Chapters:
0:00 Why I chose online art school
3:08 TheVirtualInstructor.com
5:32 21Draw.com
9:42 CreatureArtTeacher.com
13:49 Schoolism.com
20:34 NMA.art

These are the 5 best online art schools that I've tried personally (and I've tried over a dozen). The criteria I used for making this list are that the school has a great roster of classes, exceptional teaching, it offers a subscription (monthly and yearly) and that subscription plan has to be affordable (below $100/month. All of the art schools that I chose are well below that).

Here are the online art schools I chose:

5. The Virtual Instructor: TheVirtualInstructor.com

* What it is: a school that offers projects and instruction on mastering a diverse range of specific mediums.

* What stands out: You can learn the basics (and often much more) about just about every medium on the planet here.

* Who it's great for: hobbyists, beginner artists, artists who want to break out of an art block and artists who want to learn the basics of a specific medium that's new to them.


4. 21 Draw: 21Draw.com

* What it is: A school that offers courses in fundamentals and specialty classes, like illustrating appealing characters and environment design.

* What stands out: Its fun classes that are jampacked with info.

* Who it's great for: All artists can find something here, but it's especially helpful for intermediate and advanced artists. Artists wanting to break out of an art block or a style rut will enjoy the school's diverse classes and fun style.


3. Creature Art Teacher/Aaron Blaise: CreatureArtTeacher.com

* What it is: A school that offers classes on core principles like light, perspective, etc., as well as a heft selection of animation classes and specialty classes in anatomy, character design and nature drawing/painting.

* What stands out: Its comprehensive and well taught human and animal anatomy courses and its animation courses.

* Who it's great for: Artists at all levels will find something here, but it's especially helpful for intermediate and advanced artists to level up their skills. Artists who are planning to/already work in the entertainment/animation or illustration industries would especially love and get a lot from this site.


2. Schoolism: Schoolism.com

* What it is: A school that offers specialized courses for artists pursuing a particular area of the art industry like character design, creature design, book illustration, etc., as well solidifying core principles like light, perspective, etc.

* What stands out: Its roster of hugename artists from the entertainment & gaming industries who are teaching.

* Who it's great for: Intermediate and advanced artists will benefit the most from classes here. Artists who are planning to/already work in the entertainment or gaming industries would especially love and get a lot from this site.

#bestonlineartschools #onlineartclasses #onlineartschoolreviews


1. New Masters Academy: NMA.art

* What it is: A school that offers the option of either pursuing particular art tracks, just like you would in an inperson art school or taking the classes that interest you (or both). The school emphasizes solidifying the core fundamentals like figure drawing, anatomy, perspective, etc. and offers a vast array of classes to help do that, as well as a huge number of additional classes in supporting topics, such as animal anatomy, landscape painting, character design, etc.

* What stands out: The volume of comprehensive courses; The ability to follow a course/career track from beginning to end; and the titans of the art industry teaching.

* Who it's great for: Artists of all skill levels. It's especially geared toward the serious art student. They have a full section for beginners to get started with fundamentals and intermediate & advanced artists will find more than enough to help them hone, refresh and level up skills. Any artist following or interested in pursuing a career in fine art, illustration or entertainment will especially love the classes here.

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Side note: There are other great online sites that offer courses, but that didn't fit the bill for my criteria. One such site is Proko.com, which offers excellent teaching, but doesn't offer a subscription model. Another one is CG Academy, which offers great classes that are the same level of education as the sites I've chosen, but for a lot more money.