Saturday plein air painting course at Atelier Dojo — or any outdoor painting class — you need an easel that does three things: stands stable on uneven ground, holds your canvas at a workable angle, and carries your supplies in one trip. The U.S. Art Supply French Easel does all three for $110, which is roughly half what premium brands charge for equivalent functionality.

The solid German beechwood construction gives this easel a substance that aluminum travel easels lack — it doesn't rattle in the wind, and the adjustable tripod legs plant firmly on grass, gravel, or pavement. The built-in storage drawer slides out to hold tubes of paint, brushes, palette knives, and a medium bottle, while the included 18-inch wooden palette gives you immediate mixing space. When you're done, everything folds into a compact case with a leatherette handle and canvas shoulder strap.

For studio classes, this easel adjusts to any angle from near-vertical (drawing) to shallow incline (watercolor), and it holds canvases up to 34 inches. Most Austin painting classes have studio easels available, but having your own means you can paint at home, in the park, or at any location that inspires you — which is the whole point of learning plein air technique.

Andrew Loomis published Figure Drawing for All It's Worth in 1943, and it has been the definitive text on drawing the human figure ever since. It's the book that Danny Grant at Atelier Dojo references in class. It's the book that art school professors assign as required reading. It's the book that professional illustrators credit with teaching them how to construct a figure from imagination. After eight decades, nothing has replaced it.

Loomis builds systematically: he starts with basic proportional frameworks (the "ideal" figure divided into head-lengths), moves through gesture and action, adds anatomical structure, and finishes with light, shadow, drapery, and composition. Each concept is illustrated with his own masterful drawings — this isn't a photography-based anatomy guide, it's a draftsman teaching you to think like a draftsman. The progression from simple mannequin figures to fully rendered, three-dimensional forms is the clearest pedagogical arc in any drawing book.

The 2011 Titan Books reprint is a faithful hardcover facsimile that preserves Loomis's original illustrations at full quality. At $30, it's the best investment a drawing student can make — this single book contains more actionable instruction than most semester-long courses. Read it before your first figure drawing class, and you'll absorb twice as much from your instructor.

A kneaded eraser is not optional equipment — it's as essential as your pencils. Unlike rubber or vinyl erasers that scrub the paper surface and leave a trail of crumbs, a kneaded eraser lifts graphite and charcoal by pressing and dabbing. This makes it invaluable during figure drawing: you can lighten a shadow, pull out a highlight, or soften an edge without destroying the tooth of your paper.

Faber-Castell's version is the one you'll find in professional studios. It's soft and pliable right out of the case — no warming needed — and it holds its shape well during extended drawing sessions. The real technique is using it as a drawing tool, not just a correction tool: shape it to a fine point and press into charcoal to create sharp highlights, or flatten it and dab lightly to create atmospheric softness in your value studies.

At $6 for four, there's no reason not to have one in every bag, at every workstation, and in your French easel. They're the one supply that every single instructor on this list will assume you already own.

If you're taking a watercolor class at the Contemporary Austin Art School or ACC Continuing Education, this is the set to buy. Winsor & Newton's Cotman line is the world's best-selling student watercolor for a reason: the pigments are consistent, the colors mix predictably, and the price-to-quality ratio is unmatched. You won't outgrow these in a six-week course — many intermediate painters use Cotman for years before stepping up to the professional Artist line.

The 24-pan set gives you a complete palette without the paralysis of choosing individual colors: warm and cool primaries, a full range of earth tones, and both Payne's Gray and Ivory Black for tonal work. The built-in mixing areas in the case lid are genuinely useful — you can mix, close the case for transport, and reopen without losing your mixed colors. For plein air sessions, this case fits in a jacket pocket.

Pair this with the Strathmore drawing pad (use the reverse side for watercolor studies) or pick up a dedicated cold-press watercolor pad. The Contemporary Austin's watercolor classes and Jeff Markowsky's plein air sessions at Atelier Dojo both welcome students with this set.

The 18×24 pad is for class. This sketchbook is for everywhere else. The single most effective thing you can do to improve your drawing is practice daily, and a hardbound sketchbook that fits in your bag removes every excuse not to. Strathmore's Art Journal is the one instructors at Atelier Dojo and the Contemporary Austin recommend for personal practice between classes.

The Smyth-sewn binding is the key detail: unlike spiral-bound or glued sketchbooks, it opens completely flat without resistance, which means you can draw across a full two-page spread without fighting the spine. The fine-tooth paper grabs graphite and charcoal well and erases cleanly — important when you're working through Loomis exercises or sketching from life at a coffee shop.

Keep this with you everywhere. Sketch people at Jo's Coffee on South Congress. Draw the sculpture at Umlauf Garden. Do Loomis proportion studies during your lunch break. The 192 pages will fill faster than you expect, and when you look back through a completed sketchbook, you'll see exactly how much your eye and hand have improved.

Bad brushes will sabotage a painting class faster than any other equipment failure. A brush that won't hold paint forces you to reload constantly, breaking your rhythm. A brush that splays after two sessions gives you ragged edges when you need clean ones. A brush with no spring fights your wrist instead of following it. Princeton's Velvetouch line solves all three problems at a price point that respects a beginner's budget.

The 4-piece set includes the essential shapes: a round for detail and linework, a flat for broad strokes and blocking in, and two utility shapes that cover everything in between. The luxury synthetic blend is the real innovation — it holds paint with the capacity of kolinsky sable at a fraction of the price, and the precision tapering gives you a crisp point on the rounds and a clean edge on the flats. These are the brushes that instructors at the Contemporary Austin and Austin Creative Art Center use in demonstrations.

The satin Velvetouch handle finish is a small detail that matters enormously in practice: your hands will be covered in paint and water during class, and a slick lacquered handle becomes unusable. The satin finish grips without sticking. At $27 for four professional-grade brushes, this is the set to start with — and many working painters never feel the need to upgrade.