Art Edu(cation)
This site is created and managed by @daitsaisan
All resources are listed by Free (Has no color) or Paid (has color).
Paid resources are further split into 3 categories of
Low ($1-$100),
Middle ($101-$500)
High (above $500)A couple resources may be mentioned a few times.
Last Updated: 5th June 2022
About
Art Edu is committed to providing up to date resources on art education.This site was made in mind for all the artists that want to learn something but aren't sure where to start.I have compiled resources that I have personally taken and fellow artists have suggested as well. There's something in there for all artists no matter your skill level!Happy learning!
Frequently Asked Questions
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General Art Foundations
*The head is usually separate from gesture drawing and anatomy because of how broad covering the head is. From the eyes, nose, mouth, ears down to the expressions. So the head is made a separate category!
**A common mistake is calling gesture drawing "anatomy," when they are in fact different.
Gesture is the movement, flow or rhythm of a pose when anatomy is specifically the study of bones and muscles. Figure drawing refers to drawing the figure so naturally that includes gesture AND anatomy.
Keep this in mind when checking the two different sections.
You may find "How to draw arm muscles" in the Figure/Gesture section.
But you won't find "How to draw flowy bodies" in Anatomy.
If you are a beginner in art confused on where to go or start and all these different resources seem overwhelming my advice is to just pick one resource that covers general drawing. Once you have a little footing then you can branch out and start studying different resources.My personal recommendation is Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. A book by Michael Hampton.
I got mine for $25 but you can find it free online if you know where to look ;)
General Foundations (Misc stuff)
□ Drawabox
Drawabox is a set of free exercise-based lessons that focus on the fundamentals - the skills you'll need to make sense of all the other resources and tutorials out there. It offers assignments and lessons along with a whole community dedicated to giving and receiving critiques as well as paid critiques.
□ Shapes and Forms
An informative video on the importance of shapes and forms! From this YouTube video you will learn to recognise and see and breakdown simple shapes and forms in the world around you which is very important to art education.
□ Art Prof
Art Prof is a huge database of free tutorials in various topics. They have whole structured curriculums, and provide free art critiques. Their tutorials provide practical, accessible techniques in drawing, digital media, painting, printmaking, 3D art, animation, and more
Head
□ Proko Head Drawing Youtube Playlist
This playlist covers drawing the head in different angles
□ Proko Facial Features Youtube Playlist
This playlist covers drawing facial features like the nose, eyes, mouth etc
■ Proko Portrait Drawing Course
This is the complete course on drawing the head. Includes the free lessons and premium lessons as well! $59 for the course alone.
■ Anatomy of Facial Expression (PDF)
Very detailed book on facial expressions at $45. You can also get the hardcopy in paperback or hardcover for $55 and $100 respectively.
■ Form of the Head and Neck (PDF)
PDF on the forms if the head and neck at $45. You can also get the hardcopy in paperback or hardcover for $55 and $100 respectively.
Figure/Gesture Drawing
■ Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. A book by Michael Hampton
My personal recommendation for anyone looking to start learning figure drawing. This book is perfect even for those that just want to freshen up their memory on figures. Check for the book at your nearest bookstore/library/seller. About $25.
□ Proko Figure Drawing Youtube Playlist
This playlist covers all the free videos Proko has made on figure drawing which covers gesture drawing
□ Love Life Drawing
Love Life Drawing is a gold mine for free figure drawing lessons & tips. They have a beginner course for life drawing, and a whole bunch of other figure drawing videos.
■ Proko Figure Drawing Course
This is the complete course on figure drawing. Includes the free lessons and premium lessons as well! $109 for the course.
■ Force Drawing
Force Drawing is an online art school created by Michael Mattesi. He is the creator of the FORCE drawing books and theory. Includes the FORCE basics, form, shape and anatomy. Get each course for $120 or all for $450.
■ FORCE: Dynamic Life Drawing by Michael Mattesi
This book is a bit more on the expensive side in terms of drawing books, but highly worth it. The FORCE drawing theory is something I've come to love and rely on in all my figure drawings. About $50 or more. Check for the book at your nearest bookstore/library/seller.
Anatomy
□ Proko Anatomy Youtube Playlist
This playlist covers all the free videos Proko has made on anatomy of the human body. Includes muscles, bones and details.
