Art, according to the Oxford Advanced learners dictionary, is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
In the past years, art was only expressed with hands, but today one can comfortably create nice visuals, designs, and illustrations using digital tools. If you love art and desire to harness your skills, you should consider enrolling in an online art class where you can learn from the comfort of your home.
In this piece, we have highlighted 17 top-rated online art classes featuring beginner courses in drawing basics to more specialized courses such as figure drawing, life drawing, illustration, digital art, fashion design sketching, cartoon drawing, oil painting, acrylic painting, and many more.
Taking an online drawing course is a very inexpensive way to master your chosen field. So don’t trivialize this opportunity. Read on to know the course that best suits your demand.
Table of contents
Why Online Art Classes
Drawing is the foundation that every art form is built on from painting and design to architecture to digital animation. It is a skill that can be learned.
Learning arts online can be fun. It allows you to study most or all of a course from the comfort of your home without necessarily attending a campus-based institution.
An online art class allows you can gain access to all your design software and tools in one place. Also, you can communicate with your Instructor via e-mail, electronic forums, videoconferencing, social media chat rooms, and other forms of computer-based interaction.
Read also: Top 15 Photography Schools Online You Can Start Attending 2024
How Do Online Art Classes Work?
Just like every other distant learning programs, online art class uses LMS (Learning Management System).
LMS method includes the use of Canvas and Moodle, which provides an accessible exchange of information between you and your Instructor.
During online classes, you receive your study materials, lectures, and assignments via email or some kind of file transfer system. You submit course assignments through LMS by posting on discussion forums and submitting tasks through applicable links.
Another option for online classes involves the use of an online proctoring service. This helps to monitor students as they work. It also permits degree candidates to take assessments away from campus and also provides schools with confidence that students honestly earned their grades.
Best online Art Courses for Beginners and Advanced
Below are the list of various online art classes ranging from, fine art courses online, online digital art classes, online art classes for beginners, free online art classes, and more. You can choose the right art class based on your current level of knowledge as there are courses for every skill level – beginner, intermediate and advanced.
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Free Online Art Classes
#1. Modern and Contemporary Art and Design Specialization
If you wish to explore the art and ideas of our time, this is the course for you. Develop a deeper understanding of artists’ and designers’ processes, and gain confidence in looking at and talking about art. This course has about16,079 enrollment.
You will start with Modern Art & Ideas to learn how artists have taken inspiration from their environment and responded to social issues over the past 150 years.
During the course of this lesson, you’ll truly understand photographs by introducing ideas, approaches, and technologies that inform their making. You’ll learn from makers working with clothing every day and, in some cases, reinventing it for the future.
Online Drawing Classes
#2. The Ultimate Drawing Course – Beginner to Advanced (Udemy)
This Udemy course is one of the top-rated online drawing classes available. The course provides the learner a deep understanding of the basics of drawing from scratch.
The course starts with the basics of drawing such as the basics of line, the basics of shape and form, the use of values and contrasts, and how to use them when creating your own artwork.
Next is how space and perspective are in works of art, and how to maintain perspective from different angles. You’ll learn 1, 2, and 3 point perspectives. The advanced level of this course comprises how to create textures, draw still lifes, human faces, and human shapes.
There is also a bonus section that describes how to draw animated characters step by step.
#3. Drawing and Painting on the iPad with Procreate
This is one of the most sought-after online drawing classes available on Udemy. You will learn everything you need to know about Procreate with hands-on drawing lessons.
This course is for People who have an iPad and want to learn how to draw Illustrators learning to sketch and also draw Illustrators with experience who are unfamiliar with the iPad.
At the end of the lesson, you will have a deep understanding of Procreate You will be able to create Speedraw videos, create and import custom brushes. Also, you will gain a basic understanding of how to compose and create a painting.
To apply for this course, you will need an iPad, preferably a newer one (iPad Air, iPad Pro, or a recent iPad Mini), a Procreate application from the app store, and some basic familiarity with the iPad.
#4. Anatomy for Figure Drawing: Mastering the Human Figure (Udemy)
Anatomy for Figure Drawing is another most sought-after online drawing class offered by Udemy. This course walks students through a unique and easy-to-follow method of learning how to draw a human figure. It is a very comprehensive and in-depth course with over 65 hours of video content.
In the course, you’ll master both male and female figures, starting with proportions. Both beginners and experienced artists who want to master the human figure can enrol in this course.
Online Digital Art Classes
#5. Complete Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art- Udemy
Are you a beginner artist, art student, or graphic designer? These online digital art classes offer an introduction to digital art and art in general.
It is an online course for beginners and also features advanced options. You will learn some solid techniques to make amazing art and be able to think like an artist and be a problem solver. You will need some sort of drawing tablet (Wacom etc) or computer tablet (ex..Ipad, galaxy, etc)
#6. Ultimate Guide to Digital Sketching: Beginner to Advanced(Udemy)
Ultimate Guide to Digital Sketching course is available at Udemy. This course shows you how to sketch and draw digital images that will prove themselves as professional work. You’ll learn techniques you can translate into any program from Photoshop to Procreate. This course will improve or teach you your digital drawing skills, or your money back!
#7. A Pro’s Guide to Digital Comic Book Coloring
The Pro’s Guide to Digital Comic Book Coloring teaches how to colour in comics and also think like a storyteller. Students who enrol in this course learn new skills and expand their knowledge of sequential comic book colouring.
