30 Best & Free Painting Tutorials Online For Beginners

At least once in our life, all of us have tried our hand at painting, sketching or drawing something.

We start painting step by step, try to finish and either get successful and complete our artwork or leave it in the middle out of impatience or for not getting desired results.

But, all of us out there always really want to make that one art piece once in our life, either to show it off or just for our own satisfaction.

Well, we at MavenArt are not only here to help you out when you search photo to painting, but we also are a big advocate of promoting art among the masses.

So, here we come up with some of the best places online where you can learn painting step by step

The places mentioned below include youtube painting tutorial channels, Udemy courses, Skillshare courses, online websites and more. So, stay tuned!

1. Kevin Oil Painting

Kevin has been posting videos since 2012 to his almost 500,000 subscribers. If you’re someone who has a brief knowledge about art and painting you can easily sharpen your skills here as Kevin takes you through different art forms such as (easy)acrylic paintings, oil painting and to event paint a scenery like mountains or barns etc.
Link to the channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/KevinOilPainting/featured

2. The Art Sherpa

This art tutorials channel named theartsherpa is run by Cinnamon Cooney, and she provides an insight into things that are helpful for advanced as well as beginners in the field of art and craft. The Art Sherpa channel is run by Cinnamon and involves everything, ranging from tips & tricks to everyday online art classes for beginners to intermediate level.
Link to the channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/HoneyBmama/featured

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3. Proko

A channel which has been there since 2012, and is operated by a California based art tutorials teacher and painter Stan Prokopenko, Proko has surely become a go-to stop for art beginners as well as enthusiasts.

Stan gives insightful lessons about painting for beginners, sketching, and some informative and helpful tips. His lessons are mostly ‘do it in your own time’ sort of videos, which make it even more efficient and easy to learn.

A cherry on the top is his amazing sense of humor, which makes the lesson even more lively and fun. Do check him out.
Link to the channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/ProkoTV/featured

4. The Art of Aaron Blaise

After being an animator with Disney for around 21 years and creating masterpieces of animation like The Lion King, Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin and a lot more, he’s there on YouTube to teach you a bit about animation, drawing, and painting.

After making some amazing creations for Disney, he’s here now to teach the world about how to draw and paint. And well, he’s pretty good at it!
Link to the channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0lLeNdvLrFozQRsQ1TQiAw

5. Livepaintinglessons.com

This is a drawing tutorial website which is run by Richard Robinson. If and when you sign up for his newsletter online, you’ll be gaining access to some of his amazing art lessons online, which are suitable enough for impressionist Plein-art landscape paintings. Moreover, you can always go a step further and go for the paid lessons which are quite affordable.
Link to the website : https://www.livepaintinglessons.com/about.php

6. Virtual Instructor

Virtual Instructor is basically a coach for all the art enthusiasts who want to begin their journey in the world of art. The concept of the Virtual Instructor was formulated by Matt Fussell

In his art lessons online Matt teaches about things as small as drawing an eye and as big as a tree. Matt posts step by step drawing lessons which give the student a step by step insight into some amazing artworks.
Link to the website : https://thevirtualinstructor.com/blog/

7. Drawmixpaint.com

Mark Carder gives some amazing drawing lessons online for intermediate to advanced levels of painters on how to paint a realistic-looking portrait that looks straight up like a photograph. So, if you’re looking for some realistic portrait painting lessons, don’t look anywhere else.

Being in the painting arena for quite some time now, Mark has painted some famous personalities like former U.S. Presidents and much more.

In his art lessons online, he’ll teach you how to mix your colors in advance, matching them precisely and ensuring that the skin tones in your portrait look similar enough.
Link to the website : http://www.drawmixpaint.com/

8. ArtistsNetwork.com

Artists Network is a portal for everything art.

You can learn a few tricks and tips which might come in handy while you prepare your next artwork. Moreover, you can make a profile and contact other fellow artists for help and get inspired by different artworks posted up there.
Link to the website : https://www.artistsnetwork.com/

9. Guidetooilpainting.com

This is a painting tutorial website where you can find everything about oil painting. From learning about the basic terms to performing some skill-specific exercises that are present to sharpen your skills, you can find them all here. The website has a formulated technique which involves steps starting with the materials required for painting and then finishing it with some exercises.

The website was formulated by the artist Bill Martin before his death, and Bill Martin himself gives every word and strategy on that page.
Link to the website : http://guidetooilpainting.com/index.html

10. Ryan O’Rourke

Ryan has been active on YouTube since early 2009. He posts a video a week, usually in which he mostly covers areas involving acrylic paints.