□ Proko Hands Anatomy Youtube Playlist
This playlist covers the anatomy of hands.
■ Proko Anatomy Course
This is the complete course on anatomy by Proko. Includes the free lessons and premium lessons as well! $115 each for the torso, legs and arms course coming to a total of $345 if you purchase it separately but you get a discount if you purchase them all together to reduce the price to $276.
■ Anatomy for Sculptors (PDF)
Very detailed anatomy book at $45. It says anatomy for "Sculptors," but you don't have to be a sculptor lol. You can also get the hardcopy in paperback or hardcover for $55 and $100 respectively.
■ FORCE: Human Anatomy by Michael Mattesi
This book is also a bit more on the expensive side in terms of drawing books, but highly worth it after FORCE: Dynamic Life Drawing also by Michael Mattesi. $60 or more. Check for the book at your nearest bookstore/library/seller.
Perspective
■ Practical Perspective by PaintwithNick
Contains everything you need to know about perspective. At only $25!
□ Perspective 1 by DevinElleKurtz
Simple guide on perspective by Devin Elle Kurtz on Instagram
□ Perspective 2 by DevinElleKurtz
Second guide on perspective by Devin Elle Kurtz on Instagram
Composition
■ Pictorial Composition by Nathan Fowkes
Course taught by renowned artist Nathan Fowkes on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
Color and Lighting
■ Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter. A book by James Gurney
A must have book on Color and Light by James Gurney. This is the Amazon link but do check your local bookstores/libraries for one!
■ Fundamentals of Lighting with Sam Nielson
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Lighting for Story and Concept Art with Sam Nielson
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Designing with Color and Light with Nathan Fowkes
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Painting with Light and Color with Tonko House and Cody Gramstad
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Painting with Light and Color with Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
Digital Painting
□ 10 Minutes to Better Painting Series by Marco Bucci
10 minutes to better painting by Marco Bucci is a fantastic series on digital painting on YouTube. With the videos only being 10 minutes it offers great knowledge in a short amount of time. There's one on color, light and shadow, perspective and more!
□ Ctrl+Paint
Ctrl+Paint is a free learning resource dedicated to the basics of digital painting. Each bite-sized video covers a different concept, allowing you to learn complex subjects in manageable increments.
■ Foolproof Concept Painting with Airi Pan
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Digital Painting with Bobby Chiu
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Digital Painting with Craig Mullins
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
Animals
■ Felines with Terryl Whitlatch
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Creature Anatomy with Terryl Whitlatch
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ FORCE: Animal Drawing by Michael Mattesi
Learn to draw Animals using the FORCE method taught by Michael Mattesi in this book! More or less than $50. Check for the book at your nearest bookstore/library/seller.
Comics
Comic Resources
□ Go Komikimok!
Go Komikimok! on Twitter is a group of Southeast-Asian comic creators that aim to foster growth with marginalized comic creators through free online resources!
Comic Tutorials
I'm still working on this section, please check back later!
If you have resources you want to suggest please fill out the appropriate form here
□ Super comic paneling thread by @h0lysarthole on Twitter
Go Komikimok! on Twitter is a group of Southeast-Asian comic creators that aim to foster growth with marginalized comic creators through free online resources!
Animation
*Background is shortened to BG or bg
General Animation
□ YouTube Playlist by Toniko Pantoja
Toniko Pantoja offers a bunch of great tips, tutorials and advice on animation and storyboarding. They are definitely worth checking out!
■ The Complete Introduction to 2D Animation by Toniko Pantoja
Learn how to animate in 2d with Toniko Pantoja in this full animation course! Go through ball animations to entire walk cycles with him! All for $350.
□ YouTube Playlist by Yuya Takahashi
Animation process explained (subbed in English and Japanese) by animator Yuya Takahashi done in Clip Studio Paint.
Storyboarding
□ Drawing & Composition for Visual Storytelling
A site for beginners on storyboarding, composition, framing (and more!) which also includes links to other resources, programs, tutorials. An entire hub for storyboard resources you need to check out!
□ Storyboarding Tips and Tricks by Jim Mortensen
It's free but do give tips if you are able to!
