If you’re relatively new to art but want to get serious about improving your skills, you’re probably looking for the best paid online art courses for beginners, which brought you here! There’s an insane number of premium art courses online, and I mean insane.
Udemy alone has over 4,000 premium art courses rated 4.5 stars or above, and thousands more that are under that rating. You could spend hours sifting through websites and still have over 100 options you can’t decide on.
Well, the goal of this article is to present to you my picks for the best online art courses for beginners based on which category you’re looking for. As usual with my posts, I like getting straight to the point. So, if you’re not much for reading through lengthy articles, I’ve listed my favorite picks for each category in the table below for a quick reference.
My Top 7 Paid Art Courses for Beginners in Each Category
| Art Course | Best For | Cost | |
| 1 | New Master’s Academy | Overall | $25/mo |
| 2 | The Ultimate Drawing Course | Traditional Drawing | $27.99 |
| 3 | How to Draw and Sketch for Absolute Beginners | Digital Drawing | $129.99 |
| 4 | Will Kemp’s Online Art Courses | Traditional Painting | $30 – $110 |
| 5 | Mastering Color | Color Theory | $100 |
| 6 | Activating the Canvas | Abstract Art | $350 |
| 7 | Figure Drawing Fundamentals | Figure Drawing | $139 |
If you’re interested in learning more about why I chose these courses, or want to see the other courses in my list, keep reading!
Best Paid Online Art Courses for Beginners Overall
If you’re not sure what category of art you’re interested in yet, then these paid art courses are the best places to start.
New Master’s Academy
- Number of Lessons: 1,000+
- Hours of Content: 2,500h+
- Cost: $25 monthly
An incredible monthly price, with access to almost any category of art courses you could want. The company’s name is earned by the teachers who provide the courses for their platform. Their courses are taught by artists from well-known businesses like Disney, Major Studios, Nickelodeon, and award-winning traditional artists.
In my opinion, this premium art course wins the title of “best overall for beginners” because you’re getting more than one artist’s perspective, and all of them are experts in the art form they’re teaching.
When purchasing a course from a single teacher, you will be learning how THEY do things, which might not be how YOU learn best. This doesn’t mean the other options on this list aren’t worth getting, but my preference is to have the flexibility to learn from multiple “masters” in their field.
Brent Eviston’s Drawing Laboratory
- Number of Lessons: 25+
- Hours of Content: 15h+
- Cost: $350
In contrast to what I said under my New Master’s Academy recommendation, some people really do learn better under a single teacher. In those cases, I recommend Brent Eviston’s Drawing Laboratory.
While this course is specifically for learning to draw, it offers incredible insight into the creative process used in all forms of artwork. I firmly believe that learning to draw is an excellent place for any artist to start, even if you’re eventually looking to be a painter or even sculptor.
Creating artwork is less about learning to use artist utensils and more about learning to see the world like an artist. Brent Eviston’s Drawing Laboratory helps you get there. He also offers a course on Becoming Creative that could be useful if you feel creativity isn’t your strong suit.
Best Online Traditional Drawing Courses
Traditional drawing is, and always will be, my bread and butter. To me, nothing compares to the feel of a pencil on paper or the stroke of a paintbrush on a canvas. These premium courses are the best for those who feel the same and are looking to advance their skills in traditional artwork.
The Ultimate Drawing Course – Beginner to Advanced by Jaysen Batchelor
- Number of Lessons: 64
- Hours of Content: 11h
- Cost: $27.99
$159.99
This “Ultimate Drawing Course” by Jaysen Batchelor has over 500,000 students and over 100,000 reviews with an average rating of 4.5 stars. Achieving such a high rating across so many reviews from people from all walks of life is an astounding achievement in itself.
It’s easy to see why when you look at the content of this course. Jayson Batchelor (in coordination with Quinton Batchelor) goes through all the fundamentals of learning to draw in this course, from line fundamentals all the way to drawing the human face.
The course is offered on Udemy, and while it was $159.99 at the time of this writing, I recommend looking for discount periods if you’re looking to save some money. Alternatively, Udemy offers all their courses on a subscription basis for just $20/month, which would give you access to not only this course but also several others in my list which happen to be offered on Udemy.
How to Draw from Beginner to Master by Joseph Daniels
- Number of Lessons: 56
- Hours of Content: 8h
- Cost: $69
This premium art course was previously available on Udemy with an incredible 4.8-star average rating. Taught by Joseph Patric Daniels, an artist with a Master’s Degree in Fine Art and over 25 years of experience as an artist, this course stays true to the title and teaches you drawing skills all the way from beginner to master.
The course offers 56 lessons totaling over 8 hours of content and can be purchased either for a subscription or lifetime access. The course has had nearly 200,000 students and the reviews speak for themselves.
