20 Best Online Drawing Classes
Learning by yourself is always a challenge and sometimes you need some help with it. That's why we want to offer this selection of 20 online drawing classes that will facilitate your studying process.
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The Designest may receive compensation from companies, products, and services featured in this publication. For more details, please refer to our Affiliate Disclosure page.
The possibility of capturing the world around us on paper with the colored pencil kit or on a screen of your favorite device may inspire you on many artworks you’ll be proud of. However, drawing isn’t such an easy thing to do. Whether you draw just as a hobby or you want to pursue a career in the graphic design field, you will need time, willpower, and patience to develop your skills. It’s such a relief that in our lifetime we don’t even have to look for art classes near your house to be able to study. All you need is access to the Internet and an accurate understanding of what you want to draw.
To ease your task even more, we did all the researches to present you the best online drawing courses that will help hone your skills. The authors of these online classes created detailed lessons on every topic you may be interested in: fundamentals of drawing, comics drawing, watercolors, portraits, landscapes and many more. Among the courses we chose, you will be able to find something useful, no matter the level of skills you have. Pick the drawing class online that suits your art cravings the most and immerse yourself in an art learning journey that will give you all the knowledge to become a real professional.
Best Online Drawing Classes for All Levels
Beginners Online Drawing Classes:
- Digital Painting for Characters: Color and Light
- Female Character Design for Comics
- Creative Portrait Illustration with Procreate
- Drawing People: Creating Unique and Dynamic Character Poses in Procreate
- Character Illustration: Drawing Faces, Figures and Clothing
- Ink Drawing Techiques: Brush, Nib and Pen Style
- Artistic Floral Watercolor: Connect with Nature
Intermediate Online Drawing Classes:
- Natural Illustration with Digital Painting
- Watercolor Landscapes: Experimental Tools and Techniques
- Landscape Digital Painting Tutorial
- Character Art School: Complete Character Drawing Course
- Environment Art School: Complete Perspective Drawing Course
- Start Drawing: Techniques for Pencil Portraits
- Chinese Brush Painting Sumi-e Course
Advanced Online Drawing Classes:
Beginners Online Drawing Classes
Price: $14,99 | Length: 2h 49m
Key Features:
- Perfect for an absolute beginner
- Learn to draw colors and lights
Adobe Photoshop CC
This course is created, and fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop. For the best experience, we recommend to use the latest Creative Cloud version of the app.
Adding realism and depth to a character drawing can be a real challenge for an illustrator, and it’s usually what separates a simple sketch from a full-blown character illustration. The combination of color, light, and texture is what brings a character to life, and, in this Domestika course, you’ll learn the techniques to master them.
The illustrator and character designer, Joel Santana, will walk you through his whole creative process, from the moment he scans his drawings to when he exports the finished product for printing or digital media. You’ll cover some of the basics, such as setting up your workspace to warm-up painting exercises that will help you understand lighting, essential painting tips, and adding textures. The author discusses every step of creating the artwork and helps to import your sketch into the digital format. You’ll get to take your painted character and enhance some of the lighting effects, play with overlaying textures, color adjustments and add super simple background and floor shadows to ground the character for that 3D effect.
Price: $16,99 | Length: 2h 50m
Key Features:
- Learn to draw all the aspects of female character
- The class covers the whole comics drawing process
Gone are the days when women in comics were portrayed only as sidekicks or love interests. Nowadays, a new breed of female characters and superheroes are taking the comic book world by storm with powerful storytelling and stunning visuals. Marcio Takara — a comic book artist with experience in drawing comics for Marvel and DC — will teach you how to create female characters from scratch in this online drawing course. This course is one of the most detailed online classes that will show you how to add volume, movement, balance, and expression to your artwork starting from action lines and composition.
The idea of the drawing class is to show how you can mix the figure’s movement with volume and anatomy. Marcio teaches you how to come up with the composition while placing the human figure drawing on the page. You’ll start with pencils for the basic shapes and layout, and then go to ink and brushes. Also, in these video lectures the author will talk about how to pick and use different clothes and costumes, as well as human face and hand expressions.
