Learn to draw, sketch and paint |
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Online TutorialsFor more than a decade, ArtGraphicA has been providing quality art lessons to educate and inspire artists from all backgrounds and ages. With over one hundred free lessons online, there is something for everyone. If you are looking for a sound education in art, please take a look at the art books provided. For inspiration and an insight into techniques you will discover everything from the humble pencil to oil paints, pastel, pens and watercolor below. 
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OIL PAINTINGDespite the costs, smell, required expertise and the pain of cleaning up afterwards, oil paints remain one of the most flexible of media, lending itself to many techniques. Probably considered one of the hardest of media, most likely due to the vast amount of technical information a person can digest on the subject, it is certainly one of the most fun and forgiving. ArtGraphica's large set of free, guest written oil painting tutorials, explores many subjects and techniques from some exceptionally talented artists. 
PASTEL
Pastels consist of pure pigment powder and binder and are capable of producing beautiful colours and soft edges. If properly protected pastel paintings will last a long time as can be seen by some of the 18th century pastel masters. Pastels were even mentioned by Leonardo da Vinci in 1495.
Free Drawing Course Online
A free course teaching drawing skills - includes beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons, with videos. If you are an absolute beginner your initial efforts will make you laugh or cry (or both!); what separates the women from the girls, and the men from the boys, is perseverance. You have probably read several books or websites that have all told you – anybody can draw, it doesn’t require any natural skill – then gone away in despair because all the 'helpful' intent achieved was to make you feel pretty lousy. I shan't lie to you, yes some people possess more natural talent then others which will give them the ability to develop at a faster pace, and if your motivations, concentration and perseverance are not up to scratch you might eventually come undone. However, with the right frame of mind, it really is true – anybody can draw and at any age. I will leave you with a profound quote from Michelangelo: "If people knew how hard I have had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all." FREE ART BOOKSTo view the full range of free art books, viewable online, please click on the link below. 
WETCANVAS DRAWING BASICS 101 CLASSThe Wetcanvas website ran a Drawing Basics 101 class a few years ago to help beginner artists. It proved a great success and was emulated by many art related websites since. A few of the original guest lessons were hosted here at ArtGraphica, including lessons on perspective drawing, gesture sketches and portraits. These original Wetcanvas guest tutorials can be viewed here. | ||||||||||
The pencil is wonderful in its own right, and some artists will spend a lifetime exploring this medium alone. Pencils come in a variety of formats and hardness levels. They can create accurate and detailed lines, or laid on their side to create variation in line width and to speed up the process of shading. 
One of the most popular of colored mediums, and yet one of the hardest to master. Watercolors dry very quickly, which can be a very useful trait but also a difficult one to master, especially when dealing with edges. Pigments can be subtle or highly colorful, controlled by the amount of water added to dilute. We feature a number of art lessons that will help explain the limitations and exhibit the powerful qualities that watercolor has to offer.
Acrylic is a relatively new medium and surprisingly overlooked. It offers an alternative to other painting media and has the benefit of being well priced, and easy to clean up (providing you don't allow paint to dry on your brushes!). These free acrylic art tutorials, show off the versatility of acrylic paints.
Although charcoal is sometimes considered a "beginner's" medium, this really is far from the truth. Vine charcoal is usually quite forgiving, allowing free flowing expression, but also capable of rendering careful details. Shading can be achieved in the fraction of the time it might take with a conventional pencil, and drawings/sketches produced on tinted papers with a hint of chalk can add a whole new dimension to your art.
Pen and ink provides those instant darks that graphite artists' envy, although it does come with its own set of challenges, and can be very unforgiving of mistakes. Shading can be achieved with hatching or stippling as demonstrated in the free tutorials. |
Free Art Lessons ArtGraphica   |