□ A Guide to Storyboards by MagicBunnyArt
It's free but do give tips if you are able to!
□ Let's Learn Some Storyboarding with Nic Parris
This is a straightfoward breakdown of the basic principles and process of storyboarding. It's not super text heavy and everything is explained with a visual example so it's pretty easy to understand. It's free but give tips if you are able to!
□ Basic Perspective for Storyboards with Bridget Underwood
This is a guide that goes over how to incorporate perspective into storyboarding. It doesnt dive too deep into teaching perspective itself but it does talk about how to use perspective for certain shots, and how use basic exercises to build a better understanding of perspective. Free but give tips if you can!
■ Storyboarding with Kris Pearn
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
Character Design
□ Character Design References
Character Design References (CDR) is an independent website dedicated to sequential, illustrative and concept art from animation, games, and comics. It has references for various types of characters (by age, gender, body type, etc.) and even interviews from professional character designers in the industry.
■ Conceptual Characters with Wouter Tulp
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Expressive Characters with Wouter Tulp
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Characters for Animated Film with Daniel Arriaga
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ FORCE: Character Design from Life Drawing
Learn to draw expressive and gestural characters using the FORCE method taught by Michael Mattesi in this book! More or less than $50.
Check for the book at your nearest bookstore/library/seller.
Visual Development/Concept Art
■ Foolproof Concept Painting with Airi Pan
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Visual Development for Television with Chrystin Garland
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Introduction to Visual Development with Victoria Ying
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
Environment Art/BG Design/Paint
*Background is shortened to BG or bg
□ Bgs with DevinElleKurtz on Instagram
Devin shows her process with drawing her artworks along with tutorials saved on her Instagram stories! Definitely check them out!
□ **Devin Elle Kurtz's Bg tutorial masterlist **
This is Devin Elle Kurtz’s master list of her art tutorials, brushes, tips, etc! There’s a lot of lighting work & brush sets, painting water & foliage tutorials and things. She has examples & picture walkthroughs.
□ [Bg design tips with @skulptduggery on Twitter]
Check out the hashtag ##Bgdesigninsmallbites on Twitter for some simple and easy bg design tips by Skulptduggery
■ Environment and Light with John Burton
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Environment Design with Nathan Fowkes
Course taught on Schoolism. Schoolism is $30 per month or $300 per year.
3D
□ CrossMind Studio
If you want to get into 3D with Blender, CrossMind Studio on YouTube is a good place to start. It goes from the absolute basics to more advanced things like animation and rendering. There are also other tutorial series on the channel that are a bit more advanced and specific.
Online Art School
These online art schools provide prerecorded courses. Classes are not live and spots to take classes are unlimited. Though critiques/feedback have limited spots.
■ Domestika
Domestika offers great courses that cover beginner topics up to advanced learning taught by some of the best industry professionals. Courses are around $50 but they offer discounts and sales often. You keep the courses forever.
■ Schoolism
Schoolism is one of the best online art schools offering a range of digital and traditional art courses taught by industry professionals. It is $30 per month or $300 per year.
■ Proko
Proko offers gesture and anatomy courses as well as brings teachers and industry professionals in for other paid courses and free livestreams!
■ Class101
Class101 offers a ton of great classes taught by different professional artists. Pricing is less than $250 but they often do discounts!
■ Force Drawing
Force Drawing is an online art school created by Michael Mattesi. He is the creator of the FORCE drawing books and theory. Also offers one on one paid tutoring!
■ Etchr Studio
Etchr Studio is an online art learning platform that offers mostly traditional art class recordings all under $50. The bigger courses are around $50, but a lot of them are much cheaper around $5-10. Covers topics on watercolor, gouache, ink, urban sketching and more!
■ New Masters Academy (NMA)
NMA is an online art school also offering live classes with great teachers and artists like Glenn Vilppu and more. Starting at $39 per month or $420 per year.
Online Live Classes and/or Workshops
These classes are taught live and spots are limited.
■ Project City
Classes are taught live and recorded for a limited time by industry art professionals. Classes cover a variety of topics on animation and comics including but not limited to storyboarding, gesture drawing, concept art, webcomics and more!
■ Warrior Art Camp
Offers a variety of courses live by industry art professionals.
