Can a Complete Beginner Learn Tanjore Painting? How 5,000+ Did
Written by
Vibha Raj
If you think you cannot draw, cannot paint, or have left it too late, this is for you. Here is how complete beginners learn Tanjore painting with us, step by step.
Key takeaways
- Yes, a complete beginner can learn Tanjore painting with us, even if you have never held a brush. Every course is built for first-timers.
- Over 40 years we have taught more than 5,000 students, many of whom had never painted before.
- You do not need to know how to draw. The sketch is provided and traced onto your canvas, so you begin from a clear outline.
- Your first painting is built up step by step (canvas, embossing, 24 karat gold, colours, the face, finishing) and you complete it within the course.
- You are never alone. With 3 to 4 teachers, a WhatsApp group and recordings to rewatch, more than 95% of our students finish.
"I have never held a brush." "I cannot even draw a straight line." "I am not sure I have it in me." We hear these words almost every week, often from the people who go on to make the most beautiful paintings. If a quiet voice is telling you that an art this detailed and this golden must be beyond you, please let us gently set that worry down. Tanjore painting is learnable, from the very beginning, and we have spent 40 years proving it.
Can a complete beginner really learn Tanjore painting?
Yes, completely. Every one of our courses assumes you have never painted before, and we build from there. Over four decades we have taught more than 5,000 students, and a great many of them arrived having never picked up a brush. What they had in common was not talent. It was a little curiosity and the willingness to begin.
You do not need to know how to draw
This is the fear we hear most, so let us answer it plainly: you do not need to draw. The sketch for your painting is provided and traced onto your canvas for you, so you start from a clear, correct outline. From there, the art is in the building up, the relief work, the gold, the colour and the detailing, all of which we teach you step by step.
What your first painting looks like, step by step
A Tanjore painting is made in layers, and we take you through each one in order, so it never feels overwhelming. You begin with the prepared canvas and the traced sketch, so the composition is already right in front of you. Then you build the raised gesso relief that gives the work its signature three-dimensional texture, the part that makes a Tanjore painting feel almost sculptural, and you set the kundan stones into it. Next comes the 24 karat gold foil, laid with care over the embossed areas until the ornaments and borders catch the light. After the gold come the colours, block by block, and then the fine detailing. The face is usually last, painted slowly with your teacher guiding the finest strokes, the eyes and the expression that bring the deity to life. Then the finishing touches, and you are done.
What matters is that none of this is handed to you all at once. Each layer is its own lesson, taught, practised, and completed before the next begins. By the end of the course, you are not left with an idea or a half-done canvas. You have a finished painting, one you made with your own hands.
Everything you need is arranged for you
One worry we can take off your plate entirely is the materials. You do not have to research what to buy or hunt down the right gold, gum, stones and brushes. The materials for your painting are arranged and sent to you, so there is nothing to source and nothing to second-guess. All you bring is yourself and a little time. For a complete beginner, not having to make a single decision about supplies is a quiet relief, and it means you can put all your attention into learning the art itself.
Who learns with us
Our beginners are not a particular type of person. They are homemakers and software engineers, doctors and teachers, retirees rediscovering a love of art and young people picking up a brush for the very first time. Some come for the devotion, wanting a deity they painted themselves in their puja room. Some come for the calm, the slow and absorbing nature of the work. They range from teenagers to people well into their seventies, and almost none of them had any formal art background when they started. If you are wondering whether someone like you belongs here, the answer is yes.
What they share is not a skill, it is a willingness to begin before they feel ready. That is really all it takes. The rest, the steadiness, the eye for detail, the confidence with the gold and the brush, is something we build with you, one step and one session at a time. You do not have to arrive good at this. You only have to arrive.
The fears we hear most, and the honest answers
If one of these is holding you back, you are in very good company, and none of them need to stop you.
- "I cannot draw." You do not have to. The sketch is provided and traced for you.
- "I will waste the gold foil." You will be shown exactly how to handle the 24 karat gold before you ever touch it, with your teachers watching over the step.
- "I am too old, or too busy." Our students span every age and every kind of schedule. There is a format, live or self-paced, that fits your life.
