Most of us took an art class in school. We did a little drawing, some coloring, and a fair bit of painting. But as the ‘more serious’ subjects took over to make our grades go up, art took a backseat. Now, we can barely make a tree that doesn’t resemble a cloud or a flower that doesn’t look like perhaps a bee stung it a little too hard. While some people have an innate talent for drawing, anyone can learn how to draw, it doesn’t matter whether you are 16 or 60.
Many tutorials on YouTube and Instagram are quite handy in teaching you some basics of drawing. But it can be a pain to find one that can help when you are just starting. It can be a little too overwhelming as they all focus on different things—some start with color theory, others with perspective or the physics of light. So, we decided to whittle it down for you. Here are five online resources that can help you get started and soon create a masterpiece that is worthy of being hung in your living room.
Arty Factory
This site has an ever-growing resource of free art tutorials. Since the website is supported by advertisements, you don’t need to pay for a lesson. Arty Factory focuses on free art lessons, art appreciation techniques, and free design lessons. The art lessons include segments like pencil drawing, how to draw animals, ancient Egyptian art tutorials, and perspective drawing. The art appreciation section includes easy-to-digest information about the art of different eras, movements, styles, and techniques. The design lessons encompass color theory, graphic design, typography, and more. The resource is designed in a way to help you work on your artistic skills while making you enjoy the process of creating an artwork.
Drawing Now
Drawing Now might be a great site for kids to get started on learning how to draw but it can also teach beginners of all ages the basics to feel like they have got a grasp on things. It has thousands of free step-by-step drawing lessons. You can learn how to draw cartoon-style animals and characters. There are also tips on sketching in each tutorial. Learn to draw Puss in Boots, Super Mario, Mickey Mouse, The Grinch, and a horde of other fun characters. You can even send them a request for your favorite cartoon character and they will make a video on it. The best thing is that you can print the tutorial pages and work on them offline, in your own time. The site has broken down the tutorials according to grades so it’s easy to keep track of your progress or join in on a level you feel comfortable with.
Proko
With drawing tutorials by Stan Prokopenko who was born in Ukraine during the Chernobyl, Proko has many professional drawing courses. Most of them are paid courses though. But there are plenty of free tutorials as well. You can check them out and decide if you want to invest in a professional course. Most of the videos start with the basics before moving on to more advanced techniques. You can learn basic shading and three-dimensional effects, figure or portrait drawing among many other things. The basic drawing course, which is free, has 27 lessons. The fundamentals of figure drawing has 32 videos. Anatomy of the human body has 115 free lessons. So, there is plenty of material for you to go through before stepping it up a notch with the paid versions.
Drawspace
Drawspace operates with the principle that everyone can draw if given the right resources and tips. Here, you can get more than 500 classes for all levels and learn to draw and sketch. The user-friendly layout helps you gradually build up your skills. There are both free and paid classes. You have to register (for free) to be able to access them. The lessons are tested by teachers, professors, and instructors. The site also provides many downloadable PDF tutorials that have detailed instructions. The curriculum provided by Drawspace is used by millions of students and teachers alike around the world so it’s pretty comprehensive. Whether you want to learn a new skill, spark your creativity, or boost your memory, Drawspace lessons are designed to benefit people of all ages and skill levels.
Creative Blog
This is a really fun website that will teach you how to draw while giving you a bunch of other great materials to learn from as well. Creative Blog is an art and design magazine site where you will find a selection of drawing tutorials for beginners. These include videos and written guides that teach you how to draw a cat, a dog, a dragon, people, and more. Be prepared to get lost in this world of amazing content. You can learn how to make your artwork seem bright or paint a snowy scene in watercolor while also learning how to fix a black screen on MacBook or use Pages on iOS.
