The Clean Green House Blog: Online Illustration Tutorial Resources For Tweens

There are tons of online art resources unless you need tutorials for a tween artist at an intermediate skill level. There are a lot of beginner resources, and excellent (expensive) advanced courses, but not many in the middle. If you’re looking for illustration tutorials for tweens, here are a few that are great for kids who are ready for slightly more difficult content. Plus, I have a couple of bonus beginner resources at the bottom.

YouTube Intermediate Tutorials:

YouTube has great free and some paid classes. For intermediate tween artists, there are not a lot of options that have both a breadth of work published that are appropriate for younger audiences (aka: no cursing, appropriate subjects for children, etc…). My kids have pretty much trolled every artist on YouTube. Their favorite is DrawItToo. His instructions are easy to follow, he’s likable, and as a parent, I like that he does not swear (we’ve only noticed one minor curse word in all of his videos). He draws lots of superheroes and other iconic figures. Some of the art is on the simple side, but most of it is more complex and is perfect for 10 to 14-year olds who have already logged a lot of hours on the beginner tutorials.

Youtube Illustration Tutorials for tweens

Outschool:

Outschool is an online resource for small group-classes for kids. Classes have different costs, teachers, and/or class times. Each class has an age-range requirement and caps the number of students who can register. As you can imagine, these classes have become a lot more popular this year so it’s best to sign up well in advance. The classes are taught over an online platform (like Zoom). Some of the teachers have amazing resumes! They specifically have illustration tutorials for tweens, and you can see a list of the art classes {here}.

For our family, we needed teachers who did less talking and more drawing. So it is beneficial to scour the reviews and even reach out to the teacher to ask them about their teaching style. My kids wanted just to get right to the artwork and skip the chit-chat and art “show and tell”, so that was something I realized we needed to look for in the class offerings.

One wonderful side benefit is the exposure to other young artists who excel in their craft. On the flip-side, consider prepping your kiddo to be secure in their talent and skill. Because these young artists come from all over the country, your child may be shocked to realize they are not The Ultimate Best artist their age that ever existed. Besides, everyone has different tastes and styles, and that’s what makes the world interesting! There are a lot of talented artists, and there is room for everyone. The last thing we want is for kids to get discouraged.

Insider tips:

Outschool Guide– get all the details, like “check materials requirements in advance.” Apparently, this gets overlooked a lot!
A referral program – get a $20 credit!
The parent FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Art Eye Deer:

This is a program we have not yet tried out, but there is a free trial, so it’s definitely worth checking out their art resources for kids! https://arteyedeer.com.au/

Hire a Professional:

We have hired a professional illustrator for virtual art classes. We worked with Russ Cox, who was amazing. A-maz-ing. I literally stalked him on Twitter like a nut-case and then asked him about teaching. Fortunately, he didn’t block me, and he had a lot of teaching experience! A professional can not only teach amazing fundamental skills, but they can also give your kiddo very specific feedback and instruction. They can help fill in gaps in a child’s skill, and help grow areas where they are already proficient. Before you hire someone, here are some questions you could consider asking:

How long are the classes? How often do you meet? What is the cost per class? Is there a sliding scale if more than one sibling attends?
Have you taught kids online before? (Tell me about your experience.)
Where did you learn to draw? (Resume.)
What is the format of your classes? (Do they do a lot of talking/teaching or active drawing? Do they cover fundamentals? Or do they focus on fun stuff? (My kids preferred fun-stuff!) )

The interesting thing is, with skype/zoom, you’d be surprised at what phenomenal illustrators you might be able to nab for classes. Just remember, not all amazing artists are amazing teachers. So ask questions!

Illustration Tutorials for tweens

Basic Art Tutorials for Kids:

Here are some art resources for beginning artists. We have used and love both of these websites.

www.Kidlit.tv has a whole section of illustration tutorials called Ready, Set, Draw. Every tutorial is with a professional children’s literature illustrator. It’s super fun to learn to draw characters from current books straight from the illustrator who designed them. All free!

Art for Kids Hub has a website and a YouTube channel. Art for Kids Hub has a lot of free tutorials, and there is also a paid level. The instructor is highly engaging and doesn’t do a lot of chatter, so it is perfect for kids who want to get straight to the art. We had the paid level for about a year and found it valuable.

More Suggestions?

If you have intermediate resources for illustration tutorials for tweens, Illustration Tutorials for tweens, please share them in the comments so everyone can check them out. Thank you!!