Tutorials and coloring videos on YouTube

When I first started coloring, I didn't know much about techniques or special equipment that I would need. So how did I go from an absolute beginner to being able to produce finished pictures such as the one on the left?

Almost everything that I have learned is from reading blogs and following colorists on YouTube. There are many talented artists who put up different types of videos and there is a lot to be learned out there. A few of my favorite artists are:

Peta Hewitt

If I had to recommend only a single name for beginners to follow it would be Peta. She has some wonderful videos where she explains different parts of the coloring process. Her videos show you types of supplies to buy, how she goes about selecting color combinations and even detailed tutorials where she shows how to color an entire page from start to finish.

She frequently reviews various coloring books as well. She also has some speed coloring videos – where there is no explanation, just her coloring a page. You can also visit her blog at La Artistino - Peta Hewitt

Julie Bouve

Julie is another artist with her own distinctive style. Although she does not provide explanations for what she's doing, her videos depict her coloring process from various books. Not only does each video take you through every step of the process but she also provides the color numbers/names that she uses so you can replicate it if you have the same supplies.

Emily Illustrator

Rather than simply put up videos of coloring pages, Emily's channel has various videos dedicated to specific objects or techniques. For instance one of her videos talks about using pastels for background, another one focuses on watercolor painting while there are others that show us how to color skin or hair etc. Even if you don't like the specific effect that she goes for, you can learn a lot about how to use light to create 3-D effects or add depth to a finished image from Emily.

Henny de Snoo-van Breugel

Henny is a colorist from The Netherlands and her style of coloring takes quite a bit of time to replicate. Nevertheless, readers can learn a lot from her about color theory, how to layer different colors to achieve a realistic effect and different techniques for coloring. While there is no way I am willing to dedicate a month or more to a single image like she does, I still follow her channel for the wealth of information she offers.

Chris Cheng

Chris is a colorist who primarily uses Prismacolor pencils. Watching her videos is a great way to learn how to use shadows and highlights, different types of background effects and specific aspects such as how to color a nighttime sky and so on. Again she doesn't provide any explanations while she colors but just watching her is an informative process.

These are just a few of my favorite artists. A quick search will get you hundreds of channels to follow. Watch some videos for inspiration and get coloring!