Resources for a self-taught artist (part 1)
First part of a series of posts devoted to learning all things art.
Being a self-taught artist means I spend much time learning from other artists. Today I want to share with you my favourite educational (and not only) resources that I use to educate myself about all things art. I am considering myself being an expressive and mixed media painter, hence the resources I share are mainly (but not exclusively) from artists with a similar style. Most of the courses and materials I share are beginner-friendly and easy to follow.
Online courses
There is a multitude of all sorts of talented artists offering their online courses this days, so in this post I share resources from those artists who resonated with me the most. I didn’t take lots of courses, because you can easily go down the rabbit hole with all those available options. Even though I wrote earlr that repeating what others helps me to get unstuck, I still think that it is better to take one course at a time and focus on repetition, reflection and practice to eventually develop your own style.
Studio School by Lucy Reiser. It was the first art class I bought online as at that moment I was more focused on landscape painting. Lucy explains basic concepts of colour mixing, landscape and abstract painting in a very accessible and easy to follow way. You get a life-long access to all the materials, which is very useful as I recently revisited her classes on colour and abstract paintings with a fresh eye. She has a very relaxed and encouraging teaching style. Her classes are a great starting point, especially if you are interested in landscapes and acrylic painting.
Creative Blend Art Program by Laura Horn. This is a more or less intermediate, but beginner-friendly program consisting of 12 modules. You can purchase the modules separately depending on what you want to learn, but I definitely recommend to buy all of them. The program provides deep insights into various aspects of art-making, from colour and composition to exploring various techniques and defining your own artistic style. There is a ton of interesting and fun exercises that help you to build all sorts of skills. The quality of production is very high and you get a life-long access to all the materials. Laura also offers other online courses and free goodness on her web-site (I highly recommend to download her free pdf guide on finding your artistic style that you can see on the photo above).
Gathered by Jeanne Oliver. This a mini-class about creating your own inspiration boards. The course includes a substantial workbook where you can write down your ideas as you complete the steps. As an avid collage maker and forager of collage papers, I was very inspired by the course. Making inspiration boards is not only helpful for your creative work, but also for visualising your life goals and I absolutely love the universality of the class. Also Jeanne has a very calming and encouraging teaching style.
Sketchbook revival online workshop organised by Karen Abend. Well, I know it’s not exactly an online course, but it is sort of a collection of various mini-classes that are available for free for a limited period of time. It features so many wonderful artists and you get access to additional free materials. All the materials are open for about a month (this year until the 20th of April) and this is an additional stimulus to create on a regular basis. Also it is a great opportunity to try various styles of art, both abstract and representational, learn about other artists and find some online friends!
YouTube channels
Here I want to share those channels that I find useful from a learning standpoint, but also motivational, inspiring and fun.
Ian Roberts. Ian generously shares so much wisdom regarding composition in his videos. He is predominantly a landscape artist, but I feel that the principles he teaches are applicable to all sorts of paintings. Highly recommend his channel, it is full of useful information and inspiration.
Louise Fletcher. Louise is an abstract artist, so I like that she shares different aspects of her process, techniques and just general thoughts on being an artist. She is a very kind person and I enjoy her videos very much. Louise also offers a wonderful free guide on finding your style.
Helen Wells. I love Helen's elaborate and decorative artwork! She shares her process, sketchbook practice, tips, thoughts, motivation and much more. And all this with a lovely English accent!
Laura Horn. Apart from teaching online courses Laura also recently started sharing educational content on her YouTube channel.
Sandi Hester. Sandi is a very light-hearted and humours person, she shares art hauls, her thoughts about being an artist, her process among many other things. She also has a Substack channel.
That’s all for today. I’ll be happy to hear what courses you would add to this list! I am looking for some useful books on drawing, painting, colour and composition at the moment and I’ll devote a separate post to this topic. Recommendations are welcome!
Until next time!
Lisa