Ctrl+Paint: The Free Digital Painting Curriculum That Changed How Artists Learn Online

Ctrl+Paint is one of the most important free art education resources ever created for digital artists. Built by Matt Kohr, a professional concept artist and illustrator, the channel and its companion website at ctrlpaint.com offer a structured, progressive curriculum in digital painting fundamentals that has helped hundreds of thousands of artists make the transition from traditional to digital media, or simply learn to paint digitally from scratch. The channel's defining characteristic is its commitment to teaching the underlying principles of painting rather than software-specific techniques, making the instruction applicable regardless of which digital painting application a student uses.

Ctrl+Paint launched in 2012 and quickly became a reference point in the digital art education community. At a time when most digital painting tutorials focused on specific software features or stylistic tricks, Kohr took a different approach: he identified the core skills that every digital painter needs, regardless of their style or software, and built a curriculum around teaching those skills systematically. The result is a body of instructional content that remains as relevant in 2026 as it was when it was created, because the fundamentals of painting do not change with software updates.

The Philosophy: Fundamentals Over Features

The central insight behind Ctrl+Paint is that digital painting is painting first and digital second. The skills that make a painting work, including value control, colour relationships, edge quality, composition, and form, are the same whether the painting is made with oil on canvas or pixels on a screen. Artists who understand these fundamentals can apply them in any medium. Artists who learn only software features without understanding the underlying principles will always be limited by their tools.

This philosophy shapes every aspect of the Ctrl+Paint curriculum. Kohr consistently redirects students' attention from the question of "how do I do this in Photoshop?" to the more important question of "what am I trying to achieve, and why?" The software is treated as a tool for implementing artistic decisions, not as the source of those decisions. This approach produces artists who can adapt to new software, new workflows, and new challenges because they understand what they are doing at a fundamental level.

The curriculum is also explicitly software-agnostic. While Kohr often demonstrates in Photoshop, he consistently notes which concepts apply universally and which are software-specific, and he encourages students to apply the principles in whatever software they use. This makes the instruction accessible to students using Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, Krita, Painter, or any other digital painting application.

The Free Library Structure

The Ctrl+Paint free library is organised into a logical curriculum that guides students from absolute beginner level through intermediate skills. The library is divided into sections covering digital basics, value, colour, form, and workflow, with each section building on the previous one. This structured progression is one of the most valuable aspects of the resource: students know where they are in the curriculum, what they have covered, and what comes next.

The Digital Basics section covers the foundational concepts that every digital painter needs to understand: how digital painting software works, how to set up a workspace, how to use layers effectively, how to control brush opacity and flow, and how to develop the hand-eye coordination needed for digital mark-making. These videos are genuinely useful for complete beginners and save students from the confusion and frustration that comes from trying to learn painting and software simultaneously without guidance.

The Value section is the heart of the curriculum and reflects Kohr's conviction that value is the most important element of representational painting. The videos cover how to see value relationships, how to simplify complex subjects into clear value structures, how to use value to create the illusion of form and depth, and how to control value in digital painting software. Students who complete this section develop a genuine understanding of value that transforms their ability to make convincing paintings.

The Colour section builds on the value foundation, introducing colour temperature, colour relationships, and the specific challenges of working with colour in digital media. Kohr's colour instruction is characterised by the same clarity and systematic approach as his value instruction, breaking down complex colour concepts into understandable principles with clear demonstrations.

The Concise Format

One of the most distinctive and valuable aspects of Ctrl+Paint is the concise format of the videos. Most videos run between five and fifteen minutes, covering a single concept or skill with focus and efficiency. There is no padding, no lengthy introductions, and no repetition of material already covered. Each video makes its point and stops.

This conciseness reflects a genuine respect for students' time and attention. Learning to paint requires practice, and time spent watching videos is time not spent painting. Kohr's videos are designed to deliver the instruction efficiently so that students can spend the majority of their learning time actually painting rather than watching someone else paint.

The concise format also makes the library easy to navigate and revisit. When a student wants to review a specific concept, they can find the relevant video quickly and get the information they need without sitting through a long tutorial. This makes the library a practical reference resource as well as a learning curriculum.

Matt Kohr as a Teacher

Matt Kohr's teaching style is characterised by clarity, precision, and a complete absence of pretension. He explains concepts in plain language, uses clear visual demonstrations, and avoids the kind of vague, inspirational language that fills many art instruction resources without actually teaching anything. When Kohr says something, he means it specifically, and students can take his explanations and apply them directly to their own work.

His background as a professional concept artist gives his instruction practical authority. The techniques and approaches he teaches are the ones that working professionals actually use, not theoretical constructs developed for educational purposes. This professional grounding means that students who follow the Ctrl+Paint curriculum are developing skills that are directly applicable to professional digital art practice.

The Paid Content and Patreon

While the free library is the most widely known part of Ctrl+Paint, Kohr also offers paid content through the website and supports ongoing development through Patreon. The paid content includes more advanced tutorials, longer demonstrations, and additional resources that complement the free library. The Patreon community provides a way for students who have benefited from the free content to support its continued development and maintenance.

The existence of the free library alongside paid content reflects Kohr's commitment to making foundational art education accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial situation. The free library is genuinely comprehensive and genuinely free, not a teaser for paid content. Students who cannot afford paid courses can access everything they need to develop solid digital painting fundamentals through the free library alone.

Why Ctrl+Paint Remains Essential in 2026

Ctrl+Paint was created in 2012, and the core content has not been significantly updated since then. In a field where software changes rapidly and new tutorials appear daily, this might seem like a limitation. In practice, it is not, because the fundamentals Kohr teaches are timeless. Value relationships, colour temperature, edge quality, and compositional principles work the same way in 2026 as they did in 2012, and Kohr's explanations of these principles are as clear and accurate today as when they were recorded.

The channel and website remain among the most frequently recommended resources in digital art communities, consistently cited by experienced artists as foundational to their development. For any artist who is beginning their digital painting journey or who wants to strengthen their understanding of the fundamentals, Ctrl+Paint is one of the first resources they should encounter.

The Bottom Line

Ctrl+Paint is one of the most valuable free art education resources available online, offering a structured, progressive curriculum in digital painting fundamentals that has helped hundreds of thousands of artists develop genuine skill and understanding. Matt Kohr's commitment to teaching principles over software features, his concise and clear teaching style, and the logical organisation of the free library make Ctrl+Paint an essential reference for any digital artist at the beginning or intermediate stage of their development.