- "My hands are not steady enough." Steadiness comes with practice, and the early steps are forgiving. You build control as you go.
From beginner to confident is simply practice
There is no secret gate between a beginner and an advanced painter. The difference is practice and repetition. Many of our students fall in love with the art and go on to complete 15 to 20 courses over the years, and some have even started their own small businesses after beginning with a single painting. Every one of them started exactly where you are now.
What changes in you along the way
The change that surprises most beginners is not in their hands, it is in how they feel. The first session is often nervous. The brush feels unfamiliar, the gold looks precious and intimidating, and that small voice wonders if this was a mistake. Then the first bit of relief work holds its shape, the first stones are set, and something shifts. By the time the gold catches the light for the first time, most students are quietly delighted with what they are capable of.
Tanjore painting has a way of slowing you down in the best sense. It asks for patience and gives calm in return, an hour or two where the day falls away and there is only the next careful stroke. Students often tell us the process became as meaningful as the painting itself, a small, steady practice of devotion and focus. You begin wondering whether you can do this at all, and you end holding proof that you can.
You are never painting alone
Being a beginner with us does not mean being left to figure it out. Every course has 3 to 4 teachers, each guiding the part they know best, and a WhatsApp group where you can post a photo of your painting and get real feedback on your own work. Live sessions are recorded so you can rewatch any step, as many times as you need. It is this support, as much as the teaching, that is behind our completion rate: more than 95% of students finish. If that number surprises you, here is why almost all of our students finish, and why we teach in batches.
How to choose your first course
For your very first painting, a simpler subject is a lovely place to begin, and you can learn it live online, in our Bangalore studio, or fully at your own pace with a DIY video course. Our guide to the three formats helps you pick the one that fits your life, and whichever you choose, it is built for a complete beginner.
Who you will be learning from
Every teacher at Tanjore Collective came up through the studio as a student first. Our founder, Vibha Raj, is an award-winning artist who learned from her mother, the master artist Vani Bhaskar, and she still teaches the hardest parts herself, the faces and the fine detailing. Spurthy GB, trained at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bangalore, leads the gold foil work, and Yashaswini Jaishankar, who began here as a student, leads the embossing. In a batch that means three to four pairs of experienced hands on your painting, not one.
"This is my first attempt at any form of painting so I was naturally doubtful if I could do this, but the way Vibha taught the process step by step without even realising I was able to see the Tanjore painting come to life."
As our guru and master artist Vani Bhaskar puts it, "Everyone is an artist. It's never too late, or too early to start."
That belief is why beginners finish with us. We hold a 5.0 rating from more than 450 Google reviews, and our teaching has been featured in Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times, Deccan Chronicle and Incredible India.
Frequently asked questions
I have never painted before. Can I really do this?
Yes. Every course is built for complete beginners, and thousands of our students started having never held a brush. We teach each step slowly and stay with you until you finish.
Do I need to know how to draw?
No. The sketch is provided and traced onto your canvas, so you start from a clear outline and focus on learning the Tanjore techniques.
How long until I finish my first painting?
You finish within the course: about 6.5 weeks for a simpler live painting, or at your own pace on a DIY course.
What if I waste the gold foil?
You are shown exactly how to handle the 24 karat gold before you touch it, with your teachers guiding the step, so you use it with confidence.
Am I too old to start?
Not at all. Our students range widely in age. If you have the wish to learn, there is a course and a pace for you.
Which course should a beginner start with?
A simpler deity is a gentle first choice. Pick the format that suits your life, live online, our Bangalore studio, or a self-paced DIY course, and we will take you from the blank canvas to a finished painting.
Do I need to buy my own materials?
No. The materials for your painting are arranged and sent to you, so there is nothing to source or figure out before you begin.
What if I fall behind during the course?
You will not be left behind. Live sessions are recorded so you can catch up at your own pace, and your teachers are on the WhatsApp group to help you through any step.
Starting is the only hard part, and it is far smaller than it looks from the outside. Whenever you are ready, our teachers will be right there with you, and we cannot wait for you to fall in love with this art form.
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