When asking this question, you must first acknowledge your skill level. The answer to this question is quite different for an absolute beginner as it is for an advanced practitioner. So, we continue with ideas of things to draw from a beginner’s perspective and proceed towards the more accomplished levels.
Ideas to draw for beginners
During this Covid-19 pandemic season, many of us of all ages and stages of life are home bored out of our wits. We seek something interesting or/and creative to do. Let’s draw something you may say and that’s exactly what you do only to find that your final result is not as gratifying as you would have liked. Not to mention the numerous grins and giggles it receives from your loved ones at home and those thousands of faithful social media friends and followers.
At the top of any beginner’s mind should be……yes I said it…. ‘drawing classes for beginners’ or ‘art classes for beginners’. I say this without hesitation or reservation because not only is it important for you to do something but you must know how to do it well!
Sketching and doodling are fine if you are biding time in the car park waiting for your spouse or kids. But the gratification one feels to learn a skill, growing from mediocre to excellent in a few short weeks, continuously challenging yourself to be better and gaining the ultimate gift of respect when you see the looks on their faces and you feel it inside ‘Yeah, I told you so!’
So let’s get you started with some free online drawing classes for beginners.
Who is Nina Rycroft, and why is she important to you?
You may say I don’t know, and then I would say, Nina Rycroft, is a picture book illustrator who worked as a graphic designer in Sydney and London and turned to illustration, with her first picture book Little Platypus which received a CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia). She is important to you because she is well qualified and teaches a ‘Free Beginner’s’ online class on SkillShare.com which fits comfortably with your aspirations.
She has more than a dozen picture books published worldwide, winning some awards along the way. Amongst other things, you will learn how to design and develop character, illustration techniques, and picture book illustration. Here are some of the things she teaches (Please bear in mind that some of these classes may not be free):
- 101 Guide to Picture Books
- 101 Guide to Drawing Eyes
- How to Draw the Head from Every Angle: Part One
- How to Draw the Head From Every Angle: Part Two
- Face Shapes: Draw a Series of Characters Using Simple Shapes
- Face Facts: Beginners Guide to Drawing a Self Portrait
- Emoji Me: The Art of Facial Expression
- Draw a Circus of Line and Gesture – Design a Character From Start to Finish
- Draw a Circus of Movement: Simple Techniques to Bring Characters to Life
- Draw a Circus of Characters: Exploring Body Shape and Proportion
What about this young lady, Gulnara M?
Gulnara is an artist based in Los Angeles, California who has been drawing since before she could write. Art has always played a huge part in her life. Her favorite mediums are watercolors, oil paints, ink, and colored pencils. She loves to create illustrations that inspire and bring smiles. For example, here are some creative things to draw and cool things to draw for beginners taught in her classes.
· Watercolor Animals for Beginners – Bunny
· Easy Floral Wreath with Watercolors
· Watercolor Techniques – Seashells
· Watercolor Techniques – Tropical Leaf
· Watercolor Textures – Fur – Puppy
· Water Droplets with Watercolors
And last but certainly not least, let’s take a look at some more creative drawing ideas for beginners.
Why choose Julia Troy?
Julia is an industrial designer at Quirky.com whose main objective is finding creative solutions for consumers to enhance their everyday lives. She is obsessed with pushing the boundaries of the physical with innovative aesthetic solutions in all her designs. She also helped run a photography and creative studio located in Chelsea.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduate from Columbus College of Art & Design. She is a huge useless fact fanatic, enjoys traveling, and thinks Pugs are the best dog breed in the world.
Her class How to Sketch Like an Industrial Designer has 14,760 students and that says she must be doing something good.
Here are some of the things her students had to say about the class:
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Intermediate Levels.
Thank you, Julia! I enjoyed learning from your class.
Posted 4 months ago
Autodidactic to a fault
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Beginner Levels.
I’m a beginner, so this was “just right”
Posted 6 months ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for All Levels.
Everything’s perfect in this class. Easy to follow and clear.
Posted about 1 year ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Advanced Levels.
Loved the class. Easy to understand and follow. Can’t wait to start creating.
Posted about 1 year ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Beginner Levels.
A very good overview of the sketching process for design! It was insightful and had many good tips on how to layout your work to create a final sketch that looks great. The teacher explained her thought process and actions throughout the video which worked well.
Posted about 1 year ago
- This class exceeded my expectation
- I recommend it for Beginner Levels.
Very didactic and easy to understand how to draw sketches
Posted about 1 year ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Intermediate Levels.
Absolutely amazing!
Posted about 2 years ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Beginner Levels.
Posted 3 weeks ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Beginner Levels.
Posted 2 months ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for All Levels.
Posted 2 months ago
By the way, for those of us who doesn’t know what didactic means I took the liberty of looking it up for us.
di·dac·tic
adjective
- intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive.
Landscape with Acrylic Paints: Techniques for Children and Beginners
Em Winn, Teacher, Art Instructor, Artist
In conclusion, my best advice to all you beginners is to learn a skill, start and don’t stop! These free online courses for adults are great to get you started but guess what? They are not only for adults; they are for all aspiring artists who want to communicate lines into shapes and form.
