9 Inspiring Illustrators On Youtube To Learn From

These artists are wonderful teachers, who have a lot to teach artists from diverse mediums and styles.

AngryMikko

Mikko is an concept artist. He often paints environments sometimes with buildings and animals. Mikko’s videos are both tutorials and videos that see him paint an artwork from scratch. He has many tutorials that deal with art issues that a digital illustrator would deal with, such as, From 3D to 2D PAINTING START TO FINISH PROCESS, How to build PATIENCE for painting DETAILS Procreate Painting Process and REFLECTION procreate painting process [thoughts on creativity]. Water is a difficult thing to paint and Mikko paints it beautifully. His has an imaginative style that is vibrant and full of life. A lot of Mikko’s artworks deal with landscape scenes, he likes to paint animals and structures, but there are not many people in his artworks. His expertise is diverse environments. Those are difficult to do well, Mikko has mastered that and has a great deal to teach others about this topic.

Anoosha Syed

Anoosha is a freelance illustrator, who has illustrated many children’s books. Her clients have included Netflix, Disney Jr and Google. Anoosha’s art style is fun, cute and full of beautiful colour choices. As with many illustrative art, it puts a smile on your face. Anoosha’s videos are about how the illustrative world works and her art process. That compromises how she begins a book for instance and starts coming up with scenes. She tells you a lot of the little details that are important for illustrators. Anoosha’s speaking is calm and full of interesting information. She doesn’t have many videos, but they are impactful and important because they give you an overview of illustrating Children’s books. The videos called Making A Picture Book From Start To Finish, How to Start your Illustration Career | PART 1, PART 2 and A Week in The Life of a Self-Employed Illustrator. Through that last video, it underscores how disciplined and well organised children’s book illustrators need to be. Anoosha goes through her project worksheet and you see how many projects you need to juggle as a freelancer. You won’t be able to see all the projects, she is working on in that week, because unlike commissioned artworks in the fine art world, there are clauses that prohibit the artist from publishing the artwork until a certain date after the book is published. Some artworks may never make it into the final book and it may be years away before the book is published. If you do a different artform, it is fascinating to see how differently you need to approach your art projects.

Trent Kaniuga

Trent worked as a concept artist for World of the Warcraft, Fortnite and League of Legends. He has created a comics including CreeD. Often Trent’s videos deal show the process of conceptual and comic artist. He owns an artist house, so he brings a unique prospective for artists who wish to be conceptual artists. Trent is easy to listen to, with his resonating voice and he keeps you engaged about the topic, while creating an artwork at the same time. His videos not only help improve your art, but give you an idea of the expectations game studios have of concept artists. Some of his videos include, Illustration VS Concept - Why do some companies want Sketches and others want paintings?, Upgrade your Design sketches - Environment Concept Artist daily process and Why MOST artists struggle to get "Concept Artist" jobs. The last artwork, he mentions that the artwork he is completing in the video is finished in a day to day and half. It is all painted with an immense level of detail which is required by game studios so the modellers can add the art to the game. This videos artwork is part of tutorial on Gum road.

E r g o j o s h

Josh is an illustrator, who draws figures and portraits. Unlike many of the Youtubers that are on this list, Josh used his Youtube channel to show his progress and growth as an artist. Over time, through practice and trying things, he learnt along the way. Not everyone has an arts degree, in some ways you are free to learn through trail and error. No one forces a style upon you, so you find it on your own. Josh is by far one of the largest Youtubers on this list and there is good reason for it. He is easy to watch, while he is working on an artwork at the same time, Josh’s advice is helpful and gives constructive criticism of himself, by looking at his own work, to see how he can improve. There are some things you need to go to university for, but there are multiple ways of becoming an artist. It is important to hear from every artist you can, because it gives you a different perspective. When you are stuck trying to figure out how to draw something as an illustrator, a fresh perspective may be needed. Some of Josh’s videos are How to Draw...WITHOUT LEARNING ANATOMY, Artists don't make any Money and ERGOJOSH IS A FAKE ARTIST. The last video speaks of how some people are unhappy for Josh’s success. If you cannot handle someone being more successful then you as an Artist on Youtube, then how are you going to handle being artist in general? It is a business in the end and there are many ways of making a living as an artist. Josh proves that being an artist on Youtube. To be on Youtube is not just here see my art, you have to show and tell people about your art. There is a skill in making interesting videos, which Josh excells. Sometimes Josh speaks directly to the camera without working on an artwork and other times uses this time to make some art. The truth is self taught artists have a great many things to teach other people, because they have as Josh has mentioned, read and devoured every bit of information they can about art. Then they put everything they have learnt into practice and see what works. That is what Josh did, he is fantastic at teaching and keeping you engaged with the topic.

