My daughter was born in the winter of 2015, and I became a stay at home mom. Caring for a newborn can be chaotic, but also… Tedious. I needed a new creative outlet, and preferably one that wasn’t attached to a computer. This is when I began taking online art classes from Lisa Congdon at Creativebug, and various teachers at Skillshare.

Initially, I was not impressed with Skillshare. It was still a new platform, and the quality of the classes widely varied. After a few less than stellar classes, I took a break for a few years, trying to piece together an assortment of classes from free platforms like youtube.

Eventually, I grew tired of trying to piece together courses, and decided to give Skillshare another try in summer of 2018. This time I was pleasantly surprised to find there were thousands of classes, many of very high quality. It was my goal this year to take one class per week, and in the past year I have completed nearly 60 hours of learning! 

Now I want to share several of my favorite classes with you, to save you some sifting through all of the choices like I did.

I used Lisa’s 3D technique to create this thank you image!

Hand Lettering & Procreate Classes:

Quick and Easy 3D Letters in Procreate – I use Lisa’s technique EVERY time I 3D letter, it’s invaluable! 

Block Print Style Illustrations on Your Ipad – Liz has many excellent Procreate classes, and they all come with FREE brushes! This class was my favorite of her lessons.

I created a series of faux linocut vegetable stamps for procreate after Liz’s class!

Watercolor & Sketching Classes:

Watercolor Basics: Loose Pines – I use this technique when I am painting landscapes. Kolbie has several other classes that are great as well.

Urban Sketching: A Beginner’s Guide – I adore the style of Urban Sketching, and Samantha’s class has several exercises that got me more comfortable with it.

Watercolor for Illustrators – This class is where the idea for my Woodland Adventure dolls was born!

Draw with Style! Stylizing Your Art and Finding Your Style – More good exercises for loosening up and finding your artistic voice.

Inspiration can come from unexpected places. These dolls began as a watercolor painting from a Skillshare project!

Surface Pattern Design: 

Intro to Surface Pattern Design: Learn Adobe Illustrator – Hands down, my favorite surface pattern design instructor is Bonnie Christine! She is incredibly transparent about her journey, and has a calming teaching style. Her classes are also the reason I began using Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator is the best way to guarantee you have a true pattern, Procreate just doesn’t cut it. 

How to Upload Perfect Repeats to Spoonflower Using Adobe Illustrator 

Design Cut and Sew Plush Dolls for Spoonflower in Adobe Illustrator 

All of my fabric patterns are available in my Spoonflower shop, so having classes that walked me through the process was very helpful. 

I’ve taken many of Peggy Dean’s classes; this is an exercise I completed in her gouache class. I list my favorite of her classes below!

Social Media & Video Editing:

How to Edit Videos with Hitfilm Express For Beginners – I use Hitfilm to edit the videos I am (eventually) going to upload to youtube. This class was incredibly helpful since I had no idea what I was doing! 

Social Media for the Creative Entrepreneur: Exposure, Tips, Pros & Cons – I have taken many of Peggy Dean’s classes, but this one was my favorite! She has a lot of great advice about not spending too much time on social media, and how to maximize the time you spend using it.

I painted my first house this summer, a gift to my parents after their move. This achievement would not have been possible without Skillshare!

This list really just scratches the surface of what I have enjoyed learning in the past year, and as you can see there is a huge variety of classes to take! I plan to take some 3D printing classes soon. This post is not sponsored, but if you want to give Skillshare a try, you can use my code for 2 months free. Happy learning!