25 Free Art Tutorials and Online Art Courses for Artists

 

 

25 Free Art Tutorials and Online Art Courses for Artists

via EmptyEasel.com by Guest Author on 10/6/09

Getting an online art education doesn't have to cost you thousands of dollars. Nowadays, there are many free courses and tutorials from universities and other institutions that can be found online.

Here's a list of 25 educational resources worth exploring:

Art and Technology - The Capilano University of Canada offers this 15-week art history course. The course focuses on the connection between technology and art.

Arts and History - This 16-hour course from The Open University discusses the effect The Enlightenment era has had on the arts.

Art of Color - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) provides this 15-lecture course that explores the principles of visual design. The Art of Color focuses on the science of color and how it affects visual arts.

Understanding Theatre - This introductory course from Utah State University sets aside roughly 76 hours to understanding and appreciating theatre as an art form.

History of Western Art and Civilization - Connexions, a site devoted to sharing scholarly material, offers this art history course from the Fashion Institute of Technology. The course discusses the history and art of Italy.

Drawing with Lines - Draw Space offers several free tutorials for beginner to advanced artists including this basic drawing class. Drawing with Lines discusses the basics of line drawing and the different forms of lines used.

20th Century Art - This art history course from MIT contains 27 lectures and two papers about modern art. Through this class, art students will cover objects, history, and the context of art after WWII.

Visual Communication Design - This course offered by Carnegie Mellon University explores the visual dynamics of creating technical documents. The course effectively discusses visual hierarchy and grouping.

Introduction to Photography - This introductory MIT course teaches the basics of photography through lecture, video, and hands-on projects. The course covers black and white, digital imaging, camera operation, lighting, and film.

Creating Interactive Multimedia - This 14-week course from the University of Southern Queensland introduces programs, tools, and techniques for creating interactive multimedia.

Art Composition and Perspective in Paintings - This About.com tutorial offers several resources to help students understand and improve painting skills, such as composition and perspective.

Advanced Form - Interactive Art School offers 12 free mini painting tutorials for anyone looking to perfect their technique. This tutorial on Advanced Form uses a 3D generation of the human form to teach light and shadow.

Philosophy & the Arts - This free course from Minnesota State University discusses an interpretation of art through history. The course offers many art form examples.

Introduction to Art History - The University of Utah offers this free online course that explores the changes in interpretation of art through history. Students take an in-depth look at the change in the meanings of art through the ages.

Classic Drama and Theatre - Utah State University's drama and theatre course analyzes the purpose and function of Roman and Greek drama. The course is presented through a series of slides and book readings.

Starting a Watercolor Painting - Larrysart.com offers several free painting tutorials including this introduction to watercolor painting. The tutorial provides easy tips and tricks to make your first attempt at watercolor successful.

How to Draw People - ArtGraphica provides many free detailed tutorials on technical art and theory. This tutorial is a descriptive discussion of the techniques and tools needed to create a charcoal composition.

Illustrator: Live Trace and Live Paint - This introductory tutorial from Design Mentor Training discusses how to accurately use the live trace and paint tools in Illustrator.

Realistic Clouds - PlanetPhotoshop offers several different video tutorials on the different effects and designs that can be accomplished in Photoshop. This tutorial teaches students how to use Photoshop to create realistic looking clouds.

Color Balancing - This Photoshop tutorial from Tutorialman.com teaches students how to use the color balancing tool effectively.

Effective Text For Web Design - This web design tutorial discusses the key strengths of text over graphics to teach students about basic typography principles.

HTML Tutorials - The HTML tutorials offered by w3school.com are just one of several on-site web design tutorials. This tutorial focuses on the basic, intermediate, and advanced uses of HTML.

Learn To Paint With Acrylics - The first part of this 3-part video tutorial from how-to-draw-and-paint.com teaches the technical application of working with acrylic paint.

Digital Cartography - This 9-part digital cartography tutorial from Art Tutorials Wiki discusses the art of digital line drawing.

