Tutorial Bank

A small collection of links to helpful art and drawing tutorials created by various talented artists. I focus on material suitable for beginners, especially the difficult but vital subject of human anatomy. You can find a much larger tutorial collection at the Artist's Hospital on DeviantArt, including a Case Studies Log.

Most of the tutorials are linked or hosted with the kind permission of their creators. It has been my experience that the best artists are also the most generous, and that is certainly the case with these tutorial authors. Check their websites for some truly beautiful art and, if you find their tutorials helpful, consider dropping them a note to that effect.

Be warned that some of the tutorial images are quite large and may take a while to load. Also, please note that I have no control over the content of other sites, most notably the DeviantArt ads, though I try not to link to anything questionable.

Tutorials are loosely sorted by catagory. My intention is to maximize searchability so that viewers can simply use their browser's "find" command to locate what they need. Also, when I say a tutorial is "basic," I mean that beginner artists can understand it (I should know). There is plenty of information there, but it's absorbable, even if your last name isn't da Vinci. That's the very best kind of tutorial, IMHO. But I'm biased.

Have a tutorial you'd like to submit? Contact me!

Blind Contour Drawing - Why? by Tripleguess
-Why you should learn about and use Blind Contour Drawing!

Anatomy Tutorials: People

Profile Drawing Exercise - Why, How, Where by Tripleguess
-How to approach the daunting task of drawing the human face in profile. The good news is, you can do it! You just need to start with three simple lines. The bad news is, that art store you frequent is going to get even more of your money...

How to Draw Super Deformed Characters Tutorial: Part 1; The Face, Part 2; The Body, and Part 3; Eyes and Facial Expression by Seh Hui "Felix" Leong
Learn how to draw Super-Deformed characters with these basic Super-Deformed tutorials. If you are shy about drawing people, this is a good place to start.

How to Draw Super Deformed Hair Tutorial: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 by Seh Hui "Felix" Leong
Drawing hair is difficult and this is a great tutorial on the subject. Try it if you want to learn how to draw hair, no matter what style you are drawing in. I referenced this basic hair tutorial heavily when drawing "Royal Touch."

Mayshing's Anime Art Lesson Tutorials:
Anime Face
Anime Eyes
Anime Hair
Speedlines: 1
Speedlines: 2
Speedlines: 3
Easy tutorials with tips for drawing anime faces, hair, and speedlines or emphasis lines.

Anime Art Lesson - Male and Female Differences: Page One and Page Two by Mayshing
Tips for better portraying the two genders accurately.

Express Guide: Figure Drawing Tutorial by Cedarseed
Basic human anatomy tutorial. Very helpful for learning how to draw people.

Z Big Guide to Body Drawing Tutorial by Cedarseed
Expanded human anatomy tutorial. Also very helpful for learning more about how to draw people.

Anatomy Tutorial by odduckoasis
Some basic guidelines and techniques for drawing peoeple.

Drawing the Human Head Tutorial by Brian Stelfreeze (hosted by Will Terrell)
A unique approach to drawing the human head which also works for just about any art/anatomy subject. From this I learned to not be afraid of messing up. Get used to going through paper like butter with this basic "how to draw the human head" tutorial.

Drawing Anime Faces Tutorial by Crysa
Learn how to draw anime faces, eyes, ears and noses with this basic anime face tutorial.

Drawing Anime Hair: Bangs Tutorial by Crysa
Learn how to draw anime bangs with this basic anime hair tutorial. Very helpful.

A Guide to Drawing Hair Curls by Keysha-chan
Learn how to draw curly hair with this basic curly hair tutorial. Quite helpful.

Hands Tutorial: Page One, Page Two and Page Three by Mayshing
Some helpful hints for learning how to draw hands.

Hands & Feet

Helping Hand Exercise (10MB file!!) by Tripleguess
-How to draw hands? Simple: download huge files and kill trees. 58 pages of tips and reference photos.

Hands Tutorial by odduckoasis
Some basic guidelines and techniques for drawing hands.

Drawing Hands Tutorial by uchuucacahuate
More tips for learning how to draw hands.

Foot Tutorial by odduckoasis
Some basic guidelines and techniques for drawing feet.

Drawing Feet Tutorial by uchuucacahuate
Tips for learning how to draw feet.

Miscellaneous...

Drawing Clothes and Folds Tutorial: Part 1 and Part Two by Crysa
Tips on how to draw clothing and folds.

Drawing Angelic Wings Tutorial by Crysa
Tips on how to draw anime-style angel wings.

Battle Gear Tutorials
Chainmail Tutorial (564 KB jpg image) by Gold-Seven
Ever wonder how to draw chain mail without depicting all twenty-thousand links? Wonder no more! Learn how to draw chainmail with this basic chainmail tutorial. Click to view or right click to download. Originally spotted on DeviantArt.

Anatomy Tutorials: Animals
Basic Animal Anatomy Tutorial by Cedarseed
Learn how to draw animals with this basic animal anatomy tutorial.

Drawing Birds Tutorial: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 by Cedarseed
Learn how to draw birds with this basic bird anatomy tutorial.

Wing Tutorial (324 KB jpg image) by WindFalcon
Learn how to draw wings; authentic-looking falcon wings, at that! Click to view or right click to download. If you have broadband and want the super-sharp, uncompressed original, go here.

Drawing the Horse Tutorial by Cedarseed
Learn how to draw horses with this basic horse anatomy tutorial. What's a warrior without his steed?