Price: $14,99 | Length: 6h 44m
Key Features:
- Beginner-friendly
- The course shows you how to refine the sketch in details
- Learn how to work with time-lapse videos
In this graphic design online drawing class Samuel Rodriguez, a renowned artist from the California art community will show you his approach to illustrating a portrait, going through his thumbnail sketches and analyzing how they evolve into finished pieces. You will begin to use Procreate with an introduction to the most important aspects of the app, including hand gestures, brush preferences, and tools navigation. You will also see how to set up your document to record a time-lapse video of your work in progress.
Start creating your thumbnail sketches by incorporating the visual elements of your research, putting as many ideas as possible into play. This is when you’ll explore fundamentals of drawing, composition, to create an ideal shape hierarchy and prepare the groundwork. You’ll begin with drawing your portrait based on your references and adding color to your illustration. Then you’ll be able to move on to harmonizing your composition, by merging your layers, adding drop shadows, shapes, texture, and more. The video lectures of this drawing class are perfect for an absolute beginner as it covers the fundamentals of drawing.
Price: $13,99/mo (7-day free trial) | Length: 1h 17m
Key Features:
- Learn to draw basic human figure proportions
- Design character body shape and poses
This online class covers all the basic concepts you need to know: gesture drawing, understanding realistic human proportions, designing stylized characters with unique body shapes, and creating expressive poses for your characters using reference. By the end of the class, you’ll be able to bring all these techniques together to illustrate several dynamic poses for one of your favorite character designs created with the help of professional illustrator Sarah Holliday.
As humans, we communicate so much through body language, and having the tools to share these expressions through art can be effective and rewarding. This class will give you the confidence to draw people of all shapes and sizes, genders and ages, providing you with the tools to design unique characters and pose them consistently. You can use any software you like (Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, etc), feel free to pick whatever you’re most comfortable drawing with.
Price: $13,99/mo (7-day free trial) | Length: 59m
Key Features:
- Get to know the difference between drawing female and male facial features
- The step-by-step lessons cover different face expressions
From sketching fluid poses to mastering facial features and expressions, you’ll learn to draw characters that are full of life and movement in this 60-minute class. Gabriel Picolo, a comic artist and illustrator, shares his thoughtful, thorough techniques that will unlock your ability to create compelling characters on paper or screen, whether you’re a new artist or a seasoned illustrator.
The video lectures of this online course cover such important topics as exploring movement and pose with human figure drawing exercises. Also, the author talks about drawing the four core expressions, adding color with an eye for contrast and style and creating a character that exudes personality. After taking this class, you’ll be brimming with ideas for creating your own characters, able to communicate story, emotion, and movement with ease.
Price: $13,99/mo (7-day free trial) | Length: 1h 33m
Key Features:
- Learn the difference between Asian and watercolor bruches
- Covers brushstroke and nib techniques
This online course will help you master illustration with a detailed guide to essential inking and drawing techniques presented by award-winning Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu. She breaks down the process of selecting the best materials in the art store and teaches you to dig into textures and styles of inking. So, both the novice artist and the professional will benefit from this all-access, on-location 90-minute class.
Lessons cover basic brush, nib, ink and pen drawing techniques, sketching and scanning essentials and inking fundamentals. Also, you’ll learn the difference between Asian and watercolor brushes and take a closer look at illustration textures. You get a chance to glimpse into Yuko’s critique process, and build skills that allow you to experiment in illustration, comic art in high contrast. The course enables you to study at your own pace so you can pay close attention to every step.
Price: $14,99 | Length: 3h 29m
Key Features:
- Explore the diversity of textures
- Learn how to capture feelings in your artwork via watercolors
- Discover different brushes and watercolors
Begin the online class by diving into the materials you need for the course. Inga Buividavice, your teacher, goes into detail about the brushes, watercolors, and other required tools before demonstrating different techniques, from wet-in-wet to lifting. She helps you explore the principles of color and how to create strong compositions. After studying the theory, you’ll be able to use what you’ve learned so far to paint feathers using a limited palette.
