Schoolism
Primarily aimed at concept artists and digital painters, Schoolism is strong on advanced fundamentals. Probably too intense for beginners. Dives deep on rendering, composition, and character design.
$25 Monthly
New Masters Academy
While a bit old school and slow-paced, the instructors on here are true veterans. Many are classical painters and sculpters, or come from the visual development and film world. They're strong on anatomy, traditional painting yechniques, and compositional layout theory.
$35 Monthly
Society of Visual Storytelling
Strong on beginner fundamentals – great for anyone just getting started. Jake Parker and Will Terry teach drawing and digital painting from the ground up through sets of well-designed, hands-on exercises.
$25 Monthly
Art of Aaron Blaise
Animation, animals, and character design are the focus here. Ex-Disney artist Aaron Blaise leads most of the courses – his teaching style is friendly and laid-back. These courses assume basic drawing skills and cover more advanced topics.
$25 Monthly
Peter Han
Infamous for his pen and ink techniques, Peter is a master of the Dynamic Sketching style that has spread throughout the art education world. He's a seasoned instructor who knows how to break down concepts into simple, understandable principals. He runs online courses and individual mentorships a few times a year, as well as in-person workshops in LA and Europe.
$800 online course
Draw a Box
A community favourite, this site walks you through the core concepts of Dynamic Sketching in a well-organised set of lessons. Covers the essentials of drawing smooth lines, creating textures, and (obviously) drawing good boxes! You can even get feedback on the homework assignments through their group discord or subreddit.
Free!
Modern Day James
James is an independent creator running a patreon and selling individual gumroad courses. The style is more directed at game design and concept art for films, but builds on top of classic drawing techniques that are valuable no matter what kind of medium you're interested in.
$5-30 Monthly / $8-20 Videos
Ty Carter
Another independent teacher, Ty is a background designer from the animation world creating tutorials on Patreon and Gumroad. Strong on lighting & colour theory, stylised illustration techniques, and visual design principals
$10-200 Monthly / $25 Videos
Concept Design Academy
An in-person training school in Pasadena, California that offers a full curriculum of foundational illustration and design skills. The instructors are all working professionals in the concept art industry, and teaching courses on evenings and weekends.
$750-800 In-Person
Ctrl+Paint
An impressivly high-quality and sizeable collection of video tutorials by Matt Kohr. The videos focus on fundamental painting techniques, specifically around building skills for concept art and digital work. A great spot for beginners – Matt covers all the basics in a well organised sequence.
Free!
Foundation Art Group
An active learning community and Patreon group that hosts monthly challenges led by guest instructors. Very beginner friendly and welcoming – a great spot to find social motivation and get feedback when you're just starting out.
$5 Monthly
CGMA 2D Academy
Offers semester-long mentorship courses in all the primary skills of concept art and digital illustration. All the instructors are industry professionals who give personalised feedback on weekly assignments.
