10 Free Online Art Classes for Beginners and Kids

Did you know that free online art classes for beginners can sharpen critical thinking? Imagine a visual artist looking at an image, he is not seeing through the normal way our eyes are trained to see, but he’s seeing the real meaning and idea of the image.

This attitude, my friend, is one of the ways to improve critical thinking. Also, you are trained to see the world differently, you are meant to observe the patterns and layout of the world we live in.

Excellent artwork is complicated, and that calls for more attention from the artist, you have to calm down to discern what is before you.

Also, best art schools in the world, connect us emotionally. You know that moment you are shouting while watching a live performance in a concert, or crying over a live show in Opera.

Further, the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) made research on the relationship between art, healing, and reasons people are looking to educate themselves in the public health. They discovered that creative activities like art have the chance of reducing stress and depression, and can serve as a tool of alleviating the burden of chronic disease.

In fact, another study proves that the study of art is the major key to improving in other areas of study. And, free online art classes for beginners are a good place to start.

With the study of art, the confidence of children is increased, they start thinking outside the box and start appreciating their abilities. The teachings and principles that come with art education help to discipline children.

When they are studying painting, dancing, singing, or any musical instrument, they are also learning persistence and patience. They understand it’s not easy but they are ready to keep pushing.

When they achieve their desire, no matter how little they celebrate, it boosts their confidence. This is what life forces us to learn, but they are learning it through free online art classes for kids.

In addition, a study in the 21st-century business world shows that. An employee that has a good understanding of art does a lot better in creativity than an employee who doesn’t. 

Imagine a student that is forced to produce a play, write a song, draw an imaginative image, or retain go to the best dance schools in the world. That will force your God-given creativity out of you (wherever it is hidden).

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What is Art?

Picture this, your child takes a crayon and he’s drawing, at first, you just don’t know what he’s drawing. When he is done and shows you, you’re still guessing what he drew, then he gave it a name.

And you are like “ooooo! reallllyyyyy!” you just can’t imagine what you know to be what he drew, but you still celebrated his artwork. To them, they are giving life to what they are seeing around them and imagining.

Art is simply the way we express how creative we are or how imaginative we are or both. In these free online art classes for beginners, you will start bringing to life your imaginations.

Also the “art world” is a big world with so many other definitions, in fact, most experts prefer to define art in their own terms. 

Aristotle once defined art as “Art completes what nature cannot bring to a finish. The artist gives us knowledge of nature’s unrealized ends.”

Then Michaelangelo spiced it up by saying “The true work of art is but a shadow of divine perfection.”

Free Online Art Classes for Beginners

Here is a list of free online art classes for beginners.

  • Start Drawing: 3 Fun, Freeing Exercises to Spark Your Creativity
  • Learn to Draw: Daily Practices to Improve Your Drawing Skills
  • World Music: Global Rhythms
  • Introduction To Music Theory
  • A Beginners Guide to Hip Hop Dance Moves | Old School Dances
  • 10 Hour Acting Masterclass
  • Write A Feature Length Screenplay For Film Or Television
  • Drawing for Beginners: How to Draw 25 Cartoons Step-by-Step
  • Doodling for Kids: 25 Step-By-Step Drawing Lessons to Boost Confidence in Young Children
  • MAKE A PAPER FLOWER BOUQUET FROM MAGAZINE PAGES

1. Start Drawing: 3 Fun, Freeing Exercises to Spark Your Creativity

I chose this one as the first because, the difficult part of any idea, or anything, is “start“. This is one of the free online art classes for beginners that pushes you to start Drawing.

This is not about creating the most beautiful portrait, but putting your pen on the drawing book and starting to sketch something. It is fun to learn, and 21,034 students have already taken the course.

In this course, you are learning how to create without anyone judging you, the drawing is done without pressure. You’re welcome to mess your work up, attempt to draw a face, then disfigure it, just have fun!

It’s all about having pleasure with creativity. Moreover, your instructor is a professional artist but she never imagined growing up to become an artist.

This is just a great place to start showcasing your creativity and anyone can do it. This is one of the free online art classes for beginners that will teach you how to draw with your non-dominant hand.

Yes, you’ll learn to draw with your weak hand, which is even more interesting all the way. Not just that, you’ll also learn to draw without looking at your paper.

After this class, you’ll learn to trust in yourself more, and in the ability, you’re gifted with. You’ll also learn to accept weaknesses because acknowledging weakness is a form of strength.

And your self-judgment will reduce, you’ll be proud of yourself. In addition, your instructor, Carly Kuhn will show you how to design your home with your own fantastic drawing (she does the same to her home).

This class will bring out the abstract creativity of art in you. The grace of art is in those abstract creations, and not just in literary works.

