14+ Best Digital Art Classes You Can Take For Free
If you've been interested in digital art, but have not gotten the best online digital art classes that are comprehensive and will cover the nitty-gritty of digital art, then you are in the right place.
Digital art is a great skill to learn as a creative; it gives you access to various technological tools and enhances your artistry skills. However, getting the right course that fits your learning style and schedule can prove difficult.
In this article, I have compiled 14+ the best digital art classes on skillshare that experienced artists teach for different experience levels. So, if you are a complete beginner or an intermediate digital artist, there is a course for you. In addition, most of these courses are short and can be completed in a few hours. So, let's explore.
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Intro to Digital Painting: Procreate to Photoshop! A Beginner-Friendly Guide
28-Day Drawing Challenge: Anatomy for Illustration and Comics
Learn to Draw: Daily Practices to Improve Your Drawing Skills
Procreate for Absolute Beginners: An In-Depth Intro to iPad Drawing
Character Illustration: Drawing Expressive Gestures & Poses in Procreate
Best Digital Art Courses
Teacher: Chloe Rose
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 1h 48m
Experience level: Beginner
Chloe Rose, a veteran digital artist has some of her works published and runs a successful YouTube channel, she breaks down digital art in one hour and forty-eight minutes, and she does that in style and simplicity.
Course Overview
Chloe takes time out to break down her drawing process while teaching the act of digital art. She pays attention to details and shares tips and tricks to help you create stunning art.
First, Chloe introduces you to the class and tells you everything you will learn. From there, she talks about workspace and the best software you can get started with as a beginner artist. She shows you the varieties of tools, how to use brushes and layers to get the best result, and how to do digital sketching. After you've learned about sketching, Chloe takes time out to show you how to blend to get a smooth, clean design.
Light and shadows matter a lot in digital art, and Chloe ensured that she explained how to use light and shadow to get the best result.
The last part of the course covers portrait/figure drawing fundamentals. First, you learn to draw eyes, noses, lips, hair, and other elements. Then you learn how to reblend to get that perfect synchronization.
Overall, this is a great course for digital artists that are just starting. I will recommend it as one of the courses to take as a beginner.
Teacher: Benji Wilson
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 27m
Experience level: Beginner/intermediate
Suppose you are a digital artist wondering how you can turn your character design, concept art, or any other type of design into an NFT. Then look no further because here is a great digital art class that teaches you so.
Course Overview
This course will not teach you about digital art, but will rather teach you to turn your digital artwork into sellable NFTs. Non-fungible tokens (NFT) have taken over the art industry and have yielded thousands and millions of dollars for digital artists that have taken advantage of it.
Benji takes you to the world of NFT and teaches you how to turn your art into an NFT worth every penny. The first thing he does is to define what NFT is all about before diving into why an artist needs to know about NFTs.
After that, Benji carefully explains how to create a token, create a crypto wallet, deposit crypto, and mint your artwork, which is super important.
From there, he explains different blockchains where you can sell your NFTs.
This course is great for graphic designers and digital artists willing to take advantage of the blockchain and the crypto world.
Teacher: Gabriel Picolo
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 59m
Experience level: Beginner/Intermediate
If you are a digital artist who leans towards figure drawing, cartoon, and comic-like drawing, then you will find this course helpful. Gabriel dissects the act of figure drawing and how to make your digital drawing realistic. In addition, this course will teach you new digital painting techniques.
Course Overview
Gabriel warms you up with some figure drawing exercises before going to the full detail of the digital art course. From there, he dissects how to draw your character pose like a pro and the right way to draw a female and a male face. He pays attention to the little details that can make a huge difference in how your character's face looks.
Gabriel then goes all in with expressions. He first starts by teaching you how to draw the four core expressions in all types of characters. After that has been settled, he then dives deeper into how to design extreme and complicated expressions.
Once you've mastered the art of drawing the right expressions, you will learn about details like your character's clothing, adding colors, and blending. Gabriel rounds up, and you are good to go!
This is one of the best online digital art courses, focusing on little details in less than an hour.
Teacher: Mimi Chao
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 1h 29m
Experience level: Beginner course
Let's face it; two top digital art software for digital painting are Procreate and Photoshop. Therefore, it is great to know how these two work; their differences and similarities will give you clarity on your creating art journey. Mimi takes you through the digital painting process using both Procreate and Photoshop; she also gives you insight into her design process to further help you understand the act of digital art. Let's take a look at the course overview.
Course Overview
Mimi starts by answering people's common beginner questions about digital art and digital painting; she also talks about the two digital art software, Procreate and Photoshop. After that, she recommends hardware tools you will find helpful as a digital artist. But not just that, she also recommends digital tools to aid you as a digital artist.
