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Nowadays, taking time for yourself is more important than ever. Whether it’s yoga, reading, or art, doing something that you love can combat the negative effects of stress and make you feel happier. And if it’s art or photography that piques your interest, you’re in luck—we have you covered with online creative classes!
E-learning sites like Craftsy and CreativeLive offer thousands of fascinating courses for you to try. Most of them are on-demand and allow you to go at your own pace; this makes it easy to schedule around your busy life.
Everyone will have different e-learning goals, but one possibility is to expose yourself to another facet of a creative field. Photography is a great example of this; if you’re a portrait photographer, taking a class in capturing landscapes can open up a whole new way of thinking. Now, when you go to compose an image, you can integrate different aspects of portraiture with the outdoors.
Scroll down to see our picks for this week’s online creative classes!
Photography
Composing Classic Landscapes, Craftsy: Ever wanted to capture a mountain’s majesty? Learn techniques for photographing this type of splendor.
Photographing Flowers, Craftsy: Flowers have an alluring quality to them, and this course will show you how to translate that to a photograph.
Family Photography: Candid Moments & Storytelling, Craftsy: Whether you want to photograph your own family or others, this class offers strategies for indoor and outdoor portraits.
Shooting Intimate Landscapes, Craftsy: Turn ordinary moments into extraordinary ones when you photograph beauty on a small scale.
High-Speed Photography: Capturing Motion, CreativeLive: With the right tools, you can use photography to freeze a moment in time to capture incredible details and emotion.
Lighting with Gels, CreativeLive: Have you ever heard of camera gels? If not, photographer Clay Patrick McBride will show you how to create dynamic images with color.
Advanced Lighting for Adventure Photography, CreativeLive: Join Red Bull photographer Michael Clark as he shares how to introduce artificial light into adventure photography to “ capture the heart of a sport and the spirit of an athlete.”
In Focus: The Makings of a Storyteller, CreativeLive: Brandon Stanton, best known as Humans of New York, imparts his expertise when it comes to storytelling.
Art & Design
Loosen Up: Techniques for the Painterly Approach, Craftsy: Learn to embrace a looser, “painterly” look in your oil paintings.
Painting Trees in Acrylic, Craftsy: Trees are often the star of a landscape painting. This course will show you how to create forestscapes that’ll “transport viewers to tranquility.”
The Ultimate Guide to Drawing Hands, Craftsy: Hands are notoriously tricky to draw, but they’re easier to draw when you know proportion and anatomy. This crash course will help you make sense of the palms and fingers.
Drawing Facial Expressions, Craftsy: When you’re capturing someone’s likeness, accurate facial expressions are key. Understand how to make someone look sad, angry, and more—all by changing little things about their face.
Color Techniques for Drawing, CreativeLive: There are endless possibilities when it comes to color—the choices can be overwhelming. Learn eight different color styles to get you started.
Watercolor 101, CreativeLive: Get an introduction to more than just watercolor pigments, but the brushes and paper you’ll want to use to create your works of art.
How to Make Paper Flowers, CreativeLive: Create beautiful flowers that will last a lifetime. In this course with artist Robert Mahar, you’ll learn how to produce both lifelike and stylized blooms.
For many of these classes, you’ll need supplies like the ones listed below. Make sure you’re ready!
- Photoshop CC + Lightroom
- Colorful gel filters for DSLR cameras
- Acrylic paint
- Acrylic mediums
- Paint brushes
- Paint palette
- Sketchbook
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