“I really enjoyed Susan's holistic approach to teaching. Though this is an urban sketching class, she goes way beyond teaching sketching techniques, of course she does that too, but what i found invaluable was her attention to the process, the mindset, how to observe, how to reflect, how to appreciate and how to learn. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to embark on an art journey!”

— April Lim

“I’ve been attending several watercolor online classes and read several art sketching how-to books, but Susan’s classes genuinely stands out. Her classes are a comprehensive combination of applying soft and hard skill sets- for the former, she emphasises heavily in trusting the process, getting comfortable in embracing imperfections and the latter— theory lessons such as colour theory, perspective, drawing humans etc. In general, all her classes are concise yet highly informative, and although it may be a watercolor course, she also spends time to ensure we understand the basics of sketching, which is not frequently covered by other instructors. Lastly, her jovial and empathetic disposition creates a no-judgement culture which has made the classes comfortable. Highly recommended :)”

— Jean Min Sin

"I have enjoyed Susan's Travelling Sketching class. Susan is very generous in sharing her knowledge and skills with us. I learnt how to look at values, perspective, proportion, drawing trees, human, water colour techniques and much more. More importantly, I learnt how to look my own process when I am drawing such as being aware of my inner critics. Thumbs up for Susan Olij's Travel Sketching Class"

— Chin Chen

” Susan was wonderful in helping me find my style. Her varied art knowledge, skills and general adaptability meant that she could flow with me into areas I showed more interest in or affinity for to deepen my techniques and understanding. We worked very well because I had a clear idea of what I wanted to sharpen, and she happily shared resources and techniques to help me get there. It's fun learning with Susan as she doesn't take things too seriously. I learnt alot from her re just letting go and not caring too much about perfection. Another key thing I learnt from her was recovery of mistakes. Once you know you can recover, it gives you the freedom to be more bold and experimental. Highly recommended!”

— Uen Li Chia.

“The best thing I have done for myself in a long time is to sign up for this class with Susan. Over the years I have done many classes and tried my hands in doing different art classes but always leave with a sense of disappointment. Susan managed to reignite my passion and interest, she patiently demonstrates and teaches and listens earnestly to all our feedback so that she can help us. In a way, it is like art therapy because there is much introspection. Thank you Susan, for teaching me how to see things in new light and while the learning from mistakes process may sometimes be discouraging and unpleasant, allow us to have a safe space to learn from each other.”

— Jessica N

“ As a complete beginner in watercolour, I spent 6 morning breakfast sessions with Susan learning how to do the basics. As someone who works in the finance sector and hadn’t touched a paintbrush for over 2 decades, I was a bit nervous when we started. A fish out of water I suppose!

Susan completely set me at ease. She created a really supportive and conducive environment for me to experiment with various techniques and refamiliarize myself with my creative side.

Her motto of “all art involves risk” defines how we approached learning. Try to drop your inhibitions and just go for it! As much as it was an art class, for me it was also a decompression from a very stressful phase in my professional life and I hugely enjoyed our many and varied conversations about art, life, philosophy and culture.

At the end of every session, I felt I had rediscovered a bit of my more carefree side. I would thoroughly recommend Susan to anyone wanting learn watercolour! She is a star! ”

— Charles D’Alton

“ Came expecting to fail art (again), left respectful of and excited to discover what I can create! Thanks, Susan! ”

— Yen

“ A comprehensive course coverage of what you need to Learn about drawings, from very basic shape, lines , shadows, textural, movement, patterns, and forms to interesting techniques using the viewfinder to sketch complex objects, hands, gestures, and portraits.

“Sketch with Live model is the ultimate highlight of the session; intense with a great sense of accomplishment grasping the concept of drawing human figures.”

— Markus Cheng

“ All the lessons were great. Each one amplify stuff that I never realize. How to observe, like the second lesson painting with you together at the same time. Like paint in the shadows and using the brush as a drawing tool which I know but afraid to try.  Although thumbnails are hard to do due to the size it forces me to see just the shapes.

Today's lesson using my left hand was kinda magical.I feel so relax no tension and look at the object and not the paper. You are a great teacher, you communicate so well and see and grasp my short comings and address it. It was the best art class I ever had.”

— Shanta Subramaniam

“ I love this Travel Sketching course! I feel so enriched and blessed ! It opens me up to an entirely different world of wonder from  understanding how  watercolour, shadows, light work to bring the picture to life  to  drawing nature, buildings, people etc .

Having zero skills , it could  initially be intimidating yet over time became  interestingly therapeutic. The vibes within the group and the " Play ! Make mistakes -it's ok !  Have-fun! Do-it-afraid!  You- never-know?!  "  encouragement by Susan are incredible.“

— Alice Chong

“ Travel Sketching has been a lot of fun! I've personally learnt a lot about perspective, depth and how to combine colors to create more expressive paintings.

Susan is a great instructor and I would recommend this course to anyone that wants to improve their skills or start their sketching journey.”

— Marcos Rodriguez

“ After retiring a year ago, I took the “risk”of signing up for a travel sketching course, knowing well that the last time I held a brush was during my secondary school days. But the course had taught me so much that I have gone from a nervous novice to a fairly confident sketcher. 

I have learned so much from Susan, not just the rudiments of sketching but also how to see things differently and to draw what I see, not think. She is always encouraging, enthusiastic and inspiring, and I appreciate her ability to facilitate rather than dictate. This is the start of my journey in travel sketching and I hope to continue sketching for as long as I can.”

— Kwok Kum Bo

“ The course greatly exceeded our expectations.  Susan is a wonderful teacher who is passionate about her craft. 

She succeeds in logically structuring the lessons while also keeping things spontaneous.  This makes learning stress-free and fun.  After a month and ten lessons, we now have the basic skills to sketch and watercolour confidently. ”

— Hock Koon Giam & Lim Shiau Yean

“ Susan is a great teacher who readily share us her knowledge and her travel sketching experience. From her teaching i can see her enthusiasm which drive everyone to believe in ourselves and dont discourage by our mistake ..she is a 5***** teacher and a friend too.”

—Lily Yeo

“ Thank you for your patient and selfless teaching.  You are always so approachable, and always encourage us with positive mindset. Your work inspired me to sketch more and never give up”

— Charmaine Tan

“ This course helped me to rediscover the joy of creating art. The temptation for anyone looking to improve their skills is to pick up more complex skills but Susan brings u back to the basics.

She also encourages you to ditch your pursuit of perfection and exploration, which turned out to be so helpful. I picked up so many tricks along the way while enjoying the process. A thoroughly refreshing course you won't regret attending!”

— Sheryl Chua

“ I have learnt so much from my 4 private lessons with Susan on portrait drawing, shading and painting with watercolours. Lots of tips on observation skills, shapes, lighting , etc.  I found that I could draw faces now without them looking funky.

Susan is a very inspirational and motivating teacher. Will come back for more lessons!”

— Linda Lek

“Hi Susan, You made me more confident in sketching something with ink and I learnt how to make the sketch more "loose". Your effort in gathering students in Yakun sketching group and your flexibility in accepting all kinds of materials we used is highly appreciated.  Thanks for this wonderful  experience. I will strongly recommend this class to those who are interested in urban sketching.”

— Carol Ang

“Thank you for your patient and selfless teaching.  You are always so approachable, and always encourage us with positive mindset. 

Your work inspired me to sketch more and never give up 💪🏻”

~ Charmaine Tan