■ OC Art Studios
OC Art Studios hosts online live classes and workshops on fundamentals of drawing. They provide free education to any identifying Black artist through sponsorships from donors and funded by the registration fees of paid students. Classes go for about $300.
■ Brainstorm School
Brainstorm School offers a full learning experience for beginners to seasoned professionals. They offer foundation, digital painting and design courses focused around character design, environment design and prop design. Their classes are held online and are more or less $800. Classes are recorded and kept up for a week. Their workshops go for much less at $40. Workshops are held live and won't be recorded.
■ Smart School
Smart school focuses on small and interactive classes. They go for $2500. You can watch a class without interacting for $495.
■ Sequential Artists Workshop
Teaching online classes for comics and graphic novels. Pricing ranges from free to $20 to $200 and more.
■ Winged Canvas
Winged Canvas is an online visual arts school specializing in virtual art classes and art mentorship. They also provide free art tutorials and livestreams on their YouTube channel! They offer classes to kids, teens and adults! Pricing ranges from $48-$350.
Individual Mentorships/Tutoring
If you are offering mentorships/tutoring (free or paid) please fill out the appropriate form here
□ WNDB Mentorships
This Mentorship program aims to support writers and illustrators by pairing them with an experienced professional in the field. Their mentors work one-on-one with a mentee and their completed draft of a manuscript over the course of a year, offering advice to improve craft and to better understand the publishing industry.
■ Paid Mentorship by Paul Scott Canavan
Paul offers reviews of your work on Patreon for $150 or $500. Paul is an illustrator, concept artist and Art Director who has worked on properties including Magic: the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, Destiny 2, Guild Wars 2, Artifact, League of Legends and loads more.
■ Paid Tutoring by Emily
Emily is an Animation Student Attending Seneca College and Drawing Teacher with 3+ Years of Experience! Emily also teaches kids! $30 per hour, paid on a lesson to lesson basis (so $30 a lesson if you have 1 hour lessons) Lessons also take place via webcam over discord.
References
□ Pinterest
Believe it or not Pinterest is a really powerful reference app! You can save and collect pictures on your boards, organise them and so on!
□ AdorkaStock
AdorkaStock offers free and paid stock photos of different models. Remember to check their licensing before you use any photo!
□ JookpubStock
JookpubStock also offers free and paid stock photos. Remember to check their rules before you use any photo!
□ Fatphotoref
Fatphotoref offers free stock photos of fat models. The site is password locked.
■ Photoref.org
Photoref.org offers reference photos of gorgeous environments. Each pack is less than $20.
□ Line of Action
Offers free timed poses of nude and clothed models, animals, facial expressions and more!
□ QuickPoses
Quickposes is great for timed figure drawing! Their site is easy to navigate and after each session they show you all the photos from that session so you can go back and review them or download for future use.
□ PureRef
PureRef is a reference app! It can stay on top of other programs so you can draw and also have it next to your drawing software. It's completely free and you can even drag and drop pictures from your Pinterest boards, or from anywhere else!
□ Bodies In Motion
Bodies in Motion is an amazing reference tool for artists and animators showing different models in motion. Unlike reference photos, learning from bodies moving will be great to helping you understand the movement and flow the body naturally has as this is often missed in still photos. It's free but you can pay to access more of the site. Price ranges from $25 per year to $195 per year.
□ MagicPoser
MagicPoser is a great tool for character posing, art reference and easy 3D creation. It also has a wide array of models (realistic/semi realistic/stylized models etc) for free. There are paid add-ons but it works very well with just the free assets
□ DesignDoll
Design Doll is a software program that can freely manipulate human body models in 3D space. You can change the proportions of the models to suit your preferences. It's free but you need to pay to use some features. Pricing is at $79.
□ Free Photo Muscle
Reference site filled with buffed people. This is a real site.
□ Animal Skulls
3d rotatable reference site of animal skulls. To use this site, you rotate a 3D animal skull, choose a species, and then click "Search": A bunch of animals will appear looking in the direction you put the 3D skull in.
(the selected skull can also be changed for easier work)
□ SketchDaily
SketchDaily is a timed figure drawing site. They also offer photos of hands, feet, heads, animals and vegetation!