The Q and A session he holds on his Youtube painting tutorials channel are quite effective and efficient as he answers most of the queries.
Link to the YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/RandomRuggles/playlists

11. Feng Zhu FZD

Feng has been an industry player in painting for quite some time now and now runs a professional art tutorials school in Singapore. His works are not exactly tutorials but are more like a knowledgeable book in the field of concept art.

You can check out his podcasts, which might help you out. Moreover, there are episodes on his Youtube painting tutorials channel which are long and illustrative.
Link to YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL/playlists

12. Drawing and Sketching for Beginners by Robin Slee

This online painting course on Udemy is a bliss for all the beginners who are looking to make a mark in the drawing and sketching arena. Robin Slee is a freelancer, and a self-taught artist, who in this course, covers all the fundamentals about sketching and drawing, which most people usually miss out.

His way of teaching art lessons online is simple, jargon-free and easy to understand. There are 25 modules along with practical exercises, which makes it a course worth choosing for all the drawing enthusiasts out there.
Link to the course : https://www.udemy.com/course/sketching-for-beginners/?LSNPUBID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranMID=39197&ranSiteID=TnL5HPStwNw-SJ.FvuCo7Q1XkhpIjVqgOA

13. Ctrl+Paint

Ctrl+Paint is a resource that offers free learning on the basics of digital painting. Each covers a different concept, allowing you to learn complex subjects in manageable increments.

This drawing tutorial website founded by Matt Kohr is organized like a proper syllabus and offers premium online painting courses for as low as $10.
Link to the website : https://www.ctrlpaint.com/

14. Mark Crilley

Mark Crilley is an American artist, illustrator, author, and graphic designer. On his Youtube painting tutorials channel, he focuses mainly on anime and manga art forms, which are visible in his painting tutorials.

He breaks down the artwork into some easy and illustrative steps which makes it easier to follow up. Moreover, he treats his subscribers like members and hence there is some engagement from both the side of the screen which gives it channel more of a community feel.
Link to his YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/markcrilley

15. New Masters Academy

The New Masters Academy has everything for everyone. With over 40,000 enrolled students, 4,000 video lectures, and 30,000+ references, this is surely a place to be.

The Standard $35 per month subscription provides you with over 850 hours of video lectures whereas, the Premium $44 per month level allows you access to an online 3D reference library and 20,000+ reference images.
Link to the Website : https://www.nma.art/#about

16. How to Paint : Absolute Beginners Acrylic Course with Will Kemp

A short and to the point art lessons online by Will Kemp is all you need if you’re short on time but extremely passionate about pursuing an art course.

Will in his three and a half hours long and the illustrative course explains the foundations of working with acrylics. In this online painting courses you learn about the palette setup, mixing, pigment choice, brush handling, etc.
Link to the website: https://willkempartschool.com/product/absolute-beginners-acrylic-course/

17. Johnlovett.com

John Lovett is an Australian artist who works in the areas of oils, watercolors, and mixed media and his love for painting is evident when someone goes through his art lessons online on Johnlovett.com

At this painting tutorial website Johnlovett.com you can with more than 60 video lessons and numerous informative blogs which provide you an insider’s view into the world of artists.
Link to the website: https://www.johnlovett.com/painting-lessons-instructions

18. Clive5Art

British artist Clive through his videos makes it fun and interesting to learn how to paint. His Youtube channel description says that he wants to make art accessible to people of all ages.

Most of his videos focus on acrylic paintings and give a step by step tutorial for the same which make the videos fun and full of learning.
Link to the website: https://www.youtube.com/user/CLIVE5ART/featured

19. Tucson Art Academy Online

Tucson Art Academy Online focuses and provides traditional painting courses. The courses are designed and formulated for artists at every skill level and in every medium i.e., oil, acrylic paintings, pastel, and watercolor painting tutorials.

With over 15 artists ranging from Ken Auster to Laura Robb, there are lessons and techniques and tips which are worth learning with online mentoring courses.
Link to the website : https://tucsonartacademyonline.com/courses

20. Draw and Paint Online

Peter Stanyer provides some lessons on this website.

The artist provides art lessons online in various domains of art and painting. You can take a trial lesson before you enroll yourself in any of the courses for around 10 GBP.

The beginner courses in art and painting begin at GBP 148, which allows you to learn about the techniques, skills, methods, and materials.
Link to the website : http://www.drawandpaintonline.co.uk/level-1-beginners-art-course/

21. Watts Atelier of the Arts

Watts Atelier Art College has made its painting courses available online in PDF format for the art enthusiasts who are not able to attend college for the same.

The pricing starts at $ 299 for which you get a weekly video lecture by a Watts trained artist and another plan which goes for $ 499.
Link to the website : https://www.wattsatelier.com/

22. Learn Squared

Learn Squared is here to teach you art lessons online but in a bit unconventional way.