The course shows you how to collect inspiration for your botanical composition and simplify complex floral shapes into sketches. Practicing brush pressure and other techniques with Inga’s guides will help warm up for your finished piece. After you decide on the flower for the final composition you’ll create a series of thumbnail sketches. To work on the first layer of blooms and leaves, you’ll choose the color palette and prepare all the needed materials. Adding darker leaves, berries, and texture to your flowers will be the finishing touches of your project.
Intermediate Online Drawing Classes
Price: $14,99 | Length: 2h 10m
Key Features:
- Learn how to import pencil sketch into a digital illustration using the storytelling properties of color
- Get to know the process of making color corrections using adjustment layers
Adobe Photoshop CC
This course is created, and fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop. For the best experience, we recommend to use the latest Creative Cloud version of the app.
At the beginning of the class, you will discover how to come up with ideas and transform them into a story. You’ll collect imagery and references to create a mood board for your work, and use it to choose a color palette for your illustration. After that, Jessica Roux, a freelance illustrator, demonstrates you the ways to use different graphite techniques to create textures like fur and leaves.
Then, you learn how to create your digital sketch in Photoshop and discover why the software is helpful for illustration. You will print your sketch, then transfer it onto paper using a lightbox and put the graphite techniques from earlier in the course into practice and create your pencil drawing. After that, you’ll scan your graphite pencil illustration and go to digital painting, blocking solid colors and shapes. When you finish every step, you’ll be able to move on to the finer details like shading and highlights.
Price: $23,99 | Length: 2h 4m
Key Features:
- Deepen your knowledge of composition and perspective
- Learn how to create fog and smoke with watercolors
This online course helps you find new ways of drawing landscapes. It begins with the sketching and drawing fundamentals: composition, perspective and working with references and watercolors. Christian Koivumaa, the watercolor artist, helps you familiarize yourself with such materials as spray bottles and palette knives. He shows you the whole drawing process step-by-step and also guides you through the technique of negative painting and shows you how to paint clouds into your landscape.
The class is an amazing opportunity to learn about various techniques for creating depth, texture, highlights, and fog or smoke. You’ll be taught how to use each tool for each effect, including how to preserve your white space with masking fluid. When you move on to your own work you’ll start by masking your paper and sketching your image. You’ll be able to use all the knowledge you got for the application of your first and second washes, mixing of paints and creating your foreground. At the end of the course, you will apply your new skills to finish your artwork.
Price: free | Length: 1h 1m
Key Features:
- Shows the whole process step-by-step from scratch
- Teaches how to draw perspective
Adobe Photoshop CC
This course is created, and fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop. For the best experience, we recommend to use the latest Creative Cloud version of the app.
This online drawing class makes the process of creating a landscape digitally as easy as it can be. Jordan Grimmer, the author of the tutorial, walks you through every step you need to draw a landscape, starting from choosing the brushes to every little detail that will be the final strokes of your artwork.
Jordan talks about the importance of picking references your future artwork will be based on. He shows you some sketching techniques that consider the golden ratio (it helps improve the whole composition). After that, you’ll get to work with clipping masks, atmospheric perspective, and custom shapes that will make your drawing extremely realistic.
Price: $13,99 | Length: 26h 30m
Key Features:
- Possibility to use pencils and paper or digital art tools
- Deepen your knowledge of human face, body and hands anatomy
Adobe Photoshop CC
This course is fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop. For the best experience, we recommend to use the latest Creative Cloud version of the app.
Whether you want to learn how to draw a character for animation, games, cartoons, comics, manga and more, this online class has you covered. Here you won’t be taught a ‘method’ or a ‘way’ to draw, but how to be fundamentally good at drawing any characters, whether you like a traditional pencil drawing or draw digitally.