In addition, you can display your drawing in the comment section of the class. You’ll also see other students’ work there.

Visit Start Drawing: 3 Fun, Freeing Exercises to Spark Your Creativity website

2. Learn to Draw: Daily Practices to Improve Your Drawing Skills

This is one of the free online art classes for beginners that teaches you how to start drawing from scratch. With their drawing exercises in the class, you will start implementing them into your drawing routine.

You’ll also start understanding shapes and how to see angles while drawing. You’ll then improve on drawing shapes in 3D layouts.

Your instructor poured out her technique in drawing for beginners, including sharing projects so you can practice daily to master this drawing skill. This class is for any age group, children, teens, youth, and adults.

And, even if you feel drawing is not your thing, your instructor also felt the same way while starting. And, you are just at the right place, because this class will start with simple shapes.

And build into more advanced artworks. This same technique is what your instructor, Gabrielle Brickey also uses for her drawings.

So far, 73,638 students have enrolled in this class and it starts with an introduction, proceeds to draw shapes, then sees angles and so many other modules.

Visit Learn to Draw: Daily Practices to Improve Your Drawing Skills Website

3. World Music: Global Rhythms

This is an amazing course offered by MIT through edx.org. It is one of the free online art classes for beginners that teaches you to recognize, feel and play rhythms.

This course will help you to learn the basics of musical rhythms around the world. Your mind shouldn’t rush to music notation in this class, because you don’t need it to learn rhythms.

You don’t even need to be an expert on any instrument to learn in this class, because musical instruments are not needed. Neither do you need special skills or terminology to learn free music production software?

Everything you need to learn rhythms is just packed in this class. You’ll come across music in every continent, including Africa, Classical Japanese, Indian, Balinese Gamelan, and Western Music.

You’ll start to understand specific rhythms from each continent, and how rhythms developed to what it is in our 21st-century. Further, you’ll learn how cultures produced their unique rhythms and melodies.

Not just will you learn about these rhythms, you’ll start playing them too. Your instructors are experts in this field, Leslie Tilley is an Assistant Professor of Music at MIT.

Meghan Perdue is a digital learning fellow at MIT. Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers a certificate in this course, but it is for those that upgraded their account to verified track with $49.

Visit World Music: Global Rhythms Website

4. Introduction To Music Theory

This is one of the free online art classes for beginners that focuses on contemporary music. You will learn to understand what contemporary music is and you’ll also create and perform it.

Because of the quality of the class, approximately 95,000 students have enrolled in it. It is offered by Berklee, an online extension of their main college “School of Berklee College of Music.”

Your instructor, George Russell, Professor at Berklee College of Music, learned to play piano at 7 years and 12 years he has already started playing at his local Church. He was forced to develop his ears to songs because there was no written music then.

He has spent years teaching, recording, and performing music. So, he will be teaching you the basics of music to help you improve your pursuit of a music career.

This class is one of the free online art classes for beginners taught by someone that is deeply in love with music and he deeply wants to share his knowledge with others. This course will help you understand what harmony and ear training are.

Most importantly, you’ll learn how it is important to your musical development. He will go further to teach you what and how to sing basic intervals.

Further, you’ll learn how to build chords, major triads, minor triads, major seventh chords, dominant seventh chords, time signatures. Above all, you will compose and perform the riff blues tune, and create a basic chord sheet of that tune.

So, if you have a passion for music but don’t know where to start, or you can sing but have not had any formal training, this course is right for you.

There are six lessons in this course, you’ll also be able to learn from your fellow students. Imagine that moment where you speak to someone that has the same passion for music.

If you can play a musical instrument it’s a plus to understanding the course, but it’s not a necessity. Your passion for music and hunger to acquire knowledge in it is more than important.

Visit Introduction To Music Theory Website

5. A Beginners Guide to Hip Hop Dance Moves | Old School Dances

This is a two-hour class that goes deep into old-school dance. You need to see how your instructor made the lesson easy for you.

This is one of the free online art classes for beginners that teaches you;

  • Back Grooves
  • Bounce Grooves
  • Circle Grooves
  • Body Waves
  • Jump Up and Down
  • The Humpty
  • The Robocop
  • Roger Rabbit
  • Gallop 
  • Running Man

And many more, there are 29 dance moves in this course. Dancing is a form of art that has to be demonstrated, similar to acting. 

This course is so explained that you can do it from the comfort of your house, you don’t need any external help while learning it. The interesting thing about this class is, once you learn the steps, it will be easier for you to adapt to any other form of dance.

To get the best out of this class, you need to practice it in front of a mirror.

