As the holiday season approaches, you may find yourself looking for the perfect gift for the artist in your life. This year, we recommend you skip the materialistic presents and instead give them something useful – art lessons! The best part? They won’t even have to leave the house! There are plenty of options for taking art lessons online. In this blog post, we’ll be sharing our favorite sites and platforms that offer art lessons for adults. So whether you’re shopping for a friend, or you want to treat yourself this holiday season, we have plenty of suggestions for you!
What Are Online Art Classes?
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of online art classes, we’ll give you a quick introduction. Online art lessons are classes that are available over the internet, and they allow users to learn new techniques and enhance their artistic abilities. The structure of these courses varies depending on the platform you’re going through. Some classes are highly structured, whereas others offer a more laid-back environment, allowing you to work at your own pace. You’ll find that many of these classes feature either a live stream or pre-recorded videos for instructional purposes. There are lessons available for all ages, but for this post, we’re going to be focusing on online art lessons for adults.
Where To Find Art Lessons Online
There are a ton of options for taking art classes online, so figuring out where to begin can seem overwhelming at times. To make things easier for you, we’ve compiled a list of five well-known platforms in our industry that offer digital art lessons for adults. Prices for these courses can vary, but we’ll include the prices (if we know them) so you know what to expect.
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Skillshare
Skillshare is an online learning community that has recently risen in popularity, and for good reason. They focus on creative skills, so they have plenty of classes in the art department! This platform features short instructional videos on a variety of art topics. Available classes include graphic design, drawing, and even a course that teaches you how to make a living as an artist.
A Skillshare membership is broken down into three levels. There’s the free version, the premium membership, and the team membership. You might be able to find options for free digital art classes to start with. You can also gift a month of Skillshare membership to someone. That gives them plenty of time to see what the platform has to offer!
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CG Spectrum
If your artist is more interested in animation and digital art, then CG Spectrum could be a great fit. This is a global online school that is home to mentors and students from all over the world. The platform offers either small group or one-on-one instruction for its students, and it’s all led by industry professionals. With CG Spectrum, you can take courses on subjects such as 3D modeling, animation, digital painting, visual effects, and game development. Their online classes are separated by experience level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
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Proko
For artists who focus more on drawing, Proko is a great option. This platform features a library of over 100 free virtual art lessons. They take an exciting, entertaining approach with their many video tutorials. There is a paid version of Proko available, which includes extended lessons and extra features that aren’t available otherwise. If you’re wanting to start taking art lessons online, this is a great place to start!
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New Masters Academy
New Masters Academy is unique in that it offers online art classes that you can take at your own pace. They provide streamed online art classes that are taught by real art experts. New Masters Academy has courses on just about anything, including modeling, drawing, painting, sculpture, and digital arts. This platform features an art school-like education experience at a fraction of the cost! You can purchase a subscription to New Masters Academy starting at only $35 a month.
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Gnomon
If you want to take your artistry to the next level, then take a look at Gnomon. They’re known as a top school for visual effects in the entertainment industry. This platform is different from the others because they offer professional courses as well as degree and vocational certificate programs. They also differ from other platforms because their classes are held live! These three-hour class sessions are taught by industry professionals and allow students to receive feedback in real time. So if you are interested in starting a career in the entertainment industry, this program would be something to consider investing in.
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Cheap Joe's Art Workshops
Last but not least, be sure to check out the online classes offered here by Cheap Joe's! We are proud to offer different levels of our art workshops for beginners, beginner-intermediate, intermediate, intermediate-advanced, and advanced based on your skill level. In these in-person and online classes, we cover everything from basic techniques to fast-paced, challenging exercises. To learn more about our classes, visit our page on Art Workshops today.
Take Advantage of The Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff YouTube Channel
We hope we’ve convinced you to gift some digital art lessons to your artist friends this holiday season. However, if you’re not quite ready to spend money on the lessons (or if you just want to test some out for yourself), then you should check out the Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff on YouTube. You’ll find tons of instructional art videos there, for free! We have videos that cover all sorts of subjects, such as watercolor painting, acrylic painting, calligraphy lettering, and more.