Patrick's Free Art Course - Patrick Lawrence offers a comprehensive art course for free through his blog. The course addresses drawing, painting, and many other art techniques.

The author, Karen Schweitzer, writes about online colleges for OnlineColleges.net.

Snow-Globe Apocalypse? Miniature Model Worlds on the Edge

 

 

Snow-Globe Apocalypse? Miniature Model Worlds on the Edge

via WebUrbanist by Steph on 10/3/09

Snow globes capture our imagination because they're like tiny magic worlds, swirling with sparkling snow that seems to make everything pure and closed-off from the evils of reality. But artist Thomas Doyle has created snow globes of sorts that do the exact opposite – unsettle us, with detailed diminutive scenes under glass that horrify and disturb.

In a series called 'Distillations', Doyle created miniatures that seem to freeze a moment in time – but not any ordinary moment. Rather, each meticulously crafted sculpture captures some kind of darkly transformative experience, like a family discovering that their home has sunken into the ground or a man preparing a burial site for two nearby corpses.

Doyle began making models as a child and went on to study art at Humboldt State University, but it wasn't until he took a sabbatical to New York City that he found his true passion. Working as a freelance writer to support his visual arts habit, Doyle began experimenting with 3-dimensional media. Soon, he had volumes of sketches and written ideas that planted the seeds for his sculptural works.

The use of glass to encapsulate each work helps give the sculptures a sense of life and foreboding that they may not have otherwise. Doyle told Art Nouveau Magazine, "e glass helps to contain the work, and as it does, it seems to stop time and freeze the action within. With the glass removed, the works feel dead and plastic; under glass they feel loaded, as if they as if they are ready to come alive."

"Like most people, I'm interested in figuring out what it means to be human, and the work I'm making is the best way I've found to do that. If it shines a little light for other people, then all the better."

 

 

Overpainted Photographs

 

 

 

Overpainted Photographs

via Illusion 360 by Adriana on 10/4/09

The art of Gerhard Richter consists of using paint over photos. The end result looks abstract, expressive, and like something made in the Impressionism era.

Notes about the artist (from Gosee):

Gerhard Richter discovered the technique of painting on photographs by chance: whilst using photographs and newspaper clippings as a guideline for his oil paintings, he repeatedly dripped oil paints onto the photos by mistake. The resulting colour effects and the juxtaposition of the different media of photography and painting inspired him to intensely experiment with this unusual combination.

Art Made from Packing Tape

Art Made from Packing Tape

via Illusion 360 by Adriana on 10/3/09

I really didn't expect to find someone making art with packing tape. The work is impressive, by Mark Khaisman.

Notes from the artist (from FAQs page):

My works are large archetypal representational images, made from layer upon layer of translucent packing tape, applied to clear Plexiglas and placed in front of a light box to give the image shadow and depth. I see my tape art as a form of painting. The 2-inch tape acts as a wide brush, and the light behind the panels as an alchemist's luminous blending medium. In working with tape, like in painting, accident and control are always present.

My Tape Art is a conversation with light. I started it like a traditional stained glass artist, but with tape: I found I could continue my conversation with light, but in a more expedient manner. I might have never thought of this "medium" if not for my working in stained glass. Yet, tapes happened to be much more than just a replacement of the stained glass medium. It miraculously bonded together all my previous experiences.

 

 

Human Alphabet – picture-o-rama

Human Alphabet – picture-o-rama

via www.letterplayground.com by Nate Williams on 10/3/09

Human Alphabet – picture-o-rama.

 

 

Art? Insanity?

Sometimes it's hard to tell if someone is making art or just has a unique voice that they are trying to have heard. Is there a difference? What is it?  Took this photo near Madison Square Garden in the Spring.

Graffiti vs. Calligraphy

Thought the graffiti/calligraphy hybrid was cool. What disparate art forms are you interested in combining?