Mimi talks extensively about both design software, Procreate and Photoshop, and outlines their pros and cons. This part of the course is super important because it will give you a deeper insight into what to expect.
After that, Mimi introduces you to her design process while designing and takes time out to explain colors and digital painting details that can make or break your design. She also shows you more perks of Photoshop and other tips and tricks that can make creating art fun and easy.
Procreate has been a great tool for designers and illustrators because of its ease of use and powerful tools. However, you must check out the best procreate classes for digital artists to know more about Procreate.
So, if you've been struggling with digital painting, and you are looking for a digital painting course to help you gain mastery and introduce you to Procreate and Photoshop, start with this course!
Teacher: Jarom Vogel
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 1h 7m
Experience level: Beginner
Jarom is an experienced illustrator that has designed stunning digital art that has impressed various clients. He takes his time to teach you the act of digital illustration using Procreate. Procreate is one of the best digital art software, and if you've been interested in learning how to use Procreate for your digital art designs, then this is the right time to learn.
Course Overview
Jarom starts by taking you through Procreate and how to get started, then he focuses on brushes and how to use them to draw thumbnails while providing practical examples.
From there, he focuses on layers, how to use them and how to create new layers. Then he takes you through the selection tool feature on Procreate and how to use them effectively.
Next, you learn all about colors, textures, and shadows. Jarom exposes you to how to blend colors and use texture to highlight your designs effectively. Backgrounds are important in any design; using the right background for your design can give it a different look. Therefore, Jarom also touches on how to create the right background.
Overall, you get a quick introduction to what you can do with Procreate. Trust me; Procreate has unlimited illustration techniques and features available at your disposal. I will tell you to check out specific Procreate classes that will teach you all you need.
Teacher: Roman Muradov
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 40m
Experience level: All levels
Roman forces you to think outside the box. You learn a new illustration technique that focuses on just shapes, negative space, and layers to draw. In other words, you learn the technique of drawing without lines. This is a super innovative and different approach to drawing, and it can be great.
Course Overview
Roman is an award-winning digital artist and illustrator that has gotten his works featured on popular websites like New York Times, Google, and other big platforms. In addition, he has generated and refined new techniques, and he shares one with you in this course.
Roman starts by expanding on colors and choosing the right colors for your design. He also explains creating complementary colors and selecting brushes and erases. Then, he takes time out to explain drawing shapes differently. He then touches on refining those shapes using subtraction and addition techniques.
Lastly, Roman focuses on refining and detailing, which is the final piece of a stunning design. In 40 minutes, Roman compiles his years of knowledge in a simplified manner. Here is a chance to get a fresh perspective to digital painting and art.
Teacher: Josiah (Jazza) Brooks
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 2h 33m
Experience level: Intermediate
Getting the details right in a drawing is super important, and one of the details is the anatomy of each character's body. In this skillshare course, Jazza teaches you everything you need to know to draw your characters' best, realistic and detailed anatomy. The techniques and tricks
Course Overview
Jazz is a funny instructor that makes learning fun. You won't even know you've spent one hour. He is engaging and shows you everything to the last detail. In this course, the tasks you through his three main techniques of drawing characters' anatomy and how you can become a pro.
The course starts introducing the overview drawing process before he fully moves into how to draw anatomy. The first thing you will look at is the basic blocking technique that is often used to draw the structure of the anatomy. From there, you will learn to draw the different parts of the body, such as the arm, leg, torso, and back. You will learn how to draw the form and the functions correctly.
After that, you move to drawing a full-body form. Not to worry, Jazza makes it easy and funny. Lastly, this course teaches you how to add details to your body's anatomy. So, if you are into character designs, this is the right path.
Teacher: Danielle Meder
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 53m
Experience level: Beginner
Daniel is a professional fashion illustrator and a published author that has been around the world making live sketches in fashion shows and collaborating with big brands. She teaches enthusiasts and intermediate fashion illustrators how to draw well in this course. This is a great course for digital artists that are interested in going into fashion illustration.
Course Overview
Danielle shows you the digital tools she uses for her drawings, such as the Apple iPad as a drawing tablet and the Apple Pencil. But just like she said, you can use any tablet, paper, or pencil during the course.
You will learn how to sketch your figures and get the detailing right. After that, Danielle teaches you how to flesh out your figures and add the necessary details to make them look realistic. She also shares some of the figures in her book with you as a bonus. Then, you will learn all about colors—the best coloring tools she uses and how to use them.
After you've mastered the act of drawing figures, she takes you through the world of clothing. You will learn how to design any outfit you want for your figure and get the colors right. She also shares tips and tricks for designing the perfect outfit.
