23 YouTube Channels To Teach You How To Paint for Free

Always wanted to learn how to paint, but were afraid to enroll in a class? Free online painting tutorials may be right up your alley, helping you get comfortable with both basic and advanced techniques right from home. Whether you are interested in acrylic or oil painting or learning how to use watercolors, there is no shortage of excellent YouTube channels to help you get started.

Learning from an experienced artist is a great way to start your painting journey, and luckily there are plenty of creatives out there willing to help. From tips on the best brushes to how to work with solvents to showing how to move from sketchbook to painting, there are an endless amount of lessons to learn. And once you've learned these new skills, you can also watch video tutorials to give you new painting ideas for your next project.

Some of the YouTube channels we recently covered that help you learn to draw also have painting lessons, but here we've curated our list of specialized teachers to help you learn to paint. Some teachers prefer short lessons broken into a lengthy playlist, while others publish long-form tutorials and demonstrations. And the nice thing is, with so many teaching options available, you can browse around until you find that style that fits your needs. By spending some time with these videos, you'll come away with a solid foundation on how to paint.

What are you waiting for? With these free online painting tutorials at your fingertips, even if you're a beginner, there's no excuse not to start painting.

 

Acrylic Paint Tutorials

Once you find the best acrylic paints to get started, you'll want to figure out how to best tackle your new craft. There's a wide variety of acrylic painting tutorials, ranging from the basics of color mixing to tackling how to paint specific elements like an eye or a tree. Most channels have different levels of lessons for both beginner and advanced artists.

 

Will Kemp Art School

 

Acrylic Painting Techniques

 

The Art Sherpa

 

Painting with Jane

 

Createful Art

 

Suraj Fine Arts

 

Oil Paint Tutorials

Oil painting can seem daunting, but there's nothing more satisfying than understanding the technique of great masters like Rembrandt or van Gogh. With a little practice, you may even be able to paint your own Starry Night! These free online tutorials will take you through the necessary materials to safely get started with oil painting, as well as detailed lessons on anatomy, landscapes, or even palette knife painting.

 

Lena Danya

 

Daria Callie

 

Robin Clonts

 

Sergey Gusev

 

Michael James Smith

 

Watercolor Paint Tutorials

Some of our favorite watercolor artists, like Mateusz Urbanowicz and Kelogsloops, have YouTube channels where they share tips for how to achieve their signature styles. Or, if you are looking for a more in-depth course, there's no shortage of watercolor artists with a complete range of videos to help you master watercolor painting. Just stock up on a watercolor set, press play, and you are ready to go.

 

Kelogsloops

 

Mateusz Urbanowicz

 

Matthew White

 

Watercolor Misfit

 

The Mind of Watercolor

 

Mr. Otter Art Studio

 

Nitin Singh

 

Gouache Paint Tutorials

Many people have never heard of gouache paint, but the powerful medium might just become your go-to pigment. Gouache is like both watercolor and acrylic paint, as it has to be mixed with water in order to spread across your canvas or paper. It's made up of a high ratio of color pigment and a solid white pigment (such as chalk) and produces a rich, velvety texture. Discover how to use it by checking out the artist videos below.

 

Jess Chung

 

Visual Mind

 

Myriam Tillson

 

arleebean

 

Mary Sanche

 

When you are ready to take the next step and dive into paid lessons, check out My Modern Met Academy's online painting classes.

 

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Jessica Stewart

Jessica Stewart is a Staff Editor and Digital Media Specialist for My Modern Met, as well as a curator and art historian. Since 2020, she is also one of the co-hosts of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. She earned her MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London and now lives in Rome, Italy. She cultivated expertise in street art which led to the purchase of her photographic archive by the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia in 2014. When she’s not spending time with her three dogs, she also manages the studio of a successful street artist. In 2013, she authored the book "Street Art Stories Roma" and most recently contributed to "Crossroads: A Glimpse Into the Life of Alice Pasquini." You can follow her adventures online at @romephotoblog.
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