Self-taught is a totally viable way to learn to draw and paint. There are so many great classes to watch from your home computer that it would be foolish to ignore their potential. But there are way too many video classes online that promise to make you a great artist. The truth is you have to make yourself a great artist; These videos can only serve as a guide. And with so many choices, it can be difficult to know where to start. This post specifically covers the best paid and free digital art classes online that can be streamed online or downloaded to your computer.
What is Digital Art
Digital art can be defined as the type of art created using graphics software. Instead of using graphite, charcoal, and paper, digital artists draw using a computer and another digital device, such as a pen or mouse. There are also digital drawing programs that offer useful features like brush sets, layers, color palettes, pressure-sensitive strokes, and other features. Compared to its traditional art counterpart, digital art is unaffected by the numerous limitations associated with the material world. As an artist, the digital world offers you all the essential tools you need to develop an extraordinary work of art. You can retrieve all the colors that the human eye can see, erase without a trace, and change the vibrancy and brightness, all with a pen and graphics tablet at your disposal.
What Are the Benefits of Digital Art classes?
While some people see technology as a significant threat to originality as it seeks to replace traditional art-making, there are compelling reasons to believe that digital art could be beneficial in its own right. In fact, studies have proven that digital tools in art education promote artistic development as creativity. Below are some of the benefits associated with digital drawing:
- Digital art saves a lot of space: paintings and drawings always take up a lot of physical space. The pieces of paper that you accumulate along with drawing materials when drawing can take up a lot of space. On the other hand, digital art only takes up disk space on your computer. And with accessible cloud storage technology, you have almost unlimited storage space to create and store your artwork. Digital Drawing is Perfect for Beginners: If you are an aspiring artist, digital drawing offers you a great platform to jump-start your career in art. These awesome digital features can be a great way to learn and master different artistic styles and build a little confidence as you find your feet in the art world.
- Digital art can be time-consuming: Drawing with graphite pencils and oil painting are some of my favorite art mediums. From the different textures, you might be able to create to the pens to the smell of the paint, it’s going to take you a lot of time to set all of this up and find your final piece. More specifically, you spend a lot of time mixing colors and then cleaning up palettes and brushes. However, with digital art painting, you can quickly start a digital oil painting in a few seconds, and when you’re done, you can clean up everything with the touch of a button.
- More exploration: The possibilities for experimentation with digital art are almost endless. While digital art may seem like a breeze in the ocean, it most certainly isn’t! This is especially true if you want to venture into professional digital drawing. No matter why you are interested in digital art, we have you covered. See also 17 Best Online Art Classes For Beginners And Advance | 2022
What are some of the best digital art classes?
As mentioned earlier, there are many digital art classes online. That means the prospect of finding the best online course that suits your needs and preferences can be a bit of a challenge.
1. Free Digital Art classes (Skillshare)
Skillshare has always been an excellent e-learning platform for all types of individuals, and this time it offers a list of several digital art classes that can help you go from beginner to digital art pro. The list is made up of various classes and lessons, but top-rated classes include Intro to Procreate: Illustrating on the iPad Pro, Digital Painting: Create a Concept Scene, The Beginners Guide to Digital Art with Procreate, and How to Color your Digital Paintings with Adobe Photoshop. Enrolling in these classes will take you on a journey of learning about Digital Arts concepts, tools, and applications. Additionally, some of the classes are integrated into a certification program, allowing you to earn a final certification. Duration: Self-paced Rating: 4.5 out of 5
2. Top Digital Art classes (Udemy)
The digital art classes cover topics such as the basics of line drawing and creating shapes. Learn how to sketch scenes from your imagination. Understand the color theory and master the art of storytelling. / Learn how to work with online art programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Procreate. Learn non-destructive editing techniques and know-how to use brushes and color pickers. Learn about lighting, space, and texture. The paid classes come with a 30-day money-back guarantee for students who are dissatisfied with the course content. The programs are divided into levels such as beginner, intermediate, expert, and all levels. Duration: Self-Paced Rating: 4.6 out of 5
3. Complete Beginners Guide to Digital Art (Udemy)
If you’re just getting interested in digital art because you have a hobby of creating your own illustrations, then enrolling in this course could be the right choice for you. It is an in-depth course that will take you from beginner to pro with great skills. The skills you acquire here will improve your own work and give you a solid foundation for learning other online classes or books. The course instructor, Rich Grayson, is a professional artist who believes that art is one of the most beautiful things man has given himself. That’s why he wants to use these classes to spread his skills and knowledge as much as possible. Duration: 23 hours Rating: 4.5 out of 5
4. Drawing & Painting on iPad with Procreate (Udemy)
The iPad is one of the best devices to be invented in the 21st century, not only for entertainment but also with numerous features and apps to help you learn and experience digital art. This course focuses on teaching you to draw and paint using Procreate, one of the best drawing apps available only for iPads. Aside from Procreate, you will also go through other apps and tools that can help in learning to draw and paint digitally. The instructor, Brad Collbow, is a veteran graphic designer and illustrator known for publishing various comics. He will help you study in every class. Duration: 1-2 days Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Also Read about Art Institute of Houston Review| Acceptance Rate, & Tuition Fee