Teacher: Gabrielle Brickey
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 1h 24m
Experience level: Beginner
Gabrielle's course is your surest bet if you are looking for a detailed course that takes you through the fundamental things that make up a great drawing. Gabrielle demystifies digital drawing and shows you how to create great drawings, even if you are a beginner.
Course Overview
Being an artist is not all about talent. It is hard work, the techniques you learn, and how well you develop your artistic skills. Gabrielle ensures that she makes drawing look like a process anyone can master. In this course, you will learn the basic ways of getting your drawings right.
The first thing you will learn is how to draw shapes for the best results correctly. Most masterpieces have shapes as their building block. Therefore, you will learn to see drawings as shapes and how you can use these shapes to come up with stunning digital arts.
Then, Gabrielle will open your eyes to seeing angles and how they contribute tremendously to drawings. From there, you learn how to draw and use negative space for the best results. Gabrielle then dives into different drawing and measuring techniques you will find useful.
You will learn how to draw and shade forms, understand the value scale, draw rhythmically, and come up with a stunning class project.
In less than two hours, you will have learned a lot of things that will change your drawing skill forever.
Teacher: Maxine Vee
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 36m
Experience level: Intermediate
One of the things artists find difficult is getting the right values for their designs, but Maxine eradicates that. Maxine's arts are mind-blowing, and it is no surprise that her 36m course covers how to paint stylized portraits as an intermediate.
Course Overview
The first thing you will learn is understanding value, which is super important if you want to come up with gorgeous stylized portraits. Then Maxine teaches you the right ways of choosing colors and line art. Then, you take a look at shadows and highlights. Finally, I will tell you to pay attention to the lesson because she touches on some basic but important things.
You also learn about hairstyles and how to paint different hairstyles correctly. Lastly, you'll learn about digital painting, how to add details and adjustments.
This won't teach you the basics of portrait drawing, but it will improve your knowledge. So, this is a course for intermediate artists.
Teacher: Gabrielle Brickey
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 2h 19m
Experience level: Intermediate
If you know a little about portrait drawing but want to take your skill to the next level, then you should take this Gabrielle's course. She takes you through the process of drawing and painting portraits like a professional
Course Overview
Gabrielle breaks portrait painting down to its most basic form. First, you learn how the head is shaped and the basic form and proportions to look out for. Then the course will teach you how to conceptualize the head and seek out features and patterns that will make drawing easier.
After that, you will learn about painting, adding colors, and dealing with highlights and shadows. Lastly, Gabrielle shares with you tips that can make a difference.
Teacher: Molly Suber Thorpe
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 1h 52m
Experience level: Beginner
One of the best software for digital art is Procreate, and millions of people love it because of its powerful tools and limitless freedom of creativity. However, it requires a small learning curve to get a hold of it, but you don't have to worry about that because this course teaches you everything you need to know about Procreate.
Course Overview
This is a detailed walkthrough through Procreate features. Molly explains each feature and menu that you will find on Procreate. You learn more about the new Procreate Canvas menu, dimensions, time-lapse video settings, color palettes, colors and resolution, brushes, and how to use these tools.
One thing you will learn is new tricks and tips that will make Procreate easier if you are already an intermediate.
Once again, this course is very detailed, and I will strongly recommend it to anyone that knows nothing about Procreate!
Teacher: Sarah Holliday
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 2h 9m
Experience level: Intermediate
Character design and illustration may prove difficult because the details make it realistic and visually appealing. Sarah Holliday takes you through how to draw expressive gestures and poses for your characters.
Course Overview
The first thing you will learn is how to understand body language. If you pay attention to the first lessons of this course, you will well understand the rest of the lessons.
You will learn to draw hand gestures, structures, figure poses, character sketches, coloring, and more. Sarah ensures that she provides a lot of exercises and examples you can work on while learning.
Teacher: Margarita Bourkova
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: 1h
Experience level: All levels
Do you love painting pets, or are you wondering how you can paint your favorite pet? Then this course is for you! Margarita takes you through the process of creating a realistic painting of your pet.
Course Overview
You will learn about sketching and how to add the necessary details to your sketches. You will build up layers and learn about the fur fundamentals. From there, the course will teach you about digital painting.
The last part of the course shows you how to add details and colors to create a stunning design for your pet.
Best Online Digital Art Classes To Try Out Now!
We've deeply explored 14 digital art courses suitable for beginners and intermediates. Professional digital artists taught these courses, and they have everything you need to succeed in your digital art career.
So, what is stopping you?! Go on skillshare, sign up for a free trial and start learning today!