 

Graffiti Lettering: Cool Characters, Alphabets & Fonts

via WebUrbanist by Delana on 10/1/09

Not only are there different types of graffiti; there are also plenty of different lettering styles used by graffiti writers. Many of them were designed by graffiti writers in the beginning years of urban graffiti, in the 1970s and 1980s. They've been imitated, expanded on, adapted and changed by graffiti artists all over the world. Whether you see graffiti as an art form or simple vandalism, it's hard to deny that a lot of effort goes into recognizing and learning the different types of lettering, and developing a unique style.

Wildstyle

(images via: ferretfacejones)

Unfortunately, it's hard to classify most types of graffiti lettering. The styles develop organically, with only loose foundations. Lettering styles can sometimes be traced back to the person who originally developed them. Such is the case with Wildstyle, which was first thought up and practiced by Tracy 168 and Stay High 149 in New York. Wildstyle graffiti is complex and often difficult to read for people who aren't familiar with graffiti lettering. The style has taken off all over the world and has evolved as it's been passed from continent to continent.

Bubble Letters

(images via: sparklemotion0 and 12oz Prophet)

A lot of graffiti lettering is done with bubble letters. Bubble letters can take many different forms, but basically they are fat letters, with or without a differently-colored outline. They're the same type of bubble letters you used to use when doodling your name in your notebook in junior high school, usually overlapping each other. They're normally easy to read and don't have too many stylistic flourishes. Block letters are basically the same, but without the fat rounded appearance.

Fat Cap

(images via: Colin McDermott)

Fat cap lettering is done with a wide spray paint tips. Fat cap is a quick and easy type of lettering that doesn't require a lot of pre-planning. It's spontaneous and easy to read. Since it's so simple, it's not usually used in more complicated pieces; only in quick tags.

Calligraffiti

(image via: Calligraffiti.net)

Calligraffiti is a combination of calligraphy and graffiti invented by Amsterdam graffiti artist Shoe (also known as Niels Meulman). It's  a somewhat stylized but still easy-to-read lettering style. It brings together the best parts of calligraphy and graffiti by putting beautiful and artful letters into an urban setting.

Shadow Letters

(images via: ferretfacejones and 24hourhiphop)

Shadow letters are commonly found on throw-ups and in more complicated pieces. They use either block letters or bubble letters and feature a shadow behind each letter, making the lettering appear slightly 3D.

Online Graffiti

Of course, most of us will never use these lettering styles to create graffiti. But if you love the look of graffiti, there's no reason you can't use graffiti-type fonts in your personal projects. As graffiti has become more well-known and a bit more mainstream, several websites have begun offering downloadable graffiti fonts. The graphic above was created using Graffiti Creator's "wavy" creator.

Puzzle, Wiggles, Softy and Chinese

As noted above, there are just too many styles of graffiti lettering to name them all. Even if they all had names, they tend to morph and combine when they're used, making it very difficult to say with any certainty what style a particular piece is done in. If you're interested in learning how to write in graffiti styles or just learning to recognize different lettering styles, it might be easier to look at the styles in their digital form, like the above examples from LearnGraffiti.net.

Graffiti Black Books

(images via: Colin McDermott)

Studying different graffiti lettering styles is how a lot of graffiti writers got their start. It's common practice for writers to have a "black book," which is basically a book of sketches for future pieces they plan to do. Black books can also contain sketches and signatures from other graffiti writers. These books are the way that most new writers learn lettering styles and develop their own style.

Graffiti Taxonomy

Studying and understanding graffiti lettering isn't as simple as learning a single lettering style. Because there are so many styles which change from person to person and from day to day, there's no way to catalog a definitive set of graffiti alphabets or fonts. But artist Evan Roth has developed a project to collect, identify and compare examples of each letter of the alphabet from existing graffiti tags. He's still looking for funding to complete the project, but so far it looks like a fascinating view of the anatomy of graffiti letters.

Colorful Art Writers: 10 of the Best Graffiti Artists

Since the 1970s, graffiti has been a big part of the urban environment. These are just a few of the countless graff artists writing all over the world.

12 Comments - Click Here to Read More »»