10 Online Courses For Learning How to Draw With Pencil

Unleash your creativity and imagination with the help of these five drawing experts and start to draw from scratch

Drawing is probably the one creative activity we all have in common: ever since we were children, we have used it to express ourselves. However, as the years go by, we tend to neglect this skill.

When it comes to drawing, there are some universal rules based on how human beings perceive things and their cultural norms. Whether you choose to respect these rules, break them, or experiment with them, there’s no doubt that they are essential for every illustrator.

If you want to rediscover your love for drawing in pencil, these 10 courses will teach you everything you need to know.

Artistic Illustration: Draw from Your Imagination, a course by Fito Espinosa

Painter, visual artist, and illustrator Fito Espinosa will show you the process he uses to connect with his deepest feelings and thoughts through images full of symbolism and emotion. He shares exercises that will help you explore yourself and learn to develop your ideas into images that express your personal point of view.

The Art of Sketching: Transform Your Doodles into Art, a course by Mattias Adolfsson

Grab your sketchbook and pencil and explore the possibilities of illustration with Mattias Adolfsson. This illustrator will show you how to develop your own style. Discover how to transform your sketches into works of art, loosen up your hand, and unleash your imagination.

Surrealist Illustration Inspired by Nature, a course by Marco Mazzoni

The animal kingdom has always been a potent source of inspiration for artists, with surprisingly accurate metaphors of human emotions found in each animal’s characteristics. Artist and illustrator Marco Mazzoni is fascinated by flora and fauna. His work is filled with depictions of human emotions inspired by nature, and in this course, he invites you to try his own methods to create surreal illustrations of animals.

Forget the structure of academic drawing and the use of visual references. Instead, discover fun techniques to refine the message behind your animal illustrations.

Dynamic Figure Drawing, a course by Shane Wolf

Do you want to capture the beauty and movement of a model’s body in your figure drawings? Artist Shane Wolf has dedicated over ten years to exploring and experimenting with the art of figure drawing. In this course, he not only shares his techniques for improving your drawing skills, but also teaches you a fundamental aspect of figure drawing: how to connect with your model.

Discover Shane’s studio life, his expertise, and his philosophy on the art of depicting nudity. Learn some practical exercises to perfect your accuracy and technique. See Shane’s step-by-step process for filling your drawings with movement and learn to unravel the beauty and personality of your model in your figure drawings.

Sketchbook Creation: Find Your Own Language, a course by Santiago Guevara

This illustrator invites you to experiment with different daily exercises that will help you to start filling the pages of your sketchbook. Learn about different materials and techniques to create your own world of images and express yourself as an artist.

Drawing for Beginners Level -1, a course by Puño

Having acquired years of experience working as a teacher and illustrator, Puño has taught even the most skeptical beginners who never thought they’d learn to draw. Try out different exercises and fill your first sketchbook while learning some very useful techniques.

Creative Sketching: Fill Your Illustrations with Life and Detail, a course by Mattias Adolfsson

Would you like to learn how to merge all your sketch ideas into a single scene with a balanced and intriguing composition? Discover Mattias Adolfsson’s method for creating scenes that invite the viewer to observe its intricate details up close.

Renowned for his playful characters and humorous, detailed artwork, Mattias creates illustrations for magazines like The New Yorker, The Hollywood Reporter, and The New York Times, as well as animation studios like Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, and Disney. In this course, he shows you how to master composition techniques and organize your sketches and ideas into one detailed figurative piece.

Introduction to Children’s Illustration, a course by Adolfo Serra

In this course, you will practice different traditional drawing techniques and develop your own creative process, first by learning how to develop an idea. Create your own creative portfolio by turning texts into eye-catching images.

Drawing Manga Characters from Scratch, a course by EUDETENIS

In the world of comics, there are no creative limits, it can go anywhere from fantasy stories to those filled with action and adventure. Giovana and Paulo are specialists when it comes to this illustration style. The renowned brazilian duo EUDETENIS teaches you, step by step, how to give life to memorable characters.

Learn how to create an entire model sheet in pencil in different perspectives and add details of your character in manga style. Giovana and Paulo will teach you all the techniques to give movement and personality to your work, starting with the concept to the final art.

Chiaroscuro Creative Portrait with Pencils, a course by Marco Mazzoni

Mastering the use of color and contrast in creative portraits is key to transmitting the story behind your drawings. Marco Mazzoni is an expert when it comes to evoking emotion in his work, drawing inspiration from personal experiences and classical techniques, such as Chiaroscuro.

In this course, Marco will teach you how to convey the tone of your work by walking you through the use of Chiaroscuro in pencil portraits and sharing his step by step coloring method.

English version by @eloiseedgington.

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