Visit A Beginners Guide to Hip Hop Dance Moves | Old School Dances Website

6. 10 Hour Acting Masterclass

Amazing right? This is one of the free online art classes for beginners that is long enough to learn a lot. 

You’re learning from someone that has had stage fright, that has worked in the audition room scared, that had doubted himself if his work will be useful. Someone that felt, “what if this acting career doesn’t work, will I still get a job?”

He wasn’t the best actor, but he was unique, his work etiquette was astonishing. He built a company of mentors from the best drama schools in the world, from Julliard, Harvard, Yale, American Conservatory Theater. 

And, he’ll be teaching you these skills he learned from these great people, from the comfort of your home. Also, this class is not just for beginners, it is also for advanced actors.

Visit 10 Hour Acting Masterclass

7. Write A Feature Length Screenplay For Film Or Television

Behind every movie lies a film script. This is one of the free online art classes for beginners that takes approximately 93 hours to complete. 

That’s insane, right? I added this course because professional acting and scriptwriting go hand in hand.

After this course, you’ll not just learn to write a full script, you will write it. You’re free to choose your Genre, whether it is romantic, comedy, or even thriller.

After the end of the course, you’ll be able to present a script that is worthy to be pitched. There’s no writer’s experience needed for this course, come as you are, or better, come with a great passion for writing scripts.

In the upgraded class, you will publish your work for group review, your fellow students and instructor will give you feedback. And, it will help you to improve, just like it is done in the real world.

The best way to become good at writing is “write,” and that is what your instructor, David Wheeler, will help you do. Due to the course quality, 43,144 students have enrolled in it.

Visit Write A Feature Length Screenplay For Film Or Television Website

Free online art classes for kids

8. Drawing for Beginners: How to Draw 25 Cartoons Step-by-Step

This is one of the free online art classes for kids offered by Udemy. This course helps your child to easily draw more than 25 cartoon images.

After the class, he/she has improved not just in drawing skills, but also in critical thinking, and self-expression. The child doesn’t have to have a drawing experience because the instructor teaches the course from the beginning.

It is step-by-step progress, your kid will start from the very little “Let’s Create Astonishing Ocean Animals,” to drawing “Fancy And Free Safari Animals.”

It’s approximately a 2-hour class that 87,079 students have enrolled in.

Visit Drawing for Beginners: How to Draw 25 Cartoons Step-by-Step Website

9. Doodling for Kids: 25 Step-By-Step Drawing Lessons to Boost Confidence in Young Children

This is a beginner drawing course for kids, that is, this is one of the free online art classes for kids that you don’t need any drawing experience. Well, if you do have any, you can still learn one or two things from the course.

Each lesson is taught from one step to another, which will enable your kid to grow from novice to advanced doodling artist. They will start with drawing cute simple animals like Sharks, Koifish then advances to drawing Zebra and Rhino.

After this course, your child’s confidence will boost, which is important for his self-image. This course is one of the free online art classes for kids above 5 years. 

It’s a very simple process that involves organizing shapes and lines till the child gets a visible result. This will also make your child start creating other drawings outside what he/she learned in this course.

Their instructor has been into children for years, she has been teaching elementary schools for 20 years. And she understands how to make your kids enjoy learning.

Doodling for Kids: 25 Step-By-Step Drawing Lessons to Boost Confidence in Young Children

10. MAKE A PAPER FLOWER BOUQUET FROM MAGAZINE PAGES

This is one of the free online art classes for kids that are super fun to do. Your kids will definitely love the creativity behind cutting magazine pages into artistic work.

You can even use the result for decoration in your home. Well, it doesn’t necessarily have to be an old magazine.

An old newspaper can work too, or even an old artwork, just something that is almost the same size as a magazine with little writing can do. If you can provide skewers it will be nice, but not necessary.

If you don’t have skewers, some sticks can do the work, scissors, a glue stick, and masking tapes (colorful masking tape will be fine, green to be precise) are also needed.

When you have all of these things, your kid is ready to create a paper flower bouquet.

Visit Make A Paper Flower Bouquet from Magazine Pages Website

FAQs

Can I become an artist from home?

Yes, once you have learned these free online art classes for beginners or advanced with paid courses, you can work from home. There are dozens of opportunities for freelance artists.

Where can an artist work?

There are many places an artist can work, an artist can work;

  • In fine art
  • As an interior designer
  • As a creative director
  • In art studios
  • As a 3d artist
  • As a movie director
  • As a scriptwriter

And many more.

How much do artists earn?

It all depends on the kind of artist, for instance;

  • A commercial artist earns $48,700
  • K-12 Artist teacher earns between $46,999 to $56,630
  • A visual artist earns $53,400 annually.

Artists advanced in these fields tend to earn higher, some around $90,000 annually.

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