At EmptyEasel we're committed to sharing the best free art tutorials online.

All of our easy-to-read art lessons are written BY artists, FOR artists—with step-by-step demonstrations, photo illustrations, and clear instructions so you can learn to draw AND learn to paint online, for free!


And we cover everything! Besides our free drawing lessons and painting classes (including still life painting lessons, figurative art classes, and acrylic painting tutorials) you'll also find the meanings of colors, artistic methods and styles, camera tips for new photographers, and much more.


If you're hoping to improve your artistic abilities and create better art then you're in the right place!

Take a look at all of our art tutorials below:

Painting of a busy beach from high above
I don’t consider myself the strongest painter of water. . . but I do create a lot of paintings around the coast, so I need to be able to paint the wet stuff! As I paint, I tend to follow the principle that nothing is completely observed and nothing is completely imagined. This allows me to have the best of both worlds when painting. I...
Create bright highlights around the eye to add extra realism
Hey everyone! This tutorial will hopefully help you to draw a realistic eye. If you want a more in-depth video tutorial for this process, just click here to be notified when it’s ready! Recommended Drawing Tools: • General’s Charcoal Pencil 6B • Mechanical Pencil with HB and 4B lead • Tombow Mono Zero Eraser • Posca Paint Pens (White 0.7mm) • Old makeup brushes for...
I learned so much from the binge watching painting videos on YouTube, that I decided to see what drawing videos I could find. Spoiler Alert! There are some stunning artists working in dry media, too! So today, I’m sharing over 50 of those “how to draw” videos. I’ll start with the videos that apply to all drawing mediums, and then share several videos for specific...
painting of a nigh sky with stars over silhouetted mountains and lake
Have you ever wanted to paint a night sky, with all its stars and galaxies? Today’s tutorial will show you how! This tutorial tends to be a bit messy, so it is a good idea to prep the space you are working in with a drop cloth. We will be using sponges, so you can also opt to use gloves if you don’t want to...
Photo of a young man's face taken as reference for a portrait painting
Chris is an energetic artist, and an expert in InDesign from his days as a graphic designer. As a thank-you for his help with one of my bookmaking projects, I offered to do his portrait. I took this picture of him against a white backdrop in my studio. Choosing a fair sized canvas, I began by drawing his features first with a charcoal pencil, then...
Detailed drawing of a red-necked grebe
I always wished I could draw. I longed to be able to capture on paper what I saw out in the real world. Inspiration would strike and I’d try again. . . only to end up with the same result: a drawing that looked more like the flat, two-dimensional hieroglyphs you’d find on an Egyptian tomb, not anything I’d witnessed in real life. I was...