[Beginner to Master Art Academy]
Charcoal Drawing with Aaron Blaise
- Number of Lessons: 6
- Hours of Content: 5.5h
- Cost: $20
Aaron Blaise is a well-known illustrator and artist that worked for Walt Disney Studios for 21 years. Now he’s spending his time helping aspiring artists develop their skills through a variety of art courses available on his site “CreatureTeature.com.”
While he offers a vast array of premium art courses for incredibly affordable prices and which have stellar reviews, his Charcoal Drawing art course in particular is what I recommend for those who are looking to improve their skills in charcoal.
For just $20, you receive over 5 hours of video content and 6 HD video tutorials that will guide you through the process of drawing with charcoal. Alternatively, you can purchase his annual or lifetime premium memberships which provide access to all of his courses.
[Charcoal Drawing with Aaron Blaise]
Drawing Basics – The Complete Online Course by David Jamieson
Number of Lessons: 62
Hours of Content: 22h+
Cost: $200
This paid art course by David Jamieson emphasizes that it starts from the very beginning stages of drawing. While all courses recommended on this page are considered for beginners, I would argue that this drawing course is the best for someone who is truly starting from nothing.
Many individuals who consider themselves beginners will actually have had some experience in drawing throughout their young lives, but this course assumes absolutely no prior knowledge or understanding of art and drawing. This makes it the perfect pick for anyone who thinks they need to start from square one.
[Drawing Basics by David Jamieson]
Best Online Digital Art Courses
While traditional is my preference, digital artwork has incredible capabilities. While the “threat” of AI artwork might make you hesitant to try a premium digital art course, I don’t believe it will ever truly replace digital artists.
How to Draw and Sketch for Absolute Beginners Pt 1&2 by Rich Grayson
Number of Lessons: 256
Hours of Content: 38h+
Cost: $38.98
This is another art course (technically two courses) offered on Udemy, and easily my top pick for beginners looking to venture into the world of digital art. This pair of premium art courses by Rich Grayson offers you an incredible 38 hours worth of content in over 256 lectures.
The course comes in two sections on Udemy. I assume it’s because of the sheer size of the content he provides in the course. Together, the courses cost just under $40 with the discount shown at the time of this writing.
The course makes bold claims such as being able to “draw almost anything” by the end of the course by “drawing what you see and observe” through “understanding that everything is made of a few basic shapes.”
With nearly 40 hours of content for under $40, this one is my top pick for learning digital art.
[How to Draw and Sketch Pt 1] [How to Draw and Sketch Pt 2]
ART School by Marc Brunet
Number of Lessons: 30
Hours of Content: 90h+
Cost: $330
ART School by Marc Brunet is an extensive program that covers all the bases of digital artwork, including color theory and various digital painting techniques. If the cost weren’t so high, this would have won first place as my digital drawing recommendation, but the difference was enough that I feel you’re getting a better value out of the course by Rich Grayson.
This course is structured like a college-level curriculum and took 7 years to fully put together. It’s also still receiving updates as of this writing, with the most recent update taking place just a few months ago.
If you’re enticed by the college curriculum structure and not deterred by the price, this might be the digital drawing course you’ve been looking for.
The Ultimate Digital Painting Course – Beginner to Advanced by Jaysen Batchelor
Number of Lessons: 126
Hours of Content: 27h+
Cost: $24.99
This Udemy course is taught by the same instructor who teaches The Ultimate Drawing Course – Beginner to Advanced mentioned earlier, and has over twice as much content in this course as his traditional.
As with all premium art courses on this page, this instructor is targeting beginner artists who are serious about improving their skills. The course has over 100,000 students with an impressive 4.6-star rating. You can expect to learn things such as color theory, character design, digital painting techniques, and other drawing fundamentals.
[The Ultimate Digital Painting Course]
Paintable Art Academy
Number of Lessons: 80+
Hours of Content: 50h+
Cost: $45 Monthly
They say that gamifying learning is an excellent way to increase retention, and Digital Painting Academy is the digital artist’s version of gamified learning. This course offers badges to completing sections as you go through it and claims to be able to bring you to a professional level within 12 months of learning.
Most courses on my list are primarily just video content, but Paintable offers a unique approach by implementing gamified learning, as well as providing you with a structure to the learning process that isn’t typically offered in other courses.
If you’re a fan of gamified learning, and like the subscription model for premium digital art courses, this could be what you’re looking for.
[Digital Painting Academy by Paintable]
Digital Painting Studio
Number of Lessons: 50+
Hours of Content: 30h+
Cost: $9-$39/Monthly
The Digital Painting Studio is a beginner’s digital drawing course taught by Hardy Fowler, a professional digital artist with over 15 years worth of experience in creating digital artwork.
