Do you want to boost your art skills? Are you on the lookout for the best art YouTube channels so that you can refine your art skills? Saying Yes? Do not get worried as today’s blog has got you covered!
Do you know the best way to learn something is to watch someone doing it? Yes, it is true! And the same goes for YouTube art channels as well. These channels are a great way to learn something new.
We all know that there is always room for improving the art skills whether you are a beginner or an expert artist. Gone are the days when people used to attend art schools to learn basic art skills and techniques.
Now, if you want to see exactly what tools, software, and specific techniques are used to create a certain artwork, watching YouTube videos is the best option. The art videos may assist you to learn everything about art — from basic drawing, painting, and sketching skills to drawing more complicated things, drawing a landscape, or a human eye.
What Most Artists Like About Art YouTube Channels
Most artists like the strategy of “show” instead of “tell”. It means they want to watch the tips and tricks that can improve their skills, preferring YouTube videos instead of art tutorials. If you are one of them, you will be happy to know that in this blog, we are going to share the top best 20 art and drawing YouTube channels that you do not want to miss.
So, if you want to push yourself forward creatively, these YouTube art channels will assist you a lot. There are a lot of art channels on YouTube and the content related to drawing and painting is so scattered online that sometimes it becomes difficult to choose the channel that may upskill your artwork.
That is why we have selected the top 20 channels with such great content so that you can improve your art skills in a better way. Believe me, these are the most recommended art channels on YouTube. We hope that you will not only get inspiration from these channels but a lot of instruction and encouragement as well.
Are you ready to explore these incredible yet informative art YouTube channels? Let’s take a deep dive into these channels to know more about them. But first, let’s get to know what exactly an art channel is!
What Exactly is an Art Channel?
An art channel is a YouTube channel that includes content specifically related to art. The owner of an art channel can upload videos dedicated to drawing, sketching, sculpting as well as painting.
There are recorded videos of the steps involved in creating artwork so you can get to know each and every step along with the tools needed at each step, trying to eliminate all mistakes. Along with recorded videos, there may be live videos as well.
The main purpose of making live videos on an art channel is not only to show each step in detail but the viewers can also ask questions in the chatbox.
List of the Best YouTube Art Channels that You Need to Know:
Below is the list of top 20 YouTube art channels that may be very helpful for the beginner and the expert artists. We have divided these channels into five main categories. These include:
- Best YouTube channels about art history
- Best art videos on YouTube
Let’s discuss them one by one.
Best Art History YouTube Channels
01. The Art Assignment
The top best YouTube art channel on our list is The Art Assignment. This is, by far, the best channel if you are searching for art history. Developed by PBS Digital Studios, this channel uploads videos that put attention on contemporary art.
The videos of this channel are related to the art that was never finished, art that was made in adversity as well as art cooking: Dutch and Flemish still life painting. Its recent video is on the topic: Why I am slowing down.
In this video, the host Sarah Urist Green (a popular American art museum curator and wife of John Green) shares her experience of why she is taking a break and slowing down the production as more than six years have passed in the creation of the channel. She has also shared what she has learned during the whole YouTube channel video creation process.
Apart from this video, most of the videos of this YouTube channel focus on interviewing the artists from around the world so that the viewers can get to know what type of art assignments they should consider throughout their career.
Plus, the artists to whom Sarah Green interviews also give an assignment to the audience. Such videos also educate people on contemporary art.
In addition, the Art assignment YouTube channel also focuses on traditional methods for sculpture as well as drawing. Its playlist known as an Art Trip puts attention to art culture and history including the visits to local and national museums.
02. Tate
Another popular art history YouTube channel is Tate. This YouTube channel is popular among a lot of beginner and expert artists. Its videos are not only entertaining but are quite informative as well.
It uploads educational content on modern and contemporary art including a wide range of art tutorials. Its weekly videos about art and artists have attracted people from around the globe to watch them!
Its latest video on How to draw like Paula Rego got over 150K views and became one of the most-watched videos of the channel. In this video, the artist shared a step-by-step guide on how to draw with pastel colors.
Paula Rego, a well-known artist for folk tale paintings and drawing, shared her personal experiences along with reshaping traditional stories in her art. In addition, another video of this channel also became popular as the video depicts how an artist like Anne Hardy collects interesting objects and materials to create immersive environments in the paintings.
This YouTube channel not only features art exhibitions and the best short documentaries on the history of art but also features interviews from well-known artists of the world including celebrity art fans.
Moreover, by watching its how-to videos, you can not only be inspired by the great artists of the time but can also get to know the tricks by which they made their masterpieces. No matter what the type of video content it is, this channel is a great resource for the artists especially for those who want to enter the field of fine art.