5. Ultimate Guide to Digital Sketching (Udemy)
If you are interested in learning digital drawing arts, this course from Udemy can help you achieve your goals. In this course you will learn how to digitally sketch and draw skillful images that will be considered professional work. In addition, the skills you learn with this course can also be transferred to other programs such as Photoshop or Procreate. Even if you have no prior drawing and sketching skills, this course will help you create a professional drawing in no time. Also, it is included in sketch projects that you must complete at the end of the course to receive your certificate of completion. Duration: 1-2 days Rating: 4.5 out of 5
6. FREE Course – Free Digital Art classes and Tutorials (Udemy)
Udemy offers several free digital art learning classes for anyone who wants to try their hand at it. You can browse the course library and choose what you think might be right for you. These lessons are bite-sized and you can easily follow the instructions at the same time to apply what you’ve learned. Once you’re comfortable with the software or app you’re learning in the free classes of your choice, you can upgrade your course to become certified and gain access to advanced digital art lessons. So get started with these free digital art classes to unleash your creativity. Duration: Variable Rating: 4.6 out of 5
7. Best Digital Painting classes (DigitalDefynd)
Digital Defynd is among the platforms that help individuals gain access to the best and most valuable online classes. These lists of the best digital painting classes include the top five painting classes, classes, and tutorials handpicked by the top-rated and recognized e-learning platforms. What makes Digital Defynd a great resource for choosing your course is that it comes with a detailed description of the classes, meaning you can get all the information about multiple digital painting classes in one place. In addition, you can complete a curriculum based on user ratings and time to complete. Duration: Self-paced Rating: 4.5 out of 5
8. Udemy: A Pro’s Guide to Digital Comic Book Coloring
This is another very comprehensive digital drawing course, covering everything from the basics of layering to finishing pieces with unique effects. You’ll also learn about color theory, techniques for adding color to line art in different styles, tips for creating portfolios, and other important digital coloring techniques. You’ll learn which layers work best for different effects and save time using various tricks, tips, and shortcuts that are vital when working in comic art production.
9. SmArt School:
This platform partner with some of the best teachers who are at the top of their field. The Smart Art School has an illustrative teaching methodology with a truly impressive roster of tutors, including Todd Lockwood, Donato Giancola, and Greg Manchess, as well as a wide range of special guests who are recognized professionals in the arts industry. This top-notch online course material was founded by Rebecca Leveille, whose main goal is to bring together some of the best-known and most celebrated illustrations and artists to help aspiring artists learn the basics of art. This platform allows you to interact freely with some of the world’s best artists in a very personal and productive way, to the great benefit of your work and a possible successful future in the illustration world or art industry. Unlike the more conventional online school structure, which usually revolves around pre-recorded tutorial clips coupled with critique sessions, this dedicated digital art school offers its classes live using GoToMeeting.
10. Udemy: Learn to Become a Digital Artist using Corel Painter
The course is designed for anyone who loves digital art, from the web and graphic designers to photographers and animators to Corel painters and art enthusiasts. For those new to digital art drawing, Corel Painter refers to raster-based digital art software designed to simulate as closely as possible the behavior as well as the appearance of traditional media associated with printmaking, painting, and drawing. It is a functional creative tool intended to be used by professional creatives in real-time. It offers a spectrum of traditional artists’ tools and materials. Using a mouse or graphics tablet, you can quickly reproduce the effect of physical drawing and painting media such as colored pencil, charcoal, oil, or watercolor.
11. Skillshare: Ink Illustration Techniques in Procreate
The course will show you what it takes to become a digital artist. The fundamental skills you will learn in this course will help you use color more confidently and create amazing works of art. It’s also important to note that with the Corel Painter free download, Udemy learned how to become a digital artist, which includes five hours of on-demand videos, eight articles, and fifty-five downloadable materials. You’ll learn how to use dots and ink lines to add shadows, depth, and highlights to your work. Additionally, you’ll be guided through various hatching, stippling, and crosshatching tips and techniques, and learn how to add bold colors to your linework to add contrast and variation and make your art stand out online and in print.
12. SkillShare: Isometric Illustration in Procreate: Design Your Dream Room:
An isometric view allows you to easily represent a three-dimensional object on a flat two-dimensional surface. Before websites started using isometric illustrations, they were previously used by technical illustrators, engineers, and architects. Today, isometric illustrations remain the most popular design trends simply because they make your artwork look amazing. Also, see Best 20 Art Therapy Degree Online | 2022
13. SkillShare: Character Painting- Design and Render like a Pro:
Even very successful digital artists have a lot to learn and in order not to stagnate and be left behind, as a creative you need to push your limits and improve your digital drawing skills. And that doesn’t mean learning new software techniques or making sure you have the best pens available. You’ll also need to refresh and hone your basic artistic skills to ensure you can create brilliant graphics with ease, whatever your medium.