Composition Tutorials
Rule of Thirds Tutorial by Jeff Walker (linked with permission from Kweee)
Learn to compose more attractive works by taking advantage of the rule of thirds with this basic composition tutorial.

Paneling Tips: 7 Points by Mayshing
Basic guidelines for paneling manga (or comic book) pages.

Mayshing's Making Manga Tutorials:
1: Framing Basics
2: Framing Styles
3: Rolling Camera Effects
5: Speech & Thought Balloon Styles
6: More Balloon Styles
7: Hand Drawn Balloons
8: Background Styles
9: Crosshatching Styles
These easy tutorials contain many helpful pointers for making manga, ranging from framing styles to crosshatching techniques. (There isn't a Four.)

Bringing Drawings to Life - Dynamic Drawing Tutorial by GoblinQueeen
Breathe life into artwork by utilizing the twelve principles of animation.

Perspective Tutorials
Creating Comics - Perspective Tutorial by Will Terrell
I have a couple books on the mechanics of perspective, but the sheer precision possible had me stymied. After a go at this basic perspective tutorial, though, I was able to apply perspective to my art (especially the backgrounds). I don't even need a ruler; in fact, I find my backgrounds look more dynamic when I draw them freehand. Highly recommended if you want to learn how to draw in perspective... without taking an architecture class! Please email Mr. Terrell, thank him -- and pester for more tutorials!

Mayshing's Perspective for Dummies Tutorial: Page One, Page Two, Page Three, Page Four, Page Five and Page Six.
To help beginners, or people who struggle with drawing perspective. A helpful perspective tutorial in four parts.

Inking Tutorials
Inking for the Inkcompetent Tutorial by Ruggel
Learn how to ink with this nice explanation of inking styles and techniques.

Color Tutorials
Color Theory in a Nutshell Tutorial by Cedarseed
Learn about color theory with this basic color theory tutorial.

Color Pencil Tutorials
Color Penciling Tutorial (310 KB jpg image) by GlassWind
A nice introduction to layering and crosshatching with color pencils. Click to view or right click to download. If you have broadband and want the super-sharp, uncompressed original, go here.

Processing Tutorials
Basic Image Scanning Tutorial by Merripen
Learn how to scan images so that you can share your traditionally created art (paintings, drawings, etc.) on the Web.

Basic Image Resizing Tutorial for Adobe Photoshop by RavenScarlett
Part I: Learn how to re-size scanned images with Adobe Photoshop for easy Web viewing. Easy to follow Adobe PS instructions.

Basic Image Resizing Tutorial for Microsoft Paint by RavenScarlett
Part II: Learn how to re-size scanned images with Microsoft Paint for easy Web viewing. Easy to follow MS Paint instructions.

Basic Image Resizing Tutorial for MGI PhotoSuite by RavenScarlett
Part III: Learn how to re-size scanned images for easy Web viewing. Easy to follow MGI Photo Suite instructions.

I am always on the lookout for more high-quality art tutorials!

Artist's Hospital.com maintained by Mayshing
A related community with the same goals as the DeviantArt hospital. Currently under development.

Women's Beauty Life New Hairstyle Gallery
A gallery containing hundreds of women's hairstyle photographs. Most of the pictures aren't very big, but many are clear and sharp. There are many differest hairstyles shown: short, medium, long, celebrity, updo and prom, and bridal. These hairstyle photos are good reference material for drawing hair and drawing hairstyles.

English PortalGraphics website
Download OpenCanvas for a free 30-day trial, or purchase it straight off. If you purchase it, be sure their emails can get through to you; spam filters have been known to eat the serial key. (cough)

English OpenCanvas Community site
English side of the official OpenCanvas User Community. Be ready to see a lot of kanji and kana though. =) View contributed images, download event files, and read through CG lectures (see below) -- these last are very helpful, especially when you follow along in the relevent event files.

English OpenCanvas CG Lectures
Seems like PortalGraphics revamped the OpenCanvas site, and the CG lecture link hasn't been put back up yet -- but the lectures are still there. Go here to see them.

openCanvas Users Forum
-A forum for OpenCanvas users to help other oC users. This one just went active as of January 2007. Woohoo!

OpenCanvas Community on DeviantArt
A DeviantArt community devoted to OpenCanvas. Unfortunately it's been inactive for many weeks, but it seems like some of the members keep an eye on the place, so you can often get help by leaving a comment. Also, people can add tutorial links by simply commenting on the community's OpenCanvas resource deviations, so the resources can still be "updated."

Everything OpenCanvas Forum on DeviantArt
A DeviantArt forum topic devoted to OpenCanvas questions and answers. Not real organized, but you can find answers to many of your FAQs here and perhaps hook into the OC community.

LiveJournal OpenCanvas Club
An OpenCanvas community on LiveJournal.

OpenCanvas 4.06 Lines and Layers Tutorial Part One and Part Two with Event File
How to clean scanned lineart and prep it for coloring, and how to use layers to color. A super simple demonstration.

OpenCanvas, Version 1.1: An Online Guide
A helpful step-by-step introduction to the old, free version of OpenCanvas. (That's the version that can network.) Beware the popups.

OpenCanvas v.1 Networking Tutorial (PDF file format) by Nikarone
A nice OpenCanvas 1.1 networking tutorial in PDF format.

More to come as I find or am alerted to content.