If you’re looking for something a bit more advanced for older kids, be sure to check out CircleLineArtSchool. They cover everything from perspective to how to draw optical illusions. I would say this channel works best with seasoned artists or older kids who have the basics down well.
Best YouTube Art Channels for Teachers and Students
Below is a collection of some of the best YouTube art channels for teachers and students. The goal is to help with art integration efforts in class and to boost students artful thinking. The channels, most of which are created by art teachers and artists, feature video tutorials and step-by-step guides covering various art skills including painting, drawing, sketching, digital art making, watercolor painting, and more.
This post is part of a series of posts covering educational art resources for use with students in class or at home. As I have always stated, the teaching and learning of art should never be restricted to art classes. In fact, art is an interdisciplinary subject whose methodology supports various ways of representation and thinking.
Besides developing key creative and critical thinking skills, art also boosts expressive communication and builds intercultural bridges thus promoting values of co-existence, tolerance, diversity, and multiculturalism; values that we are in dire need of in this war-ridden era.
Here are some of the best YouTube art channels for teachers and students.
1. Art for Kids Hub
Art for Kids Hub offers art lessons perfect for any age. Some of the things students learn from the video content of this channel include how to draw sport athletes, how to draw back to school, how to draw famous historical people, how to draw sharks, how to draw summer stuff and many more.
2. Mary Doodles
In this channel, artist Mary shares her passion for drawing and art. She shares video tutorials and step by step guides covering how to create sketchbooks, how to use ink paintings, how to draw with your weak hand, tips on watercolor paintings, and man more.
3. Mr. Schuette ‘s – Art Class
In this channel, Mr. Schuette, an elementary art teacher, shares how-to-videos, tutorials, guides, and ideas to help students develop various art skills. From tips on how to draw a 3D box to tips on how to easily make spin art, the channel has tons of art video content ideal for any classroom setting.
4. That Art Teacher
In this channel, the public school art educator Sierra Machado shares art videos for teachers, students, and art aficionados. Her playlists include DIY, contour drawing, india ink, Op art, sculpture, landscape, oil painting, oil pastel, clay, and more.
5. The Art of Aaron Blaise
The Art of Aaron Blaise is a YouTube channel by artist Aaron Blaise where he shares tips on painting and art. His playlists include pen and ink drawings, animation, live demos, art tips, TVPaint demos and tutorials, and more.
6. Drawing & Painting – The Virtual Instructor
Artist and teacher Matt Fussell, the creator of Drawing & Painting channel, offers video tutorials to help people learn the skills of drawing and painting. Playlists include watercolor lessons, pastel lessons, colored pencil lessons, drawing techniques, painting lessons, graphite pencil lessons, acrylic painting lessons, and many more.
7. Art with Trista
Art with Trista is a channel created by an art teacher with over 20 years of teaching experience. The channel features Trista’s art lessons she designed for her students. ‘The videos feature art resources for teachers or parents, art projects for kids of all ages, as well as elementary art lessons, middle school art lessons, high school art lessons or just fun art activities for anyone looking to try something new. This is a great tool for art educators to use to preview a lesson, review a lesson or as a sub plan.’
8. The National Gallery of Art
This is the official YouTube channel for the National Gallery where students can ‘discover the stories behind the world’s greatest paintings and artists from the 13th to early 20th centuries. Enjoy interviews with leading art experts, live recordings of talks and events, and insights into our latest exhibitions.’
9. The Art Sherpa
The Art Sherpa features lessons and video tutorials to help students and everyone interested in art to learn painting. Sherpa’s classes are ideal for all ages and levels and do not require prior drawing skills. Playlists include: how to paint hummingbird and flower step by step, complete beginner Acrylic painting course, how to paint poppies step by step, how to paint a barn in Acrylic step by step, how to paint dogs, and more.
10. Proko
Proko is a YouTube channel created by Stan Prokopenko, an artist and teacher. Proko features video resources and tutorials by both Stan and other instructors focused on drawing. Students will learn how to draw demos and time lapses, how to draw hands, learn about the art of caricature, explore traditional painting, learn digital painting, and more.
11. Smart History
The Smart History channel features videos covering world class resources on art and cultural objects from all around the world. Smart History ‘takes you inside museums and engages in conversations about how to interpret and understand the images you’re seeing.’ Its playlists include Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Center for Netherlands Art, American South, Siena, Detroit Institute of Art, Byzantine Art, the Wallace collection, Crystal Bridges Museum of American art, and more.
