Create an art studio, give the lot the generic lot type, and the Art Studio lot trait. The Art Studio lot trait is required for the lot to spawn the art instructor and one art student to form the class.
In CAS give your Sim the Art Student trait.
From your home lot or someplace other than the art studio start a social event. Select Art Class for $25. Pick the art studio you built and the class will begin. Give it a few minutes for the art instructor and student to spawn. If they don’t make their way to an art easel, introduce yourself to the instructor, click the terrain near the art easels and choose “Chat Here”. The npc will move close enough to start painting.
All Art Class social interactions are performed on the npc art instructor. The custom interactions will loot large amounts of painting skill, making it very easy to learn painting from just one class.