The following is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer, who writes for OnlineColleges.net.

20 Free Resources for the Starving Artist

Launching your art career doesn’t have to be a costly adventure. The Internet provides an abundance of free education, communities, and galleries specifically for beginning artists. Here is a list of 20 resources to get you started:

Free Education & Tutorials

ArtGraphica
ArtGraphica is a free traditional art tutorial site that runs on this principle: with the right motivation and skill anyone can create art. The site provides lessons and commercial tutorials in charcoal, ink, pastel, graphite, watercolors, and acrylics.

Art of Color
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers this free online course to help self-learners understand the science of color. The course teaches students about the history, interaction, and psychology of color.

About.com
The About.com Guide to Painting offers an extensive online guide to painting. This site discusses everything from technical strategies to exhibiting and selling work.

Planet Photoshop
Planet Photoshop provides an assortment of different tutorials covering everything from basic to advanced Photoshop tools and effects. This site is an excellent place to perfect your skills or learn something new.

Art and Technology
This free online art history course from Capilano University discusses the uses and history of technology in art.

Art Communities

DeviantART
DeviantART is an online community for traditional and digital artists and photographers. The community offers galleries, critiques, job forums, and even a store to sell your work.

FoundMyself
This online artist community provides free galleries for any artist to share their work and opinions. Users can also buy and sell artwork commission-free.

The Vision Grove
The Vision Grove is a social art community for all forms of artist. The site provides artists with a place to post, share, and sell works of art.

MyBestCanvas.com
MyBestCanvas.com is a free artist community that allows you to post your work for others to bid on. Not only is this an excellent site to sell your work, it is also a good place to find forums, news, competitions, events, and videos.

MyArtSpace.com
With over 50,000 members, MyArtSpace.com is a great place for contemporary artists to show their work. The site provides a highly established blend of artists, collectors, and critics to connect, review, and communicate on your art pieces.

Art Galleries

Art-3000
This free online gallery welcomes all artists and photographers. Art-3000 also features a way for potential buyers to communicate and buy work commission-free.

Wanae
Wanae is a worldwide art exhibition site open to every artist. Artists can create online galleries to sell, exchange, or just show their works free of charge.

NoBullART
With a quick and easy setup, this online gallery opens your art to the public for free. NoBullART gives you a place to exhibit and sell work while connecting you with other artists.

Saatchi Online
Saatchi Online is a free online gallery to promote your work. This gallery has thousands of worldwide visitors daily for maximum exposure and is open to art students as well.

AllArtOnline.com
AllArtOnline.com is a free exhibition and promotion website for contemporary artists worldwide. This site provides users with a gallery to house and sell pieces commission-free.

Miscellaneous

ConceptArt
ConceptArt is a free online gallery and art education site that offers hundreds of free art ebooks.

Art.Quickfound.net
This site offers several places to find cheap art supplies and free art books in PDF format.

ArtPromote
ArtPromote provides free learning resources to help artists manage their careers. Just a few of the topics covered by this site include copyrighting, website creation, licensing, and promotion.

MorgueFile
Royalty free images are a great way to find inspiration, reference, or use in art. MorgueFile offers plenty of free stock images for all your creative needs.

ArT-YoU
This art directory is dedicated to serving everyone in the art world. The site provides resources and links to promote and market your work worldwide.

Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, who writes for OnlineColleges.net.