12. The Art Assignment
The Art Assignment is ‘a weekly PBS Digital Studios production hosted by curator Sarah Urist Green’ covering art and art history. Playlists include: art assignments for the self-quarantine, assignments you can do with kids, design assignments and prompts, performance art assignments and prompts, assignments for drawing, assignments with sculpture, photography art assignments, and more.
13. The Met
The Met hosts over ‘5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions across the globe can also experience the #MetAnywhere through ]Met’s] robust website, digital collection, and virtual events.’
14. Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum presents art collections of the American people spanning three centuries. These collections include American art moment series, teacher workshops, artists engage with the environment series, artist explore identity and representation series, SAAM exhibitions, Because of her story: featured women artists, artist respond to pivotal events, artists showcase community and place, and more.
15. The Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) hosts over 200.000 artworks made up of sculpture, painting, drawings, prints, photography, design, architecture, media, and performance. MoMA’s playlists include painting and sculpture, film, architecture and design, photography, conservation, how to see, at the museum, MoMA virtual views, and more.
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Dr. Med Kharbach is an influential voice in the global educational technology landscape, with an extensive background in educational studies and a decade-long experience as a K-12 teacher. Holding a Ph.D. from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada, he brings a unique perspective to the educational world by integrating his profound academic knowledge with his hands-on teaching experience. Dr. Kharbach’s academic pursuits encompass curriculum studies, discourse analysis, language learning/teaching, language and identity, emerging literacies, educational technology, and research methodologies. His work has been presented at numerous national and international conferences and published in various esteemed academic journals.
12 Channels for the BEST Art Lessons On YouTube
Follow along and create some gorgeous acrylic art work with TheArtSherpa. She offers well over 1,000 different videos that last anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Her spunky personality, along with her art-inspired fashion makes her appealing to kids and adults alike. No matter what you want to paint, she’s got something you’ll enjoy!
If your little artists doesn’t have much of an attention span yet, PopArtDoodle is just what you’ve been looking for. With fun and colorful drawings, each video is around 3 minutes but creates fun and funky artwork that kids will enjoy!
FaceDrawer:
Kids love cartoons and FaceDrawer can help them create their own work using their favorite characters. With everything from Luigi to Star Wars, kids will enjoy these quick and easy art lessons on YouTube.
Katie Jobling is a fun young lady who offers amazing art tutorials. We love her because she shows a lot of videos into her life, such as the importance of having a serene workspace. Her painting videos cover everything from roses to waterfalls and she uses mostly acrylic and watercolors.
Art for Kids Hub:
Quick and easy art lessons on YouTube are easy to find but they’re usually not the greatest quality. Art for Kids Hub has hit it out of the park with their fun videos that make drawing fun and simple. Whether you want to draw Santa or The Incredibles, they’ve got a lesson you’ll love.
If you’ve ever been to a paint party at a local art store, you know how much fun they can be! I’ve wished for years that I could create the same type of party at home, without spending a fortune on lessons. Angela Anderson has created an amazing art lessons on YouTube that are exactly what I was searching for! She covers everything from fun kid paintings to farmhouse inspired artwork. You simply need to pick a video and get to work.
Online Drawing Lessons
DrawingWiffWaffles is a creative account of drawing with pens, markers, and sketching. It’s geared toward upper middle school to high school level and ability.
Sinix Design is a digital artist who shares technical drawing on how to videos that is very step by step. It would be great for high schoolers who want to get serious and improve their drawing skills.
Art for Kids Hub is the perfect family-friendly art account for elementary and middle school. You can follow right along to draw your favorite characters and animals.
Disney Parks Animation Academy has how-to tutorials on all your favorite characters. I don’t think this is for beginners but rather for middle school and up.
Online Craft Videos
5-Minute Crafts Kids contains hundreds of super cute craft ideas for your family. These are not follow along videos, but videos for mom to explain the craft and do it together as a project.
Easy Kids Craft is a fun follow along channel using just construction paper and glue for all their crafts. Perfect for elementary aged kids or when you need a craft idea for a science or history project.
Craft Factory is a fun channel for moms and kids. Many of the projects are a bit more advanced than just construction paper but are perfect for moms who love hands-on learning.
Online Art History
Free School has many interesting videos on almost all subjects and they have a series of videos on major artists giving short biographies.
Art is so important for kids to grow and expand their brain. Yes, it can be messy but the mess is important in the learning process.
Let us know in the comments below what free art lessons on youtube for homeschoolers you have found.
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