In short, if you want to watch new films about art every week, Tate is the best YouTube channel so far!
03. Jae Johns
The Jae Johns YouTube channel not only shares tips and techniques to help artists improve their skills, but also content to help artists succeed as a art business.
Whether you’re watching his short content highlighting the best art supplies or art business content like 49 Artist Side Hustles Earning Crazy Money, you’ll be sure to growth your art career!
04. Mary Doodles
Okay, so another art YouTube channel is Mary Doodles that focuses a lot on art and culture, offering a blend of both known as visual culture. This is one of the best YouTube channels that provide free art tutorials and advice.
This YouTube art channel shares art videos for beginner, intermediate, and expert artists. From these videos, you can learn about the basic art skills including what tools you should have for creating a basic artwork.
Most videos of this channel also target expert artists. Mary Doodles, the creator of this channel, draws and paints beautiful artworks including drawing shadows and lights, painting with ink bleeds, sketching and doodling along with drawing Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
So, whether you are looking for the step-by-step art tutorials or you are looking for the classic artworks, this is the channel whose video you should watch today!
Plus, there is another YouTube channel created by Mary Doodles. It is known as Here Be Mary. This YouTube channel also carries some amazing art content.
The videos of this channel also encourage viewers to share their drawings and painting ideas and talk about life as a creative human.
Believe me, it is a joy to watch the videos of Mary Doodles!
05. Smarthistory
So you prefer to watch online videos rather than attending an art history class. Right? The best way to find some informative art history videos is by visiting the most popular YouTube art channel known as Smarthistory.
Yes, you read it right! It is an amazing YouTube channel that allows its audience to look deeply into the famous artworks of history. Its conversational videos as well as essays depict museums and cultural art for learners from all around the world.
With its informative art videos along with the explanations of art history terms, this channel is becoming popular among a wide range of artists day by day.
Do you know Smarthistory is the most-visited art history channel on YouTube?
Smarthistory believes that art allows us to imagine, inspire, and to build something new and amazing. That is why this YouTube channel creates such videos that may allow you to interpret the images that you are watching in videos.
Moreover, to expand the boundaries of art history, Smarthistory has started a new project known as the Expanded Renaissance Initiative which shows videos related to Renaissance in Spain as well as the music of heaven.
Recently, a very informative video was uploaded on this YouTube channel that shows the process of reconstructing a masterpiece.
06. The National Gallery
Want to go into the art of the past and explore the stories behind the greatest paintings of the 13th to 20th century? If you are saying yes, here is a YouTube channel that you cannot afford to miss. It is The National Gallery!
Here, you can watch not only the basics of art, drawing, and painting but you can also watch interviews of the very fine artists of the century. In addition, the latest art exhibitions with live recordings of art events can be watched at The National Gallery YouTube channel.
Discover 10 More of the Best Art YouTube Channels HERE
Best Art Videos on YouTube
07. Proko
Searching for the YouTube videos that can teach you the basics of drawing and anatomy? Go and search Proko. It is a famous YouTube channel that is perfect not only for beginner artists but for the proficient artists as well.
Its videos are full of information including useful tips, short documentary videos as well as basic and pro-level sketching. If you are new to drawing, we recommend you to watch videos of this channel.
The most popular yet informative videos of this channel that you must watch if you are a beginner include:
- How to hold and control your pencil
- Drawing supplies used in videos
- The basic elements of shape, value, color, and edge
The videos on Proko seem like you are watching and listening to an informative lesson. Yeah, that’s correct! Why? Because the videos are quite focused on art.
Most of the videos also include tasks that viewers have to complete in a given time frame, improving the skills of the viewers on a large scale. Figure drawing, gesture drawing, drawing facial features — all such kinds of videos are available on the Proko YouTube channel.
One more reason for its videos to be popular? The loud sense of humor and the lively nature of the artist, Stan Prokopenko, makes videos more fun and exciting!
08. Animal Art by LAW
The best art videos on YouTube can be found on Animal Art by LAW. It is a great YouTube channel that was created by a colored pencil artist known as Lisa Ann Watkins.
Informative and entertaining videos related to drawing and painting are shared on this channel including:
- Colored pencils tutorials
- Lessons
- Are related question and answers
- Expert tips
- Live streams and much more!
What makes this YouTube channel popular among the artists is the videos that come under the series of Behind the Studio Doors. In these videos, the interviews of artists are shown which not only encourages beginner artists but also inform them about the key that can open the doors of success as an artist.