Learning character and people drawing effectively in general means having information presented coherently and logically. The character academy course is modular by design, easy to understand, and also allows you to learn in a self-paced, structured way. Engage in the cartoon drawing course chronologically, then revise each module with practice assignments: each of them was made to help you quickly progress, and you’ll see the difference in your works almost immediately.
Price: $14,99 | Length: 10h
Key Features:
- Shows the process of drawing environments from start to finish
- Possible to use any tools you’re comfortable with
Adobe Photoshop CC
This course is fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop. For the best experience, we recommend to use the latest Creative Cloud version of the app.
This drawing course is where you’ll be shown how to draw backgrounds, landscapes, scenes and professional environments. This online class is for you, whether you want to learn how to draw perspective, create remarkable worlds and settings, environments for character drawings, background design for video games or comics, manga, and more.
The lessons of this ultimate drawing guide cover the techniques of drawing landscapes, interior scenes and even teach 3D drawing. You’ll get the practical task for every tutorial that helps you hone new skills so you can apply them in your future work with ease. Each assignment has been designed to reinforce the theory as well as feel rewarding. The advantage of the class is that you can pick any tool: colored pencil and paper or any device to create digital art.
Price: $13,99/mo (7-day free trial) | Length: 1h 12m
Key Features:
- Discover new pencil techniques
- Explore the importance of shading, proportions and measuring
This ultimate drawing class online is a good way to start your own pencil portrait studying. Gabrielle Brickey, a portrait artist, will help you understand how to compose your basic sketch with gesture drawings and accurate proportions so your portrait looks realistic.
The teacher will make specific recommendations about pencils and erasers that you should use, ways to hold your pencil to create different tones and so much more things that will improve your drawing skills. He also focuses your attention on the simple rule of thirds and other measurements, that helps divide the human face accurately and how light and shade interact with the planes of the face. The advantage of the course is that the instructor teaches you the basic anatomy of facial features and how to sketch, shade, and blend their forms accurately.
Price: from $100 | Length: 6 months — 2 years
Key Features:
- The possibility to upload the artwork for the tutor to collect and critique
- Learn the history of Sumi-e
Sumi-e is the art of using simple and effortless brush strokes to give an impression of a figure or scene. It’s an art form quite unlike any other, with an evocative and exquisite look inspired by nature’s sweeping curves. Although delicate in its execution, Sumi-e is deceptively difficult to master. Taught by Monica Cilmi, oriental art specialist, this detailed and comprehensive written course will teach you everything you need to know about oriental brushwork.
This online class enables you to immerse yourself in beautiful oriental art by studying with a professional artist as your guide on the Chinese brush painting course. With online expert tuition, advice and support, you can learn the intricacies and delicacies of this hard to learn yet amazing painting technique.
Advanced Online Drawing Classes
Price: $14,99 | Length: 4h 20m
Key Features:
- Learn how to work with gouache to paint layered landscapes
- The course includes a detailed explanation of landscape drawing fundamentals
In this online drawing course, Ruth Wilshaw shows you a new way to explore the beauty of the natural world and translate it into a layered gouache painting. She introduces the ways to combine bold colors with dark silhouettes, helps learn gouache techniques, study texture, and discover ways to stay inspired. You’ll explore gouache paints, learn about the four fundamental consistencies, how to layer, and the different ways to blend. She also guides you through some common landscape elements, such as sky and water, as well as the value of adding silhouettes.
The class helps you discover how to find your inspiration in nature by looking at a collection of images and understand how to take what you’ve discovered and transfer it into a plan for your painting. Once your plan is in place and inspiration flows, it’s time to paint your rough-edged waterfall landscape. Ruth teaches you to use color to capture the right atmosphere for your piece, ordering and sketching the layers of your paint as a guide, and building your landscape from background to foreground.
Price: $14,99 | Length: 4h 59m
Key Features:
- Learn the difference between drawing the lead and supporting characters
- Get to know how to put the characters together and conceive their scenario
A strong character lineup can make or break a show’s popularity. In this course, Butch Hartman, a professional cartoon artist, shows you the ways of designing simple and professional-looking animated characters that will gain you some points. Discover how to illustrate a colorful cast filled with personality using a combination of both analog and digital tools.
