"It gives me such a sense of peace to draw; more than prayer, walks, anything." - Sylvia Plath
Are you thinking about learning to draw in your free time?
Knowing how to draw is a skill that very few people think they have. However, everyone can learn to draw. No one artist will have the same art style - all you need to do is give yourself some time to learn how to draw people, plants, animals and other things. You can even draw out of your pocket of imagination!
Psychologists have said that while having between two to five hours of free time per day can maximise happiness levels, what is more important is how people SPEND that free time.
So why not use some of this time for a rewarding activity like drawing?
Whether you’re using pens, pencils, charcoals, etc., you can learn to draw and colour simple shapes, the human body, and various forms of art thanks to online courses and websites.
Are online drawing websites effective?
Can you learn to draw online?
It might seem impossible to become skilled at drawing through drawing websites that you can easily find online, but many have done it. Since the dawn of the internet, more and more resources have been made available online, even drawing classes!
Of course, these classes can’t replace a real art teacher but there are several advantages to learning this way.
Firstly, you can learn drawing from wherever you are and whenever you want. This means that even if you were to go on a long holiday trip, you can still follow along to lessons teaching you new drawing techniques as long as you have a solid Internet connection at your location. You may experience a random urge to learn stippling at midnight, which is possible with a drawing website that you can use whenever you want.
Sites can be quite effective for aspiring artists with a few hours to spare to dedicate to learning how to draw. Even if your schedule is quite busy, you can find one or two hours a week to learn. Plus, you save energy for drawing by learning through your device than if you were to head out for a physical drawing class. This can encourage you to focus on drawing: once you’re concentrated on a task, it’s much easier to get invested in it.
However, that doesn’t mean that you should just go to the first site you find. You need to choose the drawing lessons according to your level so that you’re not overwhelmed or bored. This is the only way to improve!
Additionally, you should also consider what type of medium you want to use for practising drawing, like traditional or digital art tools. Knowing this will help you choose the right drawing website.
Find out more about learning to draw for free.
Should I learn drawing digitally or traditionally?
It is a general misconception that all artists must begin drawing with traditional media, or using paper and drawing tools like charcoal or pencils to practise the art of drawing. Are you aware that digital art is becoming increasingly popular among art enthusiasts?
Is traditional art too much of a burden now? Can digital art be considered “real” art?
One of the reasons budding artists will choose to draw digitally is that the fact that digital art is highly cost-effective. Good drawing tablets will cost you anywhere from RM100 to RM400, but there are many attractive deals on websites like Shopee and Lazada to reduce your expenses. Think about it in the long run, too: you also don’t need to buy art supplies since your drawing tablet will last longer than materials like paper and crayons.
Some artists may even use their mouse or trackpad to draw, so they won’t have to buy a drawing tablet. It’s even better if you already have a general tablet like an iPad which comes with a stylus - that’s your drawing tool and canvas already!
You can also say that digital art is a more efficient way of learning to draw since you don’t have to carry many tools around with you. Say you wanted to go to a park to draw the people and birds there. It would take you some time to pack your art tools like the right sketchbook, pencil sets, eraser varieties, sharpeners… as compared to digital art which will only take you a few seconds to pack your tablet and stylus.
Notice that digital art also produces less waste than traditional art. You will have an infinite “supply” of paper, crayons, ink, pencils and more with your digital art tools, but traditional art means the amount of materials and tools used and thrown away will accumulate over time.
Does this mean you shouldn’t try to pick up charcoal sticks and physical sketchbooks?
Regardless of the amazing art technology, nothing can replace the feel and reward of working with traditional art media. Creating effects like light and shadow on physical surfaces can hardly ever be replicated in the same way again (think of copy and paste in digital art) and that is the charm of drawing traditionally.
Getting art charcoal on your hands is a sign that you created a tangible, unique art piece!
Technology may also create challenges for digital artists, such as apps crashing before successfully saving one’s progress, problems accessing files or issues with the hardware of drawing tablets. This can be very frustrating if you want to relax, enjoy drawing, and not worry about your tools malfunctioning at some point.
In the end, the choice is really up to you.
We want to emphasise that you can always make the switch from traditional art to digital art, or vice versa. You don’t have to limit yourself to only certain tools for drawing, and you may be able to expand on your creativity and imagination by exploring the different art media out there.
