Pencil Art Elephant Pencil Drawing

By Carrie Lewis in Art Tutorials> Drawing Tips

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 mediums (charcoal, colored pencil, pastel, etc). I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Quick announcement - EmptyEasel has created a quicker, easier way for artists to have their own art website. Click here to learn more and get a simple art website of your own!

General Drawing Videos

1. Think You Can't Draw? Think Again! Drawing for Beginners

ArtistsNetwork presents this short, basic, but very informative video for people who want to draw, but lack the confidence to get started or simply believe they're not cut out to be artists.

4 minutes

2. Learn to Draw #01 – Sketching Basics & Materials

Click here to watch on YouTube

Brandon Schaefer of Schaefer Fine Arts begins a series of drawing tutorials with this video. The video begins with a list of supplies needed for drawing in a number of mediums and concludes with a Learn to Draw tutorial. This video and the others in the series are targeted to beginners who either want to learn to draw or improve their drawing. There are currently eleven videos in the series, and each one is a bit more advanced than the previous. They range in length from a little over five minutes to under twenty minutes, so they're perfect as drawing lessons and for practice.

16 minutes

3. Thirty-three Drawing Tips for Beginners

Click here to watch on YouTube

This is NOT your typical drawing tutorial. The 5-Minute Crafts Girly presents 33 drawing tips in rapid-fire, fun-to-watch demonstrations that show before and after drawings. The first half is all "serious" drawing while the second half is a collection of fun stuff for those who learn best with "crafty" projects. Even if you skip the crafty stuff, I guarantee that if you watch the drawing portion of this video a few times AND practice the exercises, your drawing will improve. No matter what you most enjoy drawing.

10 minutes

4. Eight Basic Pen/Pencil Strokes | Beginners Introduction

Click here to watch on YouTube

This Paint Academy video shows in real time the basic strokes you need to master to make the most of your drawing, no matter what drawing medium you choose.

14 minutes

5. How to Draw Faces

Rapid Fire Art artist Darlene shows how to draw a male and female face in this time-lapse, voice over tutorial. Darlene shares great ideas for changing the expressions on your face drawings, as well as changing characteristics.

20 minutes

6. How to Shade with Pencil for Beginners

Click here to watch on YouTube

Darlene is back again to explain why you need to understand how to shade. You'll learn how to shade effectively using dull pencils or the sides of pencil. A shading exercise concludes the video. Although the artist focuses on pencil drawing, the subject of the video—shading—is vital to drawing accurately in any medium.

14 minutes

Charcoal Drawing Videos

7. The Basics of Charcoal

Kara Bullock talks about the three types of charcoal and the differences between them, as well as other basic supplies. She also demonstrates how each of the tools are used.

16 minutes

8. Four Tips on Drawing with Charcoal | Drawing Tutorials

Click here to watch on YouTube

In this Howcast video, you'll learn 4 tips for getting started with charcoal. Tips include an exercise for drawing values, using erasers to "draw" into charcoal and more.

3 minutes

9. Intro to Charcoal Drawing – Easy Things to Drawings

Click here to watch on YouTube

The artist at Easy Things to Draw 101 offers this introduction to charcoal for artists who have never before used charcoal but would like to. The video begins with a brief discussion of the differences between vine charcoal and charcoal pencils, then the tools used for this demonstration. The demonstration itself features an eye drawn from scratch and shaded. The video is mostly real-time with voice over.

20 minutes

10. How to Draw Basic From: Cube with Charcoal

Click here to watch on YouTube

See how to draw a basic cube shape from scratch and develop the values until it looks three-dimensional in this real-time video. This video is the first of three, each of which focuses on drawing a different three-dimensional form with charcoal. Each video is between 20 and 35 minutes long.

33 minutes

11. How to Shade, Blend Realistic Skin for Beginners

In this video, artist Aditya Bora demonstrates how to create value in skin by shading, blending, and erasing. His subject is a girl's face, so you can also see how he draws hair and eyes. The video is time-lapse, but includes captions.

14 minutes

12. This is Why You Should Use Charcoal – Portrait Girl – Female Drawings

Click here to watch on YouTube

This The Portrait Art video shows the creation of a portrait in time-lapse from the very first marks on paper to adding the final details. There is no narration or captions, but there is a lot to see and learn if you're interested in taking your charcoal drawings to the next level. Watching the face appear, then come to life is a fascinating process even if charcoal isn't your chosen medium.

6 minutes

13. River Landscape Charcoal Drawing

Miroslav Sunjkic aka The Pencil Maestro, draws a simple landscape using charcoal powder and brushes. The video is time-lapse, but the artist talks about he's doing from the initial concept for the drawing to the final touches.