WillTerryArt

Will, has illustrated many children’s books and taught illustration at University level. Started SVS Learn with Will Terry and another illustrator, Lee White. They also have a podcast together dealing with the topic of illustration. Will’s videos cover a range of topics from advice about illustrating children’s books, to the business side of being an illustrator and how the illustration world works. He has a calm and easy going manner that is easy to listen to. Often he is speaking directly to the camera. Will has many videos concerning any question you could have about illustration. Because of SVSlearn which is not only a learning module, but a place where you can interact with the creators of this program, he receives many questions which inspire new videos. Some of Will’s best videos are, How To Get Noticed as an Illustrator, How To Break Into Children's Book Illustration and Most illustrators won’t be able to #draw50things. It is a fun art challenge that Will started when teaching in university. What is interesting about Will is that he doesn’t believe he was a good artist during his degree. That is inspiring because he shows you his art during college and he has gone on to a long career. Watching his videos, he gives you an enormous amount of information about the illustrative world with positive and calm manner. One of the best pieces of advice is that everything is just lines and shapes. If you have drawn something else, you can do this. That is the feeling in general that Will leaves you with.

Minnie Small

Minnie is an freelance illustrator, who I first found on Youtube during Inktober many years ago. Her Inktober art is amazing. Unlike many of the illustrators that have already been mentioned, Minnie paints traditionally and paints on a variety of subjects. As with many artists who are on Youtube, Minnie speaks about the topic and works on an artwork, but she also has a vlog series. Seeing the process of an artist, is important for improving your own skills. Minnie’s videos show what a great eye she has for composition, that is visible in her art. The way she uses light is to give a warm vibe to her videos. Some of Minnie’s videos are Tiny Paintings To Give Myself Something To Focus On, Getting My Life Back On Track in One Week · Get Organised and Productive With Me · NOVEMBER VLOG and Loosening Up With Abstracty Landscapes · Fill a Sketchbook With Me! #3. The last video seems to explain why Minnie is so interesting to follow, as she is always trying something new with her art. She has helpful tutorials dealing with various art topics that people struggle with. Minnie vlogs add an interesting dimension to her art and in those vlogs, she gives a lot of helpful information for artists. She has a easy going vibe, it is calming to see her art come to life. You see how life is for an artist. If this is a career you aspire for, it helps you to see what being an artist is all about.

Jake Parker

Founder of Inktober, who worked at Pixar and other companies. Has illustrated many children’s books and comics. Started SVS Learn with Will Terry and another illustrator, Lee White. Jake’s style is unique for many illustrators as he seems to sketch his artwork digitally and he then prints it off. He then inks the outline and then colours it in. It is an interesting marriage of digital and traditional art. The video finished not perfect resonates with the difficulties for when you are starting out and are unsure of your art skills. Instead you focus on finishing your art and moving on to the next artwork. Other videos are You Need a Product not a Project e041 and The World-Building Trap. Jake has five comics with another soon to be released, so he has a lot of experience with bringing his ideas to fruition. He is also a keen sketchbookist to such a degree that he has self published multiple illustrative books with his best sketches. Apparently the amount that he earns from these books pays for his mortgage. You gain an immense amount of ideas and advice for being a illustrator from Jake. If you are planning to do Inktober, he has videos about this challenge, to make it less daunting. During the video Jake will finish an artwork while speaking about a topic. Seeing the process of an artists work is illuminating.

Jeremy Fenske

Jeremy has created concept art for Elder Scrolls Online, Destiny and other games. Unlike many of the other illustrators that I have mentioned, Jeremy’s videos are often live streams only. Sometimes just watching someone that is incredibly skilled going at their craft can teach you a great deal about what is possible. Through the stream Jeremy answers questions and you see his thought process. It should be added that Jeremy has made a group of brushes for Photoshop, that are available for free as long as you sign up at Gumroad. Jeremy also has a few tutorials available for a small fee, including his artwork “The Night Rider“, which is one of the artworks in the photo above. Jeremy is a highly skilled artist, who not only reminds you to keep your layers well organised, but shows many Photoshop techniques. This is important because the technical part is just as essential as the art itself, it requires a knowledge base that is different to traditional art. Watching Jeremy create portraits without even a pencil sketch, all just from shading, is inspiring. Learning the proportions of the human face and body, requires practice, you realise watching him, is what you can aspire for. Some of his videos are Live Stream 36- Bazaar painting, Daily Sketch #12 Female Portraits and Zelda 'Breath of the Wild' -Painting Process. Jeremy’s scenes are well composed and vibrant. He has a beautiful way of using light in his scenes as seen in the Zelda artwork. Considering his extensive CV, he has a lot to teach people just by watching his process.

Ericanthonyj

Eric is a Illustrator, his specialty is portrait painting and he is exceptional at it. He has amassed a large following on multiple social media platforms. Bar a few videos, Eric video style is to speak about the topic and do a portrait at the same time. Some of Eric’s video’s are, How to find your Art Style!, This ruins your life and How to Paint Skin Tutorial. Skin is a difficult thing to paint because it deals with many colours and tones and it requires practice to do it well. Eric not only does it beautifully, but he gives helpful tips so that you can start to see how to paint a difficult concept. Not only is it dealing with many tones you have to deal with the way light is falling on the person. His style is attractive and easy to like. No wonder Eric is so popular on many social media platforms. If you are an aspiring portrait artist, he is well worth looking into, to learn his illustrative process.

Coauthored with Francesca Darcy who has more experience with Illustrators Twitter @francesca_darcy