Fun Things to Draw
You may consider yourself to be an intermediate or proficient artist but whatever the case, finding creative things to draw or just cool simple things to draw may challenging to you at times. Sometimes it may just be about challenging yourself against the work of some of your peers whose skill you have grown to admire and respect.
Whatever the case, we can never be too proud to subject ourselves to learning a new skill from accomplished artists/teachers especially when these people make themselves and their free online art classes.
From topics like:
· The Art of Bunnies in Books: An Easter Illustration Celebration
Nina Rycroft, Picture Book Illustrator
· Introduction to Animation
Mike Ryan, Traditional Animator
· Super Easy Watercolors #5 – Rainbow Dragonfly with Lotus Flower [FREE Line Art Template]
· How To Draw Impossible Shapes (Optical Illusions) – Simple Drawing Projects for Beginners
· How to Draw Comics like a PRO – Series 1
Kontrol Incorporated, Artist by day, off duty artist by night
· How to draw cafe in Japanese watercolor style in Procreate – digital illustration
Inga Yoon, Digital illustrator and teacher
· Procreate for beginners
· Drawing as Therapy Exercises & Prompts
· Feathered Friends: A Beginner’s Guide to Drawing Wings
Krissy Ewins, Illustrator & Etsy Seller
· Painting pumpkins with watercolor: Step by step process
Aarju Sanjel, Watercolor Artist, Youtuber
· Drawing the Fashion Croquis: A Step-by-Step Tutorial for Beginners
Amiko Simonetti, Fashion Designer
· Charcoal Drawing Basics | For Beginners
Messer Creations, Charcoal Artist
These are but a few of the cute ideas to draw. There are so many more but not necessarily free. One should always consider the financial well-being of the artist/teacher and where possible you should not grow without stimulating growth
How to paint with acrylic
Then there are some of you out there who may want to know how to paint with acrylic and I would say that the best person to answer that question is LaurieAnne Gonzalez who conducts the class Acrylic Painting: Learn the Basics for Beginners.
A LOT of information is given in this class which is broken down into 6 categories:
- Defining Your Workspace – I will show you my workspace and what tools I use to make it the perfect place to paint. Spoiler Alert: you do not need a fancy studio to paint, the kitchen table works great!
- Color Mixing – You will learn how to mix colors and get a beautiful range of colors using the three primaries plus white and black.
- Brushes – You will explore a variety of brushes and the different marks they make, as well as, Palette/Painting Knives!
- Texture (Acrylic Mediums) – You will be taught how to use Acrylic Mediums to build really nice texture in your paintings and also how to create the desired finish on your piece.
- Dimension – Creating dimension when painting an object to give a fuller effect.
- Depth of Field – You will learn to achieve a depth of field when painting a landscape by using scale and color.
And yes, there is much more!
These are some of the reviews received from some of her students:
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Beginner Levels.
Great first class to get back into painting! Highly recommend this one
Posted 1 day ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for All Levels.
Helpful for beginners and those looking for some quick tips.
Posted 6 days ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Beginner Levels.
Lovely teacher, beautiful voice! Kept me focused and made it interesting. A very important attribute to have when teaching. Highly recommend this course
Posted 1 week ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for All Levels.
She was great!
Posted 3 weeks ago
- This class exceeded my expectations!
- I recommend it for Beginner Levels.
A wonderful introduction to acrylic painting. Can’t wait to try my first acrylic project 🙂
Posted 1 month ago
Then there is the unconquerable Cat Coquillette who attained a Double-Major in Illustration and Graphic Design from the University of Kansas, whose class Modern Acrylic Painting: Explore Techniques to Create On-Trend Art by Cat Coquillette, Artist at www.catcoq.com is a must!
When asked Why acrylic paint? Cat answers that in addition to being incredibly easy to use, acrylics yield some of the most vibrant and versatile results. This is the perfect medium for creating modern paintings with graphic color blocking, ombré gradients, thick texture, and delicate line-work.
During the class we will create 10 individual paintings:
- 3 styles of backgrounds:
- smooth-blended
- ombré gradient
- textured abstract
- Modern donuts with realistic icing
- Tropical leaf color-blocking
- 3 styles of geometric patterns:
- Herringbone
- intricate linework
- metallic whitespace Miniature galaxy
- Miniature galaxy
Cat is formerly from Kansas City, USA, but thanks to her success with selling her art online, she now travels the world 24/7 as a permanent “nomad”. She has found creative inspiration from all corners of the planet. Aren’t you happy that she is one of your tutors?
What to paint with acrylics?
Here are but a few simple examples of what to paint with acrylics.
Acrylic Painting: How To Paint An Abstract Landscape
How To Create A Realistic Galaxy Painting, With Acrylics
Acrylics for Illustrators – A Contemporary Watercolor Style
Acrylic Fall Landscape Painting – Using A Reference Photo
Paint a realistic bird using acrylics
Joe McMenamin, Artist – Illustrator – Teacher
How to Paint Sunflowers Using Acrylic Paints
Bonnie Lecat, illustrator, designer, teacher
How to Paint Quick and Easy Roses with Acrylic Paint – A Beginner’s Guide
Bonnie Lecat, illustrator, designer, teacher