17 minutes

14. "Adidas Shoe" Still Life Drawing with Charcoal Demonstration by Artist Jaspreet Singh

Click here to watch on YouTube

For a look at using charcoal to draw a still life, see how Jaspreet Singh uses charcoal powder, a brush, toothbrush, charcoal pencils, and erasers to draw a realistic athletic shoe. Time-lapse with narration, but plenty to see and learn.

10 minutes

15. Young Brad Pitt Drawing in Charcoal

Click here to watch on YouTube

Now for some fun, enjoy this time-lapse video by Darlene Nguygen of Rapid Fire Art. Darlene has several other celebrity time-lapse videos in her collection, including a larger than life drawing of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow which she drew on her apartment wall. Some are graphite, some are charcoal. They're all a good watch.

4 minutes

16. Drawing in Charcoal Live Demonstration

Let's close out the charcoal drawing section with a live stream from former Disney animator Aaron Blaise. In this video, Aaron draws a life-like lion from one of his own reference photos. For those of you who enjoy seeing how other artists work, this live stream includes several shots of Aaron's working area and studio. The drawing begins with a vine charcoal sketches and concludes with a nearly completely finished lion portrait.

1 hour, 42 minutes

Colored Pencil Tutorials on YouTube

17. The Single Biggest Beginner Colored Pencil Mistake – Lachri

Lisa Clough of Lachri Fine Art identifies the biggest mistake colored pencil artists make—and it may not be what you expect. Lisa also talks about the top seven mistakes she sees among beginners, as well as how to correct those mistakes in Top 7 Colored Pencil Mistakes that Beginners Make .

Lisa also has a wonderful collection of colored pencil tutorials ranging in length from short time-lapse videos to one- and two-hour live streams. She draws a wide variety of subjects, too, so I recommend you take a look at her colored pencil playlist with the confidence that you will find something of interest if you like realism.

18. Seven Ways of Blending Colored Pencils for Beginners

Click here to watch on YouTube

Will Stoller, the artist behind Unmask Art, describes and demonstrates seven ways to blend colored pencils. He also talks about the possible disadvantages to each blending method as well as when and how each method can be used to best advantage.

10 minutes

19. Twelve Genius Drawing Hacks for Colored Pencils

Click here to watch on YouTube

Artist Kirsty Partridge shares a dozen tips to help you make your colored pencil work more professional and finished looking. No matter how long you've been using colored pencils, you will find something new in this video.

10 minutes

20. Colored Pencil Tips – Tidal Gardens Coral – Lachri

While we're considering tips for better colored pencil art, lets take a look at another Lisa Clough video. This time, she's drawing marine coral using solvent blender on watercolor paper. This video is a shortened, time-lapse version of a live stream (which is linked in the video description.) While she draws, Lisa shares tips on technique, supplies and more.

27 minutes

21. How to Draw a Fall Landscape with Colored Pencils

Click here to watch on YouTube

Will Stoller narrates this time-lapse video showing how he drew an autumn landscape. The video includes a color list on the video and a supply list in the video description. He uses Brush & Pencil's texture fixative and powder blender, so if you've never seen this product in use on a landscape, this is your opportunity.

20 minutes

22. Colored Pencil Landscape on Mi-Teintes Pastel Paper

Click here to watch on YouTube

Lisa Clough of Lachri Fine Art draws a landscape with mountains, rocks, and water on pastel paper. The video is time-lapse with voice over. Lisa also did a live stream in which she drew the sky and clouds, so you'll want to take a look at that, too. <insert "https://youtu.be/5SxONZAyz6A">

11 minutes

23. How to Draw Curly Fur with Colored Pencils

Animal portrait artist Bonny Snowdon shows you how to draw a dog's very curly fur. The video is a mix of real-time and time-lapse with voice over, so you get a good look at her drawing process. Bonny also has a great selection of videos featuring dogs, cats, horses, and a few other animals. Some are lives stream length and others are short time-lapse videos.

12 minutes

24. Ice Cream Dessert, Realistic Drawing with Colored Pencils on Drafting Film

Click here to watch on YouTube

If you enjoy drawing still life art and like food art, this video is for you. Martine of Martine's Fine Art shows you how to draw an ice cream dessert using colored pencil on drafting film. The video is mostly time-lapse with a little real-time video clips, but Martine describes what she's doing. This video includes valuable tips on working on drafting film, choosing colors, and layering colors.

