If you’re an aspiring artist, chances are you’ve come across Proko—a popular platform offering high-quality art tutorials, especially for figure drawing, gesture, and anatomy. While Proko is excellent, its best content often sits behind a paywall. That’s why many art students and hobbyists are searching for free alternatives to Proko that still deliver valuable lessons without the cost.
Below are 10 of the best free platforms and resources to learn drawing, character design, and human anatomy—Proko style.
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1. Drawabox
A fan-favorite among beginner and intermediate artists, Drawabox is a structured and completely free curriculum focused on fundamentals like form, perspective, and line control.
📌 Great for: Beginners who want discipline, structure, and exercises with critique potential.
🌐 drawabox.com
2. Line of Action
Need timed figure drawing sessions like Proko’s? Line of Action gives you access to gesture drawing, hands, faces, animals, and even expressions in timed practice sessions.
📌 Great for: Quick gesture studies and building observational skills.
🌐 line-of-action.com
3. New Masters Academy (Free YouTube Lessons)
While NMA is mostly paid, they upload free professional tutorials to their YouTube channel regularly—covering topics like figure drawing, rendering, and old master studies.
📌 Great for: Learning traditional drawing methods from industry professionals.
🔗 YouTube: “New Masters Academy”
4. Croquis Café (On YouTube)
One of the earliest figure drawing video references, Croquis Café features real timed poses with live models. Their archived content is a goldmine for figure drawing practice.
📌 Great for: Practicing life drawing with real poses at home.
🔗 YouTube: “Croquis Café”
5. Marc Brunet (YouTube)
Marc Brunet, founder of Cubebrush, offers hundreds of free YouTube tutorials that cover digital painting, figure drawing, and anatomy in a style that’s comparable to Proko’s.
📌 Great for: Artists who want to go from beginner to pro using digital tools.
🔗 YouTube: “Marc Brunet”
6. Modern Day James (YouTube)
Focused on dynamic drawing, perspective, and design, Modern Day James is ideal for intermediate artists seeking to level up. His gesture and figure drawing series is particularly strong.
📌 Great for: Those who already have the basics and want to refine motion and style.
🔗 YouTube: “ModernDayJames”
7. Watts Atelier YouTube Channel
Watts Atelier is another premium art academy, but like Proko, they also offer free tutorial clips and livestreams. Their drawing technique is more classical and academic.
📌 Great for: Learning structured head construction and anatomy.
🔗 YouTube: “Watts Atelier of the Arts”
8. SenshiStock
For artists who want tons of pose references, SenshiStock offers dynamic human poses, costumes, and scenes. Perfect for figure and character artists, and all images are free.
📌 Great for: Comic artists, character designers, and practicing extreme poses.
🌐 senshistock.com
9. SketchDaily Reference Tool
This online tool is similar to Line of Action and allows you to customize pose sessions with different body types, age groups, animals, and more.
📌 Great for: Custom figure drawing sessions with more control.
🌐 sketchdaily.net
10. Ctrl+Paint
While not updated often anymore, Ctrl+Paint is a huge archive of free video lessons on drawing fundamentals, digital painting, and design theory—perfect for artists on a budget.
📌 Great for: Beginners and intermediate digital artists learning Photoshop or Clip Studio.
🌐 ctrlpaint.com
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to spend hundreds to develop your drawing skills. Whether you’re practicing figure drawing, learning anatomy, or exploring digital art, these Proko alternatives offer excellent training for free.
Many artists use a combo of Line of Action for gesture, Drawabox for discipline, and YouTube pros like Marc Brunet to grow rapidly—all without touching their wallet
