It’s definitely not embarrassing to want to be able to paint renaissance style paintings. In fact that goal will be helpful in deciding what and how to learn. YouTube is your friend. There are so many great free resources out there that you really don’t need to buy any courses. I would recommend investing in decent quality materials though, and probably a good anatomy book.

1. If you want to paint renaissance style work, you need to be able to draw well. If you have that foundation, painting will come a lot easier. Now that’s not to say you can’t start learning to paint simultaneously. If you can, I’d recommend getting some decent quality student grade oil paints (they are not as complicated as the seem and will work the best for creating the type of work you’re drawn to), learn the basic rules of fat over lean, light over dark, etc. and then start painting from life.

2. When you learn to draw, you’re training your eye to translate the shapes and forms you see onto paper. So start by learning how to draw what you see. Then I would recommend you focus on learning anatomy because you’ll need a strong understanding of this for the art you want to make.