6 minutes

25. Hyper-realistic Colored Pencil Drawings Look 3D

Art Insider features colored pencil artist CJ Hendry. Hendry's highly detailed colored pencil works focus on luxury items, celebrities, and paint blobs. Yes. Paint blobs. She uses colored pencils to create huge drawings of her subjects. Just a glimpse of her stash of colored pencils is enough to please any art supply hoarder. This is not a tutorial by any means, but it is fun (and beware: it includes some really outside the box marketing ideas.)

5 minutes

Graphite Drawing Videos

26. Drawing Materials/Art Supplies I Use for My Graphite Pencil Drawings

Click here to watch on YouTube

Emmy Kalia gets you off to a good start with graphite drawing by sharing her drawing tools and supplies. She also tells when she uses each tool in her normal drawing process.

3 minutes

27. Tutorial | How to Draw, Shade Realistic Hair with Graphite Pencils

Click here to watch on YouTube

Follow up Emmy's supply list with a time-lapse showing how she draws hair with graphite. She talks about how she draws with step-by-step narration, explaining her methods, and tools along the way.

41 minutes

28. How to Draw Hyper Realistic Eyes | Step by Step

Darlene of Rapid Fire Art shows how she draws a hyper realistic eye in this nearly real-time tutorial with voice over. She begins with the tools she uses (including those that are absolutely necessary if you don't have all of them.) Beginning with the initial drawing, she then walks you through the entire drawing process and shares drawing tips about reflections, drawing an eyeball that looks round and wet, and much more.

51 minutes

29. How to Draw Trees – Simply

Click here to watch on YouTube

Paul Priestly shows you how to draw and shade trees using a very basic method of looking for the large shapes of each particular tree type, then adding the values that turn those shapes into forms.

9 minutes

30. How to Draw Trees

Once you've mastered the basics of drawing trees, you're ready for this video, which takes drawing trees to the next level. Chris Straver of LethalChris Drawing, narrates this time-lapse video showing how he draws three types of trees from the trunk outward.

12 minutes

31. How to Draw Realistic Textures using Pencils – Wood, Brick, and Metal

Click here to watch on YouTube

Dan Beardshaw shows how to draw three of the most popular basic architectural textures in this mostly real-time, narrated video. Each texture sample begins with sketching basic lights and darks, then shading to add form, detail, and realism. There are other videos on drawing texture on this channel, including drawing hair and skin textures.

10 minutes

32. Drawing Pencil | How to Draw a Landscape with Trees and a Small River

This video by Sergey Lebedev falls into the category of eye candy for graphite lovers. The video shows in time-lapse how the artist drew a landscape. There is no narration and no tips, but it is fun to watch and also informative to see the range of values and textures that give this drawing a sense of space and place. Especially for a scene drawn from imagination. The artist has other landscape videos, including a real-time version of this drawing, so if you enjoy this video, it will be worth your time to watch some of his other videos.

15 minutes

33. Drawing a Realistic Snake in Graphite! | Leontine van vliet

Click here to watch on YouTube

See how to draw a realistic snake in this time-lapse video by Leontine van vliet, then browse Leontine's other animal portraits in graphite. Her video collection includes drawing realistic fur, a horse's mane, a horse's muzzle and ears, animal and human eyes and much more. Most videos are under twenty minutes and many are under ten minutes long.

5 minutes

34. Pencil Shading – Graphite – Live & Art Q&A – Lachri

This live stream video from Lisa Clough of Lachri Fine Art walks you in real-time through the process of drawing a soft background using graphite powder. This is the first video in a series of live streams covering this large-ish graphite portrait.

2 hours

35. Drawing a Round Hole – Trick Art with Graphite Pencil by Vamos

Click here to watch on YouTube

Finally, in the graphite category, a video for fun. We've all seen the 3D art thumbnails on YouTube searches for drawing videos. I'm including this one in this collection because the reason these trick art pieces work is the shading and values, and if you get shading and values right, you can make every drawing better. Besides, it's fun!

11 minutes

Drawing with Oil Pastels

36. The Basics of Using Oil Pastels

Click here to watch on YouTube

See how to create two small drawings with oil pastels in this Lets Create Something video. The video is time-lapse, but the artist talks about what he's doing and shares a few basic tips for making your first drawing with oil pastels. The first demonstration is on smooth paper. The second paper is pastel paper, so you can also see how pastel preforms on different papers.

7 minutes

36. How to Use Oil Pastels for Beginners Tips & Techniques

Click here to watch on YouTube

Syndia Art gives you basic tips on getting started with oils pastels. The video is real-time and narrated, but the artist also demonstrates the drawing process. She also has a playlist of beginning tutorials covering a wide range of subjects for beginners. You can check out that playlist here.