14. Udemy: The Ultimate Digital Painting Course – Beginner to Advanced
Here is another useful and comprehensive course worth your time and investment. You will learn digital painting techniques, drawing basics, color theory, photorealistic painting, and how to improve conceptual art and perspective. The Ultimate Digital Painting Course teaches you how to create advanced art that can catch on as a professional job. It’s a course that will give you all the essential skills you need to get ahead in the world of digital painting. The course is designed to take you straight through a detailed digital drawing process and painting in a variety of styles. It will give you the knowledge needed to create beautiful designs and illustrations. Other platforms to take advantage of include;
15. Proko
Stan Prokopenko is an accomplished visual artist who studied (and now teaches) at Watts Atelier in California. Stan posts a few series of videos online teaching artists various techniques he’s learned over the years. Every video is extremely high quality. Every video he uploads to YouTube is free, but these free videos are just a small part of his full premium classes. This is the best course for beginners to start with because it teaches the basics of form and how to apply form to the human figure.
16. Paintable
The online Paintable classes cover absolutely everything about digital art. If you want to get into animation, concept art, webcomics, or anything like that, you need to learn digital painting. And honestly, this is the absolute best place to start with digital art. Their library operates on a recurring subscription model, so you pay a monthly fee but get access to all of their lessons. The entire course library is incredibly well organized and the videos are divided into sections covering every single topic you can think of. This means detailed portrait painting techniques as well as basic digital painting fundamentals like how to set up a tablet and the purpose of an artist’s glove.
17. Digital Painting Studio
Digital Painting Studio is truly the best online resource for professional conceptual art training. This library of classes focuses on one thing and does it very well: teaching you how to be a professional entertainer. Whether you want a career in character design, video game environments, or general entertainment art for film or animation, this library has what you need. It has a conceptual art leaning, so if this is your dream career, be sure to check out their membership. They offer a monthly subscription that gives you access to the entire library.
18. Vitruvian Studio
David Jamieson’s Vitruvian Studio classes are simply amazing. They cover the basics of the art in a way that is easily accessible for beginners who need a strong starting point. Every artist should study the basic fundamentals as they play a role in every type of art, from conceptual art to traditional oil painting, from animation to character design and webcomics, and everything in between. Complete beginners should start with Vitruvian’s Basic Drawing Course. This teaches the absolute basics of learning to draw with a pencil, and all of these techniques translate well to the digital world when you switch to a tablet.
19. Pencil Kings
Professional artists from Marvel, EA, DreamWorks, and other major studios use Pencil Kings to sharpen their skills. This site is great because it caters to everyone, from beginners to professionals looking to broaden their horizons. You can choose from dozens of classes covering the absolute basics of art, traditional drawing/painting, and modern digital painting for conceptual and entertainment art. This is practically a complete online art school at a significantly reduced price. A great thing about joining Pencil Kings is access to their premium art forum. It’s only for paying members and it’s packed with artists of all backgrounds and levels of experience.
20. CGMA Classes
Most artists are aware of the CGMA online classes that run through their website. These classes run at a fixed price of $699/class, which can be steep for new artists. However, if you want to focus on a specific topic, CGMA is probably worth the price. Each class is conducted online with a personal critique from the teacher. It functions as an online school with spring, summer, fall, and winter semesters. You’ll find classes on everything from basic sketching, character art, environment design, lighting, painting, storyboarding, and just about anything entertainment art-related.
21. CG spectrum
CG Spectrum is an online art school, similar to CGMA. But CG Spectrum’s classes are more in-depth, and you can even pay extra for private lessons. This site is still focused on entertainment arts, so you’ll find classes on digital painting, character design, animation, 3D modeling, and more. That’s the difference between this school and the others: It’s not 100% art-driven. Instead, it’s driven by the entertainment industry with the goal of teaching you the skills you need to get a job. Many people especially those who have little knowledge about digital art, say that digital is easier than traditional drawing, but that is not simply true. You require skill, creativity, and experience to draw good artwork. The only things you need to get started with digital painting are a graphics tablet, and painting software of your choice. Digital art is so hard because it relies on a completely different skill set than traditional art does. Many skilled artists realize that they’re beginners again when they switch to a digital art platform and have to relearn the basics. Making digital art can be really fun once you get the hang of it. Some, especially those with a solid background in traditional art, can pick up digital art in a year. Others, starting from scratch, may take up to 5 years of dedicated work to learn.
Conclusion
Choosing the best digital art course can be confusing and intimidating, especially if you’re just starting out in art. There are potentially endless online video classes guaranteed to make you an accomplished artist. With these classes at your disposal, you’ll receive top-notch digital art education online and hone your skills with trusted instructors who have proven their skills in the arts on a global scale.
References
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