The Best Illustration Books and Courses

Primarily aimed at concept artists and digital painters, Schoolism is strong on advanced fundamentals.

Probably too intense for beginners. Dives deep on rendering, composition, and character design.

Recommended Courses

Drawing Fundamentals by Thomas Fluharty

Pictorial Composition by Nathan Fowkes

Essentials of Realism by Jonathan Hardesty

Fundamentals of Lighting by Sam Nielson

While a bit old school and slow-paced, the instructors on here are true veterans. Many are classical painters and sculpters, or come from the visual development and film world.

They’re strong on anatomy, traditional painting yechniques, and compositional layout theory.

Recommended Courses

Composition for Visual Artists by Bill Perkins

Constructive Head Drawing by Steve Huston

Elements of Traditional Composition by Glenn Vilppu

Strong on beginner fundamentals – great for anyone just getting started.

Jake Parker and Will Terry teach drawing and digital painting from the ground up through sets of well-designed, hands-on exercises.

Recommended Courses

How to Draw Everything by Jake Parker

Basic Perspective Drawing by David Hohn

Painting Color and Light by Will Terry

Creative Composition by Will Terry

Animation, animals, and character design are the focus here. Ex-Disney artist Aaron Blaise leads most of the courses – his teaching style is friendly and laid-back.

These courses assume basic drawing skills and cover more advanced topics.

Recommended Courses

Taking Control of Colour by Ronnie Williford

Character Design by Aaron Blaise

The Art of Storyboards by Lyndon Ruddy

Infamous for his pen and ink techniques, Peter is a master of the Dynamic Sketching style that has spread throughout the art education world. He’s a seasoned instructor who knows how to break down concepts into simple, understandable principals.

He runs online courses and individual mentorships a few times a year, as well as in-person workshops in LA and Europe

A community favourite, this site walks you through the core concepts of Dynamic Sketching in a well-organised set of lessons.

Covers the essentials of drawing smooth lines, creating textures, and (obviously) drawing good boxes! You can even get feedback on the homework assignments through their group discord or subreddit.

James is an independent creator running a patreon and selling individual gumroad courses. The style is more directed at game design and concept art for films, but builds on top of classic drawing techniques that are valuable no matter what kind of medium you’re interested in.

Another independent teacher, Ty is a background designer from the animation world creating tutorials on Patreon and Gumroad.

Strong on lighting & colour theory, stylised illustration techniques, and visual design principals

An in-person training school in Pasadena, California that offers a full curriculum of foundational illustration and design skills.

The instructors are all working professionals in the concept art industry, and teaching courses on evenings and weekends.

An impressivly high-quality and sizeable collection of video tutorials by Matt Kohr. The videos focus on fundamental painting techniques, specifically around building skills for concept art and digital work.

A great spot for beginners – Matt covers all the basics in a well organised sequence.