17 minutes

37. Easy Oil Pastel Drawing for Beginners – A Boy in Moonlight Night – Step-by-Step

Get started drawing with pastels with this short, time-lapse video with captions. The supplies are listed throughout the video and include colors and blending tools. This is a project you can do on a budget, but that will still give you a good idea of what oil pastels are capable of. The process includes a few other media such as watercolor and graphite.

9 minutes

38. Holly Saunders Oil Pastels Techniques

Click here to watch on YouTube

Ready to take your pastel work to the next level? Then this video by Holly Saunders is for you. The artist talks about the medium in general, why she loves them, and how she uses them. She also demonstrates her most often used techniques with a landscape with buildings on canvas with primed with acrylic gesso.

14 minutes

Soft Pastel Video Tutorials

39. Pastels for Beginners – What You Need to Buy – Supplies

Click here to watch on YouTube

Wildlife artist Jason Morgan recommends the supplies and tools you need to get started with soft pastels if you want to create realistic pastel drawings. He begins with the absolute basics just to discover whether or not pastels are for you (including a link to a Patreon project that can be completed with 12 pencils and a piece of paper.) For the advanced pastelist or any artist who wants to advance with pastels, Jason has dozens of tutorial videos. Most of them deal with specific subjects such as drawing whiskers, feathers, or fur.

21 minutes

40. HELP! What Kind of Pastels and Papers Should I Use?

Click here to watch on YouTube

Pastels can be a confusing medium. What's the difference between oil pastels and soft pastels? Are they interchangeable? What about pastel papers? Does it really matter what you use? Susan Jenkins of Monet Cafe answers those questions and more in this video. It's an excellent introduction to the world of pastel in general for the artist who has never used pastels but wants to.

37 minutes

41. A Beginner's Guide to Soft Pastels

The Art Tutor presents this short video from artist Michael Howley to introduce beginners to pastels. The focus of the video is soft pastels, but the difference between oil pastels and soft pastels is briefly addressed. The rest of the video shows how soft pastels, hard pastels, and pastel pencils compare.

11 minutes

42. Soft Pastel Techniques for Beginners

Click here to watch on YouTube

Artist Will Stoller of Unmask Art shows five basic drawing techniques for pastel beginners. He also demonstrates each technique as well as describing it. As well as being effective, some of this tips are amazingly fun.

6 minutes

43. Landscape Painting with Pastels

The Virtual Instructor's Matt Fussell draws a landscape with soft pastels in this real-time but edited video with voice over. You'll also get tips on creating a visual path, creating the illusion of distance, and composition.

28 minutes

44. Draw a Jack Russell | Pastel Pencils

Click here to watch on YouTube

Colin Bradley shows you in real-time how to draw a Jack Russell Terrier using only nine pastel pencils. The video begins with a presentation of the supplies and tools used, then proceeds with the dog portrait itself. Throughout the process, the artist talks about his methods, possible problems and fixes for those errors.

1 hour, 32 minutes

45. Full Tutorial – How to Paint Cat Eyes and Fur in Pastels

Click here to watch on YouTube

This video features another animal portrait on Clairefontaine Pastelmat. This time, Carole Rodrigue shows you how to draw a cat's eyes and hair with pastels. The video is time-lapse with voice over, so you'll get lots of tips on tools, techniques, and other pastel information.

1 hour

46. Pastel Painting Techniques and an Amazing Tutorial with Lyn Diefenbach | Colour in Your Life

Master pastel artist Lyn Diefenbach is the guest artist in this video presented by Colour in Your Life. Rather than simply being an interview video, this video features a real-time tutorial of drawing a super realistic rose portrait.

24 minutes

47. Creating a Pan Pastel Background – Tutorial – Horse Portrait

Click here to watch on YouTube

Lisa Ann Watkins (Animal Art by LAW) uses pan pastels to draw a quick and colorful background for a horse portrait. The video is mostly real-time with Lisa talking about her thinking processes, drawing methods, and other art-related things. She's working on Pastelmat, so you can see how pan pastels work with that surface as well.

32 minutes

48. Pastel Eye Candy for Animal Lovers

Finally, here are three of my favorite pastelists who specialize in animal art. Roby Baer's videos feature a variety of animals from horses and cows to birds and chickens, Marian Tubiana also draws animals in pastel, and Mary Herbert is an equine artist.

These artists feature only time-lapse videos (no tutorials) but I've learned a lot about blending and color application from both, as well as spent many enjoyable moments mesmerized in their work.