5 Online Art Clubs to Join During the Coronavirus Lockdown

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A post shared by emily balsley (@emilybluestar) on Mar 17, 2020 at 10:14am PDT

As many of us are experiencing a life of self-quarantining, we understand that the coronavirus lockdowns are essential in flattening the curve and slowing the spread of the virus; however, there's a side effect to social distancing—it's loneliness. Luckily, in the age of social media, we are never truly alone. And with the extra time spent indoors, artists are stepping up to help us all pass the time. Hashtags like #quarantineartclub are chronicling the art assignments and informal Instagram clubs for anyone looking to exercise their creativity indoors and, more importantly, connect with others during this isolating time.

The general structure of these coronavirus clubs is that each day there is a prompt. Based on the day and inspiration, you’ll create a drawing, painting, or collage and share it on social media (most commonly Instagram) using the appropriate hashtag. Some, like illustrator Sarah Beth Morgan’s #DrawFromADistance have specific instructions—one of the prompts includes making fan art of your favorite book, movie, or television show. Others, like Danielle Krysa (aka The Jealous Curator) are more open-ended and encourage you to pick a word you like or “do something that’s been rolling around in your head.” There’s no wrong choice. As long as you’re creating something, you’re doing it right!

Scroll down for more #quarantineartclubs to join during this period of coronavirus lockdown.

Want to improve your drawing during the coronavirus lockdown? Join one of these online art clubs! It's as easy as creating art and using a hashtag.

#DrawingFromADistance by Sarah Beth Morgan

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let’s shine some light during this trying time and encourage social distancing! ☀️ anxiety can debilitate our immune systems – so here’s to hoping that banding together and creating art can help strengthen us as a global community. 🎨✏️ . . i'm starting this tomorrow myself – but take what you will from these prompts & illustrate as you please, when you please. no rules! just have fun! ✨ . . hashtag your posts + stories #DrawFromADistance. screenshot & share so others can join in! . . stay healthy y’all ❤️ #stayhome

A post shared by sarah beth morgan (@wonderfall) on Mar 15, 2020 at 1:52pm PDT

#QuaratineArtClub by Carson Ellis

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Hello! I’ll be posting art assignments here every weekday morning when I can. They’ll be designed for kids and grownups alike. If you want to share them, you can use the hashtag #quarantineartclub. I’ll also provide individual hashtags for each exercise so we can see each other’s work. Here is your first assignment: DRAW A SELF-PORTRAIT Draw a picture of yourself from the shoulders up. Then draw a fancy frame around the portrait and write your name at the bottom in nice letters. Swipe to see a useful template. It will help you figure out how to draw a human face – how much space there is between all of its parts and what goes where. Some of the best portraits in the world do not follow these rules and you don’t always have to either. But for this assignment you do. We’re going to do it right. Swipe to see a video tutorial that will help this template make sense. (The green lines are just guides – you should draw them in pencil and erase them afterwards.) Draw on paper and – for everything but the pencil guide lines – use any art materials you want: pens, markers, paint, pencils. You can work in color or in black and white – it’s up to you. While you draw, look in the mirror and ask yourself these questions: What color are my eyes? What shape are they? Are my eyelashes light or dark? Long or short? What color and shape are my eyebrows? Are they thick or thin? Straight or arched? Is my nose skinny? Wide? Crooked? Does is turn up or down? What color is my skin? Do I have freckles? Moles? Scars? Birthmarks? Wrinkles? What color is my hair? Is it long, short, curly, straight? Is my mouth wide? Is it small? Are my lips full or thin? Can I see my ears? Or are they hidden? Sometimes it’s easiest to answer these questions by looking at other people and comparing your features to theirs. That can help you figure out what makes your face uniquely yours. Do this, but don’t make any judgements about how you look. Be like a scientist and study your face as objectively as you can. Okay, have fun! If you want to share or see other people’s self-portraits, use these hashtags: #quaratineartclub #QACselfportrait

A post shared by Carson (@carsonellis) on Mar 16, 2020 at 6:02am PDT

#30DayArtQuarantine by Danielle Krysa

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One month of avoiding crowds? I'm in! In fact, that sounds like the perfect amount of time for a self-imposed art project, no? How about a 30 DAY ART CHALLENGE… I challenge you to use this time inside to make one piece every day from now until mid April. Paint, draw, photograph, sculpt, collage… whatever you like. I'm going to play around with some collage ideas that've been rollin' around in my head but haven't found their way onto paper yet. Set some rules, and then play within them. Ha! Take that, COVID-19! Stay home, make art, save someone's life ❤️ #30daychallenge #covid_19 ps. hashtag your work with #30dayartquarantine

A post shared by TJC [danielle krysa] (@thejealouscurator) on Mar 14, 2020 at 9:40am PDT

Drawing DIYs from Illustoria Magazine

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We have been so inspired to see our community come together to provide easy art projects for families during this mandated stay-at-home-time! In that spirit, all week will be sharing easy DIYs from past and upcoming issues of @illustoria_mag. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ 〰️Starting off with Prompt #1: Drawing in Reverse! 〰️Sounds strange, but it's actually a fantastic way to spark your imagination without breaking a sweat. Get ready to look at the world in a whole new way, with this rad DIY from Issue #7: Black & White ✏️⁠ Don’t enjoy squinting at your screen? Instrux are also on our blog, check link in bio! ⁠⠀ What you will need: ⁠⠀ Graphite Powder (or if you’re very patient, the side of a pencil)⁠⠀ Erasers – large, small, all shapes⁠⠀ Paper – cardstock, watercolor paper or something a little thicker than printer paper is perfect. In a pinch though, printer paper is a-o-k.⁠⠀ Larger placemat, newspaper, or something under your project…it can be a tad messy!⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ STEPS: ⁠⠀ 1. Using a crumpled up paper towel or tissue, dip into the jar of graphite powder and coat one side, then rub in circular motions across your page until an even tone of grey appears. (Don’t be afraid to press down quite a bit!)⁠. If you don’t have graphite powder, the side of a pencil will work to cover your page, just press down gently and make swooshing movements! ⁠⠀ 2. Lightly brush any excess powder away by whisking another tissue across the surface. The graphite should be kind of ‘scrubbed into’ the paper, like a stain.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ 3. With a pencil, sketch in a few lines to show which shapes you intend to make lighter (might be the area around a shape, as in this case!) Erase with a giant eraser or kneaded eraser.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ 4. When you have the shape you’d like, fill in details with a finer eraser, the end of a pencil, or one of those refillable cartridge erasers (these can apply a decent amount of pressure)⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ 5. Now add finishing details in pencil or pen. You can even overlay thin watercolor washes on top of the erased spaces or the graphite-tone parts, just be aware that the moment you put water down, it’ll fix your image on the page in a permanent way—no longer erasable.⁠ And there you have it! Drawing in reverse. ⁠

A post shared by ILLUSTORIA (@illustoria_mag) on Mar 17, 2020 at 7:49am PDT

Lunch Doodles With Mo Willems

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Your students can visit my studio weekdays to doodle w me. Daily visits drop @ 1pm EST. Kennedy-center.ORG/education/mo-willems/

A post shared by Mo Willems (@mo.willems.studio) on Mar 16, 2020 at 7:10am PDT