His art course, Digital Painting Studio (DPS) has 4 tiers. The first is for complete beginners, which teaches the basics of concept art. The second is titled “Skill Building” and is suited for doing just that- building your skills as a digital artist. The third is Career Building, which helps you create a personalized road map toward making a career from creating Concept Artwork. Finally, he has Concept Art Academy, which is a 12-week career mentorship program with Hardy Fowler himself.
As this is a page recommending the best paid art courses for beginners, I recommend starting with the Concept Art Basics course, which is only $9 per month. This course will help you learn the fundamentals of using digital painting tools and guide you through your first project.
Best Online Traditional Painting Courses
Will Kemp’s Online Art Courses
Number of Lessons: 20
Hours of Content: 45h+
Cost: $30 – $110
Will Kemp is an award-winning professional artist and teacher based in the UK. Unlike most of the other premium art courses listed on this page, Will Kemp’s courses are available in a more broken-up format.
Rather than most of his courses being to teach art in a general sense, you can buy courses that teach certain aspects of traditional painting, and for different mediums as well. “Traditional Painting” is actually a fairly broad category, and while Will Kemp’s courses are primarily acrylic, he also has lessons available for oil paintings.
The Paint Coach School by Chris Fornataro
Number of Lessons: 4 Full Courses
Hours of Content: 40h+
Cost: $47 – $247
While the Will Kemp courses are primarily acrylic, The Paint Coach School focuses on oil painting. Chris Fornataro has over 15 years of experience as an artist and has a YouTube channel called Paint Coach with nearly 500,000 subscribers where he offers many of his painting tips for free.
If you’re looking specifically for someone to teach to the fundamentals of oil painting as a beginner, Chris is your guy.
Best Paid Online Art Course for Learning to Use Color
Let’s say you’re already a relatively experienced artist but you’re struggling with color theory. Don’t worry, I’ve got you.
Mastering Color by Richard Robinson
Number of Lessons:
Hours of Content: 3h+
Cost: $100
This premium art course on color theory might seem like a lot to pay just to learn about colors, but it’s the most in-depth course you’ll find that is completely dedicated to helping you with mastering color in your artwork.
The course comes with 45 color exercises, over 3 hours of video content, and 241 pages of printable lesson notes. If you’re struggling with adding color to your artwork, this course will change the course of your art career.
[Mastering Color by Richard Robinson]
Best Online Abstract Art Course
Activating the Canvas by Nancy Hillis
Number of Lessons: 5 Modules (Multiple Lessons in Each)
Hours of Content: Unknown
Cost: $350
If you’re tired of standard landscape or portrait drawings and don’t know where to go next, abstract might be the next step. Nancy Hillis’ course “Activating the Canvas” focuses on learning to paint abstractly rather than learning things like realism or structure to figures.
[Activating the Canvas by Nancy Hillis]
Best Online Figure Drawing Art Course
Figure Drawing Fundamentals by Stan Prokopenko
Number of Lessons: 57
Hours of Content: 16h+
Cost: $139
Stan Prokopenko’s premium art course on figure drawing is one of the best you’ll find online at this good of a price. $139 might seem like a lot for just figure drawing, but if you’re looking to improve your skills in drawing figures then it’s probably because you’ve realized it’s not as easy as it looks.
Something to note is that the course does use nude models. While most of you probably anticipated that, some might be wary of courses that include this, so I wanted to make sure I made you aware prior to purchasing.
[Figure Drawing Fundamentals by Stan Prokopenko]
Other Great Paid Online Art Courses for Beginners
- Pencil Kings
- Number of Lessons: 480+
- Hours of Content: 300h+
- Cost: $29.95/Monthly
- 21Draw
- Number of Lessons: 1,280+
- Hours of Content: 150h+
- Cost: ~$5 – $20 monthly (depending on sales)
- CG Master Academy
- Number of Lessons: Varies
- Hours of Content: Varies
- Cost: $699
- Note: This website offers a variety of live-taught premium art courses with regimented college-like schedules. The site has over 130 courses available to choose from.
- The Gnomon Workshop
- Number of Lessons: 400+
- Hours of Content: 1,500h+
- Cost: $57/Monthly
Conclusion
And that’s a wrap. You’ve just reviewed 20 of the best premium online art courses available for a good price. For a well-rounded option to help you learn how to be a better artist, a subscription model with a large collection of videos would be your best bet. If you’re looking for something more specific, I’d go with one of the options I list in that category.
If these are a bit out of your price range, I recommend taking a look at the best free websites for learning to draw. You can learn a lot for free online nowadays, so don’t feel pressured to dive right into premium online art courses!
How did I do? Did I miss any that you think should have been included? Maybe YOU teach an art course that you think should be on here. Let me know in the comments and I’ll update if I think it’s a good addition!