□ Pexels
Pexels has thousands of high quality free stock photos and videos you can use as reference
■ VIShopper
Vishopper is a reference site featuring cut out people and props! Register and pay with credits as low as $0.40 per image or pay directly with USD for $5 per image!
Digital Art Softwares
■ Clip Studio Paint (CSP)
Clip Studio Paint is $50 but often goes on sale every season and cuts the price down to $25. A powerful drawing software that can do illustrations, comics, animations and probably more.You can even import 3d models and draw over them. It saves time and cuts your stress in half.Take note that CSP is a subscription on mobile devices. It has a free trial for all devices!Pspspsps CSP pls sponsor me
□ CSP Masterlist by @Vampbyte
Zack/@vampbyte compiled a list of helpful tutorials for CSP made by him
□ CSP Assets Masterlist by @maybeitsnana
Nana/@maybeitsnana compiled a list of awesome CSP assets like brushes, auto actions, textures and more!
□ CSP Tips
CSP has a site for free tutorials! There's probably something already there on how to use its different tools.
□ CSP Youtube
Yes, they even have a YouTube channel with free tutorials. CSP is that great of a program.
(I swear I'm not sponsored by them)
■ Procreate
It's $10 and a one time payment. A great software for the ipad!
□ Bardot Brush
YouTube channel for simple Procreate illustrations
■ Bardot Brush Store ♡
Buy Procreate brushes! Brush packs less than $20
□ Blender
Blender is a free downloadable program and has an interface similar to Maya, but with many more tools, the program can be used to do both 3D and 2D animation, as well as sculpting and rigging. The updates are free.
□ Blender Guru by Andrew Price for Blender (3D)
Blender Guru YouTube channel is filled with tutorials and videos on Blender. Content is free, accessible and great for beginners to the software!
□ HEAVYPAINT
HEAVYPAINT is not like other drawing programs. It's strange, it's difficult to get used to, but boy is it worth it if you want to level up your painting game. It strips you away from all the powerful tools you're used to and gives you the basic-est of tools and a pat on the back with hopes you come out with a masterpiece painting.In fact, you will often find yourself wondering how artists can even use the program at all because all the paintings you do in it are horrendous. How do they use the program like gods and you're stuck with it as if you've never drawn in your life, it's truly a mystery.But if you keep at it I promise, you will end up with a decent painting soon enough. It might take a while, but SURELY, soon enough. You may even cry in between, just a couple times but SURELYYYY!!!!!!!!Oh by the way it's free for mobile devices and computers!
□ HEAVYPOLY YouTube
YouTube channel where the creator livestreams paintings done on the app
□ InfinitePainter
Infinite Painter is free but costs $10 to unlock all tools. One of the best programs I have seen in terms of brushes. The brushes are so realistic and have such nice textures. A simple but also amazing program! Available on mobile devices!
■ PaintTool SAI
PaintTool SAI is a simple but also great drawing program. Great for beginners and folks looking to start digital drawing. It's around $50 but also has a 31 day free trial!
□ Krita
Krita is a professional FREE and open source painting program. It is made by artists that want to see affordable art tools for everyone. It has tons of amazing brushes and you can animate in it as well!
□ Krita Manual
Krita has an official site where they show how to use its tool and other tips and tutorials!
Helpful Art Sites
□ Paper Cat Press
Paper Cat Press is a curated collection of opportunities for animators, illustrators, comic creators, and writers.
Databases
List of people/persons/companies/orgs
□ AgentsforIllustrators
Looking for an agent? This site is for you!
□ Literary Agents for Graphic Novels
This is a list of literary agents who represent graphic novels and comics. Every agency on the list has mentioned an interest in graphic novels either on their website or their blog, or made a GN sale– no second-hand info unless it was well vouched for.
□ Queer Cartoonists Database
Looking for a queer cartoonist? This is da site! Or are you a queer cartoonist? Check if submissions are open so you too can be on the database!
□ Cartoonists of Color Database
Looking for a cartoonist of color? This is thee site! Or are you a cartoonist of color? Check if submissions are open so you too can be on the database!
□ Disabled Cartoonists Database
Looking for a disabled cartoonist? This is the site for ya! Or are you a disabled cartoonist? Check if submissions are open so you too can be on the database!