What is the best website to learn drawing?
Now we are going to move on to some fantastic drawing websites for beginners and intermediate-level artists to learn drawing. Check out these places below to learn drawing from scratch or build on existing drawing skills.
Kick in the Creatives
Rather than a site where you can find a particular drawing lesson, Kick in the Creatives is a website and community that encourages you to pick up a graphite pencil (or other media) every day and work on your drawing techniques. If certain drawing techniques keep getting in your way, regularly doing some basic drawing will help you to improve.
Try joining their 365 Day Sketch Challenge and connect with artists in their community to learn skills for drawing.
Ctrl+Paint
This website is home to plenty of free drawing videos. Be it perspective drawing, portrait drawing, life drawing, or shading techniques, the 5-minute videos on this site are great for working on your art.
Discover the best ways to learn to draw for free.
Drawing Now
Thousands of free user drawings and tutorials can be found on this website to help you learn how to draw. It can teach you how to draw animals, anime and manga, flowers, and famous characters and people. Learn how to draw, step by step.
Whether you're doodling your favourite cartoon characters or drawing people you know, you should visit this site.
Drawing Coach
This a different kind of drawing tutorial site. While Drawing Coach has lessons on plenty of different drawing skills, it tends to focus on how to draw cartoons and comics. This means you'll learn about how to draw faces, sketch characters, shading, composition, and pen and ink techniques, too.
SketchCrawl
This website is similar to Kick in the Creatives in that it's for a drawing activity rather than drawing techniques themselves. However, the activity will come in handy for improving your drawing skills.
SketchCrawl was inspired by a pub crawl. Throughout the day, draw everything throughout your day and when you're finished, you can upload the results to the SketchCrawl forum and meet other artists, discuss your work, and even look for SketchCrawl events all over the world.
Learn about the best drawing apps.
Drawspace
If you're interested in drawing lessons or drawing tutorials, this is one of the best places to go. There are plenty of classes and drawing tips for all levels and whether you want to do figure drawing, one-point perspective, pencil drawing, cross-hatching, or drawing lessons for kids, you're bound to find it on this site.
The Drawing Website
This website is far more creative than its name but it does what it says on the tin. It's great for novice artists to learn how to draw cartoons, people, and other fictional characters. There are also tutorials on drawing environments, flat shapes, lines, and nature. If you're very new to drawing, you should make sure that you add this website to your favourites and go straight to it.
These are all great websites to break down drawings for you through step-by-step guides. You can easily find instructions and tutorials that focus on art subjects like the anatomy of the human body - think of poses, movement, and learning to draw people just by looking at what you're drawing differently. You'd be surprised just how much you can learn from these online websites, as long as you are brave enough to change your perspective!
Find out how to get better at drawing.
Is it possible to learn to draw on social media?
It’s not just websites you can learn to draw on. With so many YouTubers and other online tutorials, there are plenty of ways to learn to draw online. This is especially the case with YouTube channels.
There are plenty of artists showing you what to do online. You can learn how to draw and plenty of techniques like colouring and shadows as well as find specific tutorials on projects like drawing a face, for example.
It doesn’t take that much to make an art tutorial, after all. A camera, a sheet of paper, and some pencils and pens are all you need to make a good tutorial - which is why plenty of these instructional videos are free on YouTube.
Another advantage of these tutorials on YouTube is that you can easily pause the video if things are going too quickly for you. This is a great way to establish a good rhythm and you can learn to pace yourself as you are working towards new drawing techniques.
Several good YouTube channels teach you how to draw.
- Jess Karp
- Art of Wei
- Pypah’s Art
- Sophie Chan
- Aaron Blaise
- Proko
- Draw with Jazza
- Sarah Tepes
- Sketching Scottie
- Stephen Travers Art
There’s something for everyone. With manga, still life, comics, digital painting, etc., you’re bound to find something you like. Notice that many YouTube videos on drawing also discuss tips such as how to use certain art materials to create the effect you want and ways to navigate hurdles in your drawing. You can get inspiration from other artists on YouTube who have discovered steps to overcome the hurdles you are facing.
