Recently I’ve become addicted to online tutorials. One of the modern wonders of our age is our ability to learn from the masters from the comfort of our own computer/tablet/smartphone. As long as we are fortunate enough to have access to an internet connection we can educate ourselves, for the most part, free of charge. YouTube has such an amazing array of ‘tutors’ and it excites me to think that children today who have an obscure interest have the capacity to develop their skill without having to scour their local library for a 20-year-old, dog- eared book on the subject. If you don’t want to scour YouTube for tutorials on your chosen subject there are learning websites where courses are more organised and the quality of tutors more consistent. Craftsy, as the name suggests, teaches all manner of arts and crafts, from sketching to needlework. Each course is purchased separately and although they can seem expensive you do have lifetime access. Udemy has a similar business model, although the courses are very often offered at a substantial discount. Their range of courses is wider than Craftsy and they also cover software tutorials, website building and business management, for example. Flavour of the month for online tutorials for me, at the moment, is Skillshare. Skillshare’s business model differs slightly – you pay a monthly fee and you can watch as many tutorials as you want. This suits my butterfly mind as I’m usually interested in five different hobbies at the same time. They have a wide range of subjects but lots and lots of lovely art tutorials as well as learning about ‘side gigs’, ie how to set up an Etsy store, sell your photos online, etc. I’ve learnt about zines, selling stock photos, surface pattern design and many different types of drawing and painting. One of the most recent tutorials was by Doris Charest and called Paint Like The Masters – Picasso, really simple technique and lot of fun. The result of my Picassoesque attempt is below. I’m planning on painting like Klimt in the near future complete with (imitation) gold leaf! Skillshare has become my TV programme of choice (they have also have an app for Apple TV). If you want to try it out you can get 2 free months of Premium, instead of the usual 1 month, by clicking here (full disclaimer – I also get one month free membership).