The ultimate drawing class online gives you a chance to dive into the world of cartoons and introduce you the things to consider when creating one of your own. They help you explore your concept and go through the process of coming up with ideas before looking at the materials needed for the course and where to find inspiration. You’ll start to work with the initial sketches using a pencil and pen and learn how to transfer the drawings of your protagonists onto the iPad and refine them in Procreate, testing different poses and scales. You can experiment with putting your characters in various scenarios before deciding on the final scene and adding the finishing touches by adjusting brightness, saturation, and more.
Price: $128 | Length: 1 — 2 years
Key Features:
- Tutors give feedback
- After completion you get a portfolio of works
Adobe Photoshop CC
This course is created, and fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop. For the best experience, we recommend to use the latest Creative Cloud version of the app.
The painting and drawing online course lets you refine your technique and express your creative vision. This inspiring written class is designed to build your artistic skills and take your creativity further with practical exercises and constructive support. From the fundamentals of sketching and color to composition, painting and experimenting with style, you will study and explore an engaging variety of creative media and subject matter.
The tutors are practicing artists themselves, sharing their experience and expertise through structured assessments. Combined with the opportunity to discuss your art with other students, the course offers a perfect environment to achieve your full artistic potential. The aim is to give you a platform to develop your skills, confidence and creative vision and grow as a professional artist.
Price: $13,99/mo (7-day free trial) | Length: 1h 28m
Key Features:
- Detailed instruction on every step of creation your work
- Step-by-step composition planning
This online class was inspired by the question “How did someone come up with that crazy idea?” while looking at a drawing of a strange alien world in a futuristic city. Such art usually refers to world-building work used to inspire a bigger project. It’s an approach to drawing utilized by visual artists, authors, game designers, filmmakers and many creative storytellers.
For Ira Marcks, graphic novelist and the author of the course, it’s a way to mix real-life and imagination and bring new depth to a drawing. The lessons cover a vast variety of topics such as world-building, utilizing fantasy and sci-fi tropes, finding inspiration and gathering references. The teacher focuses on illustrating depth, styling line art and choosing colors that will help create a work of art.
Price: from $100 | Length: 6 months — 2 years
Key Features:
- Tutor’s help on each step
- Allows studying at your own pace
This online drawing course is an excellent opportunity for people interested in getting a solid introduction to the pastels with plenty of opportunities to draw and practice. You get to know the technique whereby colors are mixed on the paper, not on the palette.
The certificate course provides a flexible and enjoyable means of developing your artistic talent through the medium of pastels since it covers all the practical issues related to painting and drawing with them. The lessons breaks down the whole process of working with pastels and the teachers give you tips and tricks on how to improve your skills.
Price: $13,99/mo (7-day free trial) | Length: 53m
Key Features:
- Learn more about coloring tools
- Get the design tips
Adobe Photoshop CC
This course is created, and fully compatible with Adobe Photoshop. For the best experience, we recommend to use the latest Creative Cloud version of the app.
This online class makes drawing fashion easier than ever. The 53-minute tutorial with Danielle Meder, renowned fashion illustrator, will open up a whole new world of drawing the human form for you and give new meaning to “illustration style.”
With the step-by-step videos, Danielle walks through the fundamentals: how to sketch your figure draft, check the proportions, design and color the outfit. The class enables you to flesh out your figure drawing and master the gesture line. By the end of the tutorial, you’ll be able to apply these concepts to your own work, infusing emotion into your illustrations and discovering confidence in your style. Danielle uses Paper and Pencil by FiftyThree, the iPad Pro, and the Apple Pencil throughout the class, but you can draw with any tool of your choice.
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A creative enthusiast and writer who's in love with good product design. Alina keeps up with design trends and seeks the choicest toolbox ideas for creators and artists.
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