You’ll start with the basics, next, you’ll learn how to set up your line art and layers, go in-depth into all the major tools – lasso, magic wand, brushes, etc.
There are 1000’s of tutorials out there, but most show different methods that aren’t related. These lessons build on each other – a real colouring curriculum and the most comprehensive available anywhere.
#8. Modern Art & Ideas- Cousera
Modern Art & Ideas is one of the best online art classes offered by Coursera. It is designed for anyone interested in learning more about modern and contemporary art. It is a top-rated online course with about 389,467 student enrollment.
You’ll learn how artist:
- Represent place and take inspiration from their environment
- Create works of art to express, explore, and question identity
- Use everyday objects to challenge assumptions about what constitutes a work of art and how it should be made
- Respond to the social, cultural, and political issues of their time through works of art.
This course provides a discussion forum that encourages peer-review assignments. You will have the opportunity to connect with other learners and explore how these themes resonate with your own life and experience.
#9. How to Create Digital Art: Complete Fundamentals Course
This online art class covers the core knowledge and practical theory you need to know in order to utilize digital art software and hardware elements to create artwork digitally.
This course is designed to students up to speed on the tools and the techniques of digital art creation. If you’re new to digital art and want to learn how to draw and paint in digital art software, this course is for you.
You’ll master the following:
- Understand the software and hardware that is required to create digital art
- Learn the essential features of digital art software, and how to use them
- Learn digital canvas, navigation, colour panels, tools and more
- Gain insight into brushes, layers, layer modes, selections and more!
#10. Create atmospheric digital art from your pencil sketch- Udemy
Are you good with your hands, but afraid of digital drawing? This course is for you! It is designed to help you make the leap from traditional illustration to digital. You will understand digital illustration.
You’ll start with getting ideas on paper with a single pencil. Sketching is a very important part of the illustration process! if you are already a digital illustrator, you might learn a few new tricks, but you might need a higher course.
#11. How to Draw From Beginner to Master (Udemy)
This is one of the top-rated online art classes intended for both beginners as well as experienced artists who want to master traditional drawing techniques. It is designed to help students progress quickly and develop the skills to start drawing anything from scratch.
The course is available on Udemy and taught by an award-winning fine artist and illustrator based in NYC. You’ll learn a complete step-by-step approach to drawing and in the end, you’ll gain all the necessary skills to create art on your own.
#12. Environment Art School: Complete Perspective Drawing Course (Udemy)
This course teaches how to draw landscapes, backgrounds, scenes, and professional environments in 3D. You’ll learn to create any environment from vast and fancy landscapes to scenes for character drawings, backgrounds for comics and manga, awesome sci-fi interiors, environment design for video games, etc.
This course is very comprehensive and captures the essential perspective and compositional tools that are needed to build out any scene convincingly in 3D. Once you register for this course, you’ll have lifetime access to 10 hours of video tutorials with 7 downloadable resources.
#13. The Digital Painting MEGA Course: Beginner to Advanced(Udemy)
This course comprises over 15 different projects that will take you from beginner to expert! The course is designed to show you how to create advanced art that will stand up as professional work.
You’ll learn the step-by-step process of digital painting in 5 many different styles. It will equip you with the knowledge to create stunning designs and illustrations!
Other bonuses included in this course are:
- Personal contact with the course tutor
- Lifetime access to course materials
- Quizzes and exercise work sheets
#14. Anime Academy: Characters and Illustrations(Udemy)
This is a top-rated course designed for students who wish to create their own anime characters as well as creating illustrations. This course will take you from not knowing how to draw anime, to learning how to draw everything from bodies to anime character design.
It is a paid course and contains 19 sections and over 30 hours of content. You’ll gain access to all sections of the course that will teach you the fundamentals of character design that is backed up through anatomy, facial features, clothes, etc.
#15. A Pro’s Guide to Digital Comic Book Coloring(Udemy)
This course offers everything from the very basics of layering to finishing pages with special effects. It is one of the best online art courses available on Udemy.
Master the art of storytelling as you learn about plane separation, strategic rendering, and the importance of value and contrast in your pages. To enrol in this course you need a background in Photoshop. A graphics tablet is also a major requirement.
#16. Create atmospheric digital art from your pencil sketch (Udemy)
This course helps you to understand digital illustration. I am sharing with you my own workflow, everything I do to create original digital illustrations.
Are you good with your hands, but were always afraid to start the digital drawing process? This course is for you! You’ll learn the tips and tricks of digital illustration in Illustrator and Photoshop. It will help you leap from traditional illustration to digital.
#17. Collage Floral Portrait made easy(Udemy)
This is by far one of the most popular online art courses. It is for graphic designers, illustrators, or basically anyone with a creative passion who is looking to work digitally.
In this course, you’ll learn how to make beautiful floral digital collages, floral Digital collage portraits, and how to use Photoshop tools by making fun stuff. To enrol in this course, you need basic Adobe Photoshop knowledge.
Final Thoughts
The best online drawing and art courses, classes, classes, and tutorials available on our list are conducted by leading professionals and experts. Some of these are paid, others are free. Take advantage of these courses, they will go a long way towards improving your skills.
Reference
- udemy.com– Digital Art Courses
- coursera.ng– Art Courses
- codespaces.com– Art & Drawing Classes, Lessons & Courses Online
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