How To Find And Use Art Tutorials That Don’t Suck: A Survival Guide for the Artist Who’s Sick of Cookie-Cutter Crap, Algorithm Clones, and “Secrets” That Never Work
Let’s rip the bandaid clean off: 95% of art tutorials on the internet suck. They suck because they’re made for clicks, not for growth. They recycle the same five “tips” you’ve seen a thousand times. They hold your hand straight into mediocrity and leave you stuck in the mud. If you’re tired of tutorials that promise “one weird trick” or “the secret the pros won’t tell you,” congratulations—you’re awake. Welcome to the club.
The good news? There are great tutorials out there—genuine gold buried under a mountain of algorithmic dogshit. The trick is learning how to dig, judge, filter, and use them without letting your soul, or your style, get flattened into a social media pancake.
Here’s the brutally honest, step-by-step, no-bullshit guide to finding and using art tutorials that will actually make you better—and keep you original.
1. Why Most Art Tutorials Suck (And How to Spot the Rot in 30 Seconds)
Let’s get clinical: Most tutorials are:
Over-simplified: “Draw the circle, now draw the rest of the fucking owl.”
Clickbait: The title says “master anatomy in 5 minutes,” but all you get is a speedpaint and a selfie.
Algorithm slaves: Designed for maximum engagement, not maximum knowledge.
Made by amateurs, not teachers: Being able to draw doesn’t mean you can teach. Half of these “pros” can’t explain what a value scale is if you put a gun to their head.
Red Flags:
No process, just “magically” skipping steps.
No why, just how—no context for when or why to use the technique.
Same “trick” regurgitated by a thousand different “influencers.”
Promising instant results or “easy” pro secrets.
All finished pieces look identical—zero individuality.
If you’re nodding your head, you already know. If you’re not, you haven’t looked hard enough.
2. The Secret Ingredient: Know What You Need (Not Just What’s Trendy)
Most artists jump into tutorials out of FOMO—fear of missing out on some magical shortcut. That’s how you end up with a bookmarks folder full of “gesture drawing hacks” and “Procreate texture brushes” you never touch.
Survival hack: Ask yourself what hurts most in your art. Is it anatomy? Color? Light? Composition? Style? Start there.
Don’t chase style hacks if your fundamentals are shit.
If you need anatomy, hunt for anatomy. If you want mood, find color or lighting deep-dives. If you want to paint skin, look for tutorials from actual portrait painters, not someone who’s famous for anime faces.
3. How to Find Tutorials That Don’t Suck
A. Skip the First Page of Google and YouTube
The best stuff is buried, not trending. Go to page three. Look for low-view videos by actual artists, not influencers.
Try old art forums, not just Instagram and TikTok. ConceptArt.org (what’s left of it), WetCanvas, CA.org archives, even old DeviantArt posts—often gold.
B. Hunt Down the Masters
Find the people who make the art you love and see if they teach.
Pay for their courses if you can. Gumroad, Skillshare, Patreon, even their own websites. A $20 course from a working pro is worth more than a hundred free YouTube “tips.”
Pro tip: Ignore “best” or “most popular” lists. Look for the ones who get deep into process, not just final results.
C. Don’t Be Afraid of Books
The best tutorials are still on dead trees: “Alla Prima II” by Richard Schmid, “Color and Light” by James Gurney, “Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth” by Andrew Loomis.
Old-school doesn’t mean outdated. It means time-tested.
D. Find Process, Not Just Results
The real treasure is watching the mistakes. Look for videos that leave in the restarts, the errors, the “shit, that didn’t work” moments.
Time-lapses lie. Real-time or breakdown vids teach.
4. How to Actually Use a Tutorial Without Killing Your Style
A. Never Copy Blind.
Copy for understanding, not for glory. If you’re just mimicking someone’s every stroke, you’re learning nothing but how to plagiarize.
B. Do the Exercise, Not Just the Demo.
If a tutorial says “do this ten times”—fucking do it. Don’t just watch and move on. The muscle memory comes from your own hands, not theirs.
C. Take Notes.
Don’t just bookmark—write down what worked, what didn’t, and why. Build your own “secret sauce” book of tricks.
D. Remix and Test.
Use what you learn in your own work, then break it. Tweak, push, pull, invert, fuck it up on purpose. That’s how it becomes yours.
E. Compare Outcomes, Not Just Steps.
Did your piece improve? If not, was the tutorial actually useful? Be brutally honest. Ditch what doesn’t work.
5. Ingredient Hacks: Survival Strategies in the Tutorial Jungle
Stack tutorials. Try several for the same topic. Compare. Synthesize.
Find contradictory advice. If two pros disagree, try both. Truth usually lives in the fight.
Record yourself following the tutorial. Spot where you get lost—those are your real weak points.
Join critique groups or Discords where people actually call out your mistakes.
Teach what you learn (even if just to yourself). Explaining it locks it in your brain.
Keep a “tutorial graveyard.” When something sucks, bury it and move on. Don’t become a hoarder of garbage tips.
6. Confessions from the Rusty Trenches: My Greatest Tutorial Fails and Wins
I’ve lost days to “digital painting in five easy steps” videos, only to end up with the same mushy, lifeless face every time.
I once followed an hour-long “master gesture drawing” tutorial by some jackass who couldn’t draw feet, and all I got was a pile of failed stickmen.
But then I found an obscure, low-view video from a Russian oil painter on glazing, and it changed the way I painted skin forever. Another time, a $10 Gumroad anatomy breakdown from an unknown comic artist fixed my foreshortening in a weekend.
The lesson? Ignore the hype. Follow the hunger.
7. The Dirty Reality: You Are the Filter
No tutorial, no teacher, no brush set will ever save you if you aren’t willing to fuck up, throw out the crap, and chase the knowledge that bites.
If a tutorial doesn’t challenge you—if it doesn’t make you sweat, curse, or want to throw your sketchbook across the room—it’s not worth your time.
And remember: the best “secret” is work. Reps, failures, late-night self-critiques. Tutorials are crutches, not jetpacks.
Your growth comes from crawling, limping, and eventually running on your own legs.
8. Final Words—Go Beyond Tutorials, Become Your Own Teacher
In the end, the best artists aren’t tutorial junkies. They’re scavengers, mad scientists, remixers, thieves, rebels. They learn from everyone, then teach themselves what nobody else can.
So the next time you see a “super easy art hack” go viral, laugh, bookmark it, and keep moving. The real gold is deep, dirty, and hard-won.
See Also:
“Alla Prima II” by Richard Schmid
“Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth” by Andrew Loomis
James Gurney’s “Color and Light” (book and blog)
Proko’s YouTube (for drawing and process, not style hacks)
Ahmed Aldoori, Marco Bucci, Dave Rapoza (real process, real flaws)
WetCanvas and old-school art forums
Gumroad, Skillshare, and Patreon for indie pro courses