YouTube isn’t the only place to go, though. Facebook is another great place to find other artists. There are communities for almost every type of drawing and you can also get tutorials on how to draw there for free. You may even have the chance to meet up with the artists running these online communities so that you can learn to draw with them in person.
Just keep yourself updated on your Facebook communities and keep an eye out for art events.
Pinterest and Instagram are also great social media avenues if you want to learn more about drawing. These social media apps focus more on visuals rather than lengthy tutorial videos so they’re a great way to find quick inspiration for your drawing.
What are you waiting for?
How can I improve my drawing skills?
With these online platforms and the best websites for drawing, you will have already gained various instructor courses and tutorials to help you start drawing. As a complement to these online resources, there are other things you can do in your free time to boost your drawing abilities and become a better artist.
Use these tips to improve your drawing skills.
- Create freehand doodles
Sometimes you may feel as though your art is boring or lacking individuality. This may stem from drawing the same things for a while or looking at similar things in your art every day. Try freehand doodling as an exercise in your art practice every day, for 10 to 20 minutes. You can use it as a warm-up before starting any art piece or use it as a fun way to complete your daily art practice. If you do it in a sketchbook, you can have a collection of doodles to inspire your next art piece!
Here’s a video on drawing exercises if you need to warm up for your practice.
- Practise the same drawings over and over again
You may find this tip funny since you were just encouraged to experiment with all the doodles you can imagine. This tip is an exercise to improve certain drawing techniques or get better at drawing specific objects or ideas.
Say you want to improve your skills at drawing nature. You can practise drawing the same leaf patterns and shapes in your sketchbook until you are satisfied with your art style, or feel you have successfully captured the look of leaves on a tree.
- Learn to use different media and tools
You could be inclined to use the same textured paper and ink for a year so that you get really good at using certain art media and tools. Don’t limit yourself! To grow as an artist, you must be brave to explore different tools and media in creating your art. With this tip, you can expand your art skills and become more confident to take on new art challenges.
Example: If you have been creating drawings in black and white for a few months now, how about trying to draw with a paintbrush and watercolour?
- Draw something challenging
This is another exercise to push the boundaries of your drawing abilities. Have there been shapes or other subjects that you find frustrating to draw? That could be your sign to practise and get more familiar with those drawings you find challenging. You may not like the challenging things you draw at first, like the sketch of your friend or the buildings in your city, but it’s all part of the learning process.
Every drawing you create will only get better with practice, after all.
Is Superprof a good platform to learn drawing?
If you need more help with art and drawing, don't forget that there are plenty of amazingly talented and experienced art tutors on Superprof who are willing to help you get better. No matter where you are in the country, you should be able to find somebody who can teach you exactly what you want to learn about drawing and art.
So, why should elevate your drawing skills through art lessons on Superprof?
Firstly, Superprof truly caters to their students: you can choose what kind of art lesson will be best for you, your budget, and your learning style as there are three main types available on the Superprof platform: face-to-face lessons, online lessons, and group lessons. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of effectiveness, and you are free to choose which type of drawing lesson works best for you!
Face-to-face drawing lessons with a Superprof tutor are incredibly effective because you're the only student in the session, which allows your Superprof tutor to tailor the entire course and each session to you, what you want to learn, and how you like to learn. If you’re quite sociable, you may want to consider group drawing lessons. You also won't have to pay as much per hour usually as the cost of the tutor's time is divided between all the students attending the session. These drawing lessons tend to be the cheapest per student per hour on Superprof.
On the other hand, you should consider online drawing lessons on Superprof if you want to cut down on travel time or schedule more drawing lessons per week. If you have a webcam, microphone, and a decent internet connection, you can be taught remotely by a Superprof art tutor from anywhere in the world. Find art tutors from Petaling Jaya, São Paulo, Edinburgh, Monza, London and more, only on Superprof!
In addition to the preferred instruction mode of your drawing lessons, there are many other benefits you can get when you sign up as a student on Superprof:
- Learn from professional artists and enthusiasts who are skilled at drawing
- Expand your drawing skills to other art areas like painting, gouache, manga and comic art
- Build complementary skills like designing a storyboard, inventing figures and writing comics
Isn’t that amazing? Before you choose your drawing tutor, remember that many of the tutors on Superprof will offer free tutoring for the first hour so you can discuss what you're after and see if they're right for you!
Enjoyed this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