The techniques for erasing sharp edges, transferring a line drawing onto black paper as well as selecting the best white water-soluble colored pencils — all are shown in this channel’s videos.
It is a fact that if you enjoy the learning process, you learn better and get motivated for practice. The videos by Animal Art by LAW are the perfect example of this.
From these videos, we can also get to know about the story of the artistic journey of the famous artists and what type of equipment they use for creating art, which techniques they use, and how they organize their tools and supplies.
09. Bobby Chiu | One of the Best Art YouTube Channels
Another best YouTube art channel on which you can find a variety of art content is Bobby Chiu. Yes, it is a great resource for artists if they want to get informative art instruction videos.
Created and owned by an artist, Bobby Chiu, this channel is very helpful for all levels of artists. The best videos of this channel include an interview with Malaysian illustrator Zeen Chin, concept artist Pablo Dominguez along with interviews of award-winning fine artists.
Through his videos, Bobby Chiu has explained the thoughts and philosophies that have helped him throughout his art career. By sharing such videos, he encourages and helps the viewers to change their life in a positive way.
Besides this, the most popular uploaded videos of this channel include:
- Pencil drawing techniques
- Drawing exercises to start your day
- Bad artist habits that you should avoid
- Tips for making your portfolio better
All his videos look quite professional as they are made with high-quality cameras, sound, and light equipment. This YouTube channel targets those artists who want to take the first steps in painting and drawing.
The videos of this YouTube channel usually become viral sensations. In short, everything that you ever wanted to learn can be found on Bobby Chiu!
10. Sycra
The next biggest yet popular YouTube art channel whose videos are not only informative but fun as well is called Sycra. Suitable for all types of artists, this YouTube channel covers a variety of topics that may relate to drawing, sketching, painting, expert tips, basic tools, and art inspiration.
From basic step-by-step tutorials to sharing complex art videos, Sycra has got you covered with everything related to art. Most of the videos of this channel will take you to step by step through the drawing and painting process.
The video of this channel titled “How to paint using RGB color sliders” got a lot of views. In this video, the author explained the reasons why he likes using RGB color sliders when he is about to paint on digital platforms. Plus, in most of his videos, he explained why figure drawing is important and how an artist can approach it.
Great content shown in an entertaining way is the plus point of Sycra. Even the general topics are filled with learning elements and fun. Most videos of this channel are time-lapse videos and divided into episodes that show the full art process from start to finish.
In short, the videos of this channel come in handy for beginners and expert artists. So, it is said to be a great place for artists who want to learn about painting with acrylics, watercolors, pastel colors, and much more.
11. Lachri Fine Art
The next biggest YouTube art channel is Lachri Fine Art that is popular among artists for its lessons and tips for colored pencils, oil painting, acrylics, graphite and reviews of art products.
This channel is owned by a well-known artist Lisa Clough. She uploads the live streams related to art after almost every week that includes drawing a rose with charcoal, drawing a dandelion with colored pencils, painting a Koala with acrylic paints and much more.
The best thing is the videos of this channel are not only instructional and informative but are entertaining as well. In Lachri Fine Art’s videos, Lisa Clough always tries to encourage the artists how to play with colors to create some amazing artworks.
In most of her videos, she also shares her struggle of becoming an artist. The popular uploads of this channel includes Draw a forest in charcoal, Paint a bird with acrylic paints, Paint a sunset with acrylics and Colored pencil tips.
Now, various vlogs have also been shared with this YouTube channel that makes it even more effective and popular among the artists. Its vlogs are related to pricing art, copyright issues, scheduling along with various other art-based topics.
Discover 10 More of the Best Art YouTube Channels HERE
Conclusion
Drawing and painting is one of the most basic skills of an artist. Every artist, no matter if he or she is a beginner or a proficient artist, looks for creating something new and exciting.
Now the process of learning art skills has changed. Everything has come online with the help of the Internet. Now, if an artist wants to improve his skills, they might prefer to watch informative and creative YouTube art videos.
The YouTube art channels mentioned above are the best channels that every artist may enjoy. We recommend you to go through the videos of these channels at least once for learning to draw and paint.
Probably you recognize some of these channels but a few of them are completely new. These YouTube channels will surely help you get inspired by new perspectives as well as get you on the right track without spending a dime.
From basic tutorials to advanced levels of art, these channels will help you become an expert in art. Most videos of these channels apply to all drawing mediums including painting, pastel drawing, and pencil sketching, charcoal, or drawing with colored pencils.
We hope that you will enjoy watching videos as much as we did. So, do not wait anymore and get inspired by these amazing art YouTube channels.