Learn Squared covers topics like concept design, 3D and 2D art form, animation, drawing, graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, and a lot more interesting topics that are going to come up soon.

The Learn Squared learning experience offers something different in the form of pre-recorded videos which have artists which instruct the other in a discipline they’re not familiar with.
Link to the website : https://www.learnsquared.com/courses

23. Drawing Essentials with Glen Vilppu

Glen Vilppu is one of the most famous artists in the world who instructs professionals at animation, games, and film studios worldwide as well as various universities, art schools, and private art academies.

This platform attempts to fill those knowledge gaps and is aimed at not just beginners but any artist, even professionals, who have never studied formally. At $600, the online painting courses are on the expensive side.
Link to the website : https://vilppuacademy.com/collections/drawing-essentials/products/drawing-essentials

24. The Artist’s Journey

The Nancy Hillis’ Artist’s Journey gives you the wild side of art lessons and takes you away from the mundane representational style.

The 5 module self-paced course focuses on abstract art form which might help the artist loosen up and give a whole new viewpoint towards art and artistic values.

There are a few art courses online with the lowest priced one at $ 197 which gives you an access of over a year to the class which might be suitable for beginners as well as intermediate and advanced artists.
Link to the website : https://nancyhillis.com/activate/

25. Watercolorpainting.com

The tutorial website has some amazing tips and tricks and some viable techniques which you can use while preparing your next watercolor artwork.

Under the ‘25 step by step painting ideas’ section, you can find some amazing ideas and inspirations.
So, if you’re a watercolor painter and enthusiast, you know where to look at.
Link to the website : https://watercolorpainting.com/

26. Brush, Nib and Pen Style by Yuko Shimizue

Yuko Shimizu is a New York based illustrator and an art veteran instructor at the School of Visual Arts.

She hosts her class on Skillshare and and offers an essential guide on essential inking and drawing techniques. For accessing the course you would be needing a Skillshare membership, and the class covers a variety of techniques.

The art class covers a variety of topics which are beneficial for a professional ink artist to a straight up beginner.

Link to the course: https://www.youtube.com/user/Renju1432/playlists

27. Renjitha Anoop

On her Youtube channel, Renjitha explains painting up till the smallest and minutest details.

Her channel has several playlists ranging from acrylic painting tutorials to a step by step guide which helps anyone, from an artist to a simple art enthusiast to learn painting through her videos and tutorials
Link to her YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/Renju1432/playlists

28. Visual Arts Passage

The Visual Arts Passage is like a proper online art college. Their website has courses in concept art, illustration design, and specialty courses, which are foundations courses covering and teaching the concept and use of the art.

The pricing for these art courses online average at somewhere about $ 250 a month which makes it a bit expensive but the plus side is that after learning from here you might even be able to work at places like MTV, Newsweek, HBO, Esquire and a lot more.
So, it’s worth the bet then.
Link to the website : https://visualartspassage.com/

29. Jay Lee Painting

Jay Lee Painting has been in the YouTube painting scene for 7 years now.

Jay Lee on his Youtube channel, makes sure that you learn in a predefined manner. There are playlists on his channel, which Jay has curated according to levels. For example watercolor painting tutorials (level 1 and 2) etc.

Jay also has various helpful tricks and techniques which come in handy for whether it is an acrylic painting or a watercolor painting.
Link to the YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHm9SiOLG8UoBT8STWY5mVA/featured

30. Schoolism

Schoolism has risen to be one of the best-known art schools online due to its unprecedented approach towards art. The 30 additional courses available on the website are very much diverse and well-read, which makes it an amazing opportunity.

The online painting courses on the website can be availed in two ways, which are on a monthly ($ 28.99) and yearly ($ 998), which are worth the content and instructions in the course.

The online painting courses are divided on a self-paced and a fixed time basis depending upon the course content and how the curriculum is developed.
Link to the website : https://schoolism.com/

While you learn to paint at any one of the places we mentioned above and fulfill your enthusiasm about drawing and painting, we’re always here to help you out when it comes to getting a portrait or handmade artwork made straight out of a photograph.

Yes, you heard that right. We, at MavenArt make sure that we turn your much-loved photograph into an elegant and classic painting with the help of top-notch technology and our brilliant on-board artists, be it a human portrait or a dog portrait.

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1)Please send us the picture you want to convert into an artwork.
2)Choose the basic specifications such as size, dimensions, type of artwork(caricature, portrait, charcoal sketch etc.) and go through the preview we send over to you.
3)Just wait for an amazing bundle of art and love delivered straight to your address.

What’s the guarantee? Well, our reviews speak for themselves. It’s the love and support of all the amazing customers we’ve had.
Amazing prices, best service and top notch quality. Checkout MavenArt.com.