I keep mentioning different online classes, so I thought I’d list my current online learning here in case you might want to look into them:

Carla Sonheim’s Yearlong Class 2022

Each month of the year a different guest artist shares their process and we create in that style, including filling the map shown above with our own art representing each month. We also all meet monthly by zoom with Carla—who is an amazing artist and lovely person. As Carla says, the goal is not to draw like them, but to study their work and see what elements might be a good fit for our own art. Currently, we’re in month three.

Here’s the whole map right now with just two months filled in:

Skillshare

I have a love-hate relationship with Skillshare. It’s a humongous learning platform that features independent teachers teaching on a variety of topics by video—I focus on art and illustration classes. There are lots of classes to choose from and for one annual membership fee, you can take any class over any amount of time.

I do use the word “classes” loosely because they’re pretty light on instruction—and there is no evaluation. There’s also no quality control on the platform so many classes are TERRIBLE! With that said, SOME teachers do a pretty good job and I do learn SOME things. So I cough up the annual fee of $100+ a year (it goes up every year so I think it’s closer to $150 now)…and whenever I want to learn something—like how to draw different character expressions—I start a new search for a useful class.

Sketchbook Revival

This is an event that happens every year about this time for free—and it’s running now—this week and next, March 21-April 1. Karen Abend has been hosting it for five years now and basically, every day for two weeks she sends an email with TWO instructional videos from two different artists. The artists demo a sketcchbook project and invite us to try it. We have about another month, I think, to watch the vidoes—so there’s plenty of time now if you want to join in. I try to sample all the videos and then I pick and choose exercises that interest me.

The incentive for the artists to participate is that we are introduced to them and their work (and maybe we’ll buy a class or something else from them independently.) The incentive for us, well—what could be bad? It’s free and interesting and fun.

Chances are I’ll enroll in other classes throughout the year if the topic is just too good to pass up, but this is what I’m doing now and you’l hear a lot about the first two, I think, throughout the year.