*Disclaimer: this post contains reviews and recommendations for products and services that I have personally used and think you might find useful. I am not affiliated with or receive compensation from any of the companies mentioned, I just really enjoy their products!
Around this time last year I wrote about how my focus for the year was going to be on mastering art fundamentals. In pursuit of that goal I came across several resources that I found especially helpful, and wanted to share them with you.
21 Draw Online Courses
My favorite resource was one I stumbled upon by accident. 21 Draw is an online learning platform where you can stream classes on a huge variety of art topics ranging from beginner to advanced, taught by well-recognized artists and industry professionals. New classes are added each month, covering everything from basic fundamentals to in-depth tutorials on specific topics like color theory, lighting, and character design.
If you’re like me and want everything in book form, they also offer physical copies and ebooks of their Illustrator’s Guidebook and other publications featuring compilations of the lessons taught in the classes. They’re absolutely gorgeous, and super helpful to solidify what’s taught in the classes. 100% recommend!
3DTotal Publishing
3DTotal is my absolute favorite art book publisher! They offer a huge variety of content covering both traditional and digital art instruction, along with a fantastic magazine focused on character design (get free downloadable samples here!), digital drawing software guides, and endless inspiration through their book series showcasing the work of individual artists. They also offer tons of free stuff through their website!
Patreon
I support a few different artists on Patreon, and hope to add more this year! Each artist offers different perks depending on the subscription level, like access to exclusive tutorials, sketchbook tours, downloads, and other content. Many also offer a free tier that gives you access to newsletters. Some even send out monthly goodies! Knowing how hard it can be to support yourself as an artist, I’m really happy that the platform exists to help support artists so they can focus on making art!
Here’s who I currently support:
Tracy Butler (Lackadaisy)
Materials
Here’s a list of some of my favorite traditional and digital tools that I currently use the most:
iPad Air 5th Generation with Apple Pencil
Huion Kamvas 24 Plus drawing tablet
I’m sure there’s more resources that I’m forgetting, but these are the ones I found myself coming to over and over and that I feel have helped me the most. I hope you find something here that inspires you to try something new or that can help you reach your own art goals!