Tag: artist

Amazing Skillshare Classes for Artists

fabric mock ups
~ Julie ~ 2 Comments
amazing skillshare classes for artists

Today I’d like to share some amazing Skillshare classes for Artists and creatives.

If you haven’t heard of Skillshare before it’s an education platform with all sorts of courses which are created by individal teachers.

I’ve known about Skillshare for a while now, and have done some of their free courses in the past. I wasn’t sure if the premium membership was worth it. I got a deal for 40% off the yearly subscription and decided to give it a try.

I’m so glad I did! I’ve been plowing through courses and found some really excellent ones. It’s helped me improve my skills and turned out to be a great investment for my personal and professional development.

The courses on Skillshare are particularly good for artists and creative business owners. Not only can you improve your artistic skills with classes taught by professional artists, but you can learn all sorts of business and marketing skills which are important if you want to make a living from your art.

I thought I would share some of my favourite Skillshare courses with you today and if you are interested in trying out their premium membership you can use this link for a 1 month free trial.

Skillshare Classes for Artists

If you are anywhere in the Print on Demand space you have likely heard of Cat Coquilette (aka CatCoq). She is very successful with art licensing, and has some amazing classes on Skillshare! These are a couple of my favourites, but honestly they are all good.

This class guides you through several exercises to help hone in on your person illustration style. Below is a sample of some of the illustrations I created in this class.

dragonfly illustrations mixed media art skillshare classes for artists

Want to learn or improve on your watercolour painting techniques? There are a ton of watercolour courses on Skillshare. Here are a few I’ve done recently:

watercolor christmas gnomes skillshare classes for artists

This course helped me re-brand my entire website and social media profiles. It’s a must follow for creatives who want to level up their businesses and have a more professional-looking and cohesive brand.

Delores Naskrent has a lot of interesting classes. Many are in Illustrator and Photoshop so if you want to improve your digitial art skills then her classes are for you.

blue gold alcohol ink tapestry

If you want to be a successful artist then being on social media is kind of a must. You can even find some artist specific social media courses on Skillshare, like this one:

And finally, you can learn to become a professional artist and illustrator with Ohn Mar Win! This is an extremely insightful class that will give you a realistic perspective on what it takes to become a professional illustrator (without immediately quitting your day job).

I’m actually going to be doing a workshop to learn how to make my own Skillshare class! It seems like a great opportunity for creatives to make money by sharing their knowledge and skills.

If you’re already on Skillshare, let’s connect! Here’s the link to my profile.

Let me know in the comments below if you have a favourite Skillshare class I’ve missed.


Cheers,

julie signing off

Other posts you may be interested in:

Why You Should Start Blogging for your Art Business

how to blog for your art business
~ Julie ~ 3 Comments
blogging for your art business

So, you’re an artist (or some sort of creative), and you want to start selling your work online. Where do you start? Do you already have a website but struggle to get traffic to it? What do you do now? Well I  think the answer is… blogging for your art business!

Why start blogging for your art business?

Why shouldn’t you? What’s the worst that can happen? It’s one of the easiest ways to get your artwork out there and seen by potential fans and buyers.

I’m not the most popular blogger ever, but way more people have seen my artwork now than if I had never started blogging.  Now that I have a few years of experience, I can share that experience with you!

Why should you blog for your art business? To build a community of supporters and like-minded individuals.  I think this is the main point of starting a blog for your art business (or any business), besides just getting your images out there and seen by as many people as possible.

As time goes by and people start following your blog you will find fans of your work. You will also connect with other bloggers to create a supportive community for your art business!  Not only does this drive traffic to your blog but it will boost your confidence and allow you to blossom into the creative entrepreneur you want to be!

betta fish canvas art print
Show your artwork to the world on your blog!

How to start blogging for your art business?

First of all you need to choose a platform that works for you.  I like WordPress because it comes with a built-in audience. If you tag your post with the word “art” then it will show up on anyone’s reader feed who follows the “art” tag.

Since art blogs are not as popular as blogs about, say, blogging, recipes, or health/beauty for example, I think it’s important to take advantage of this potential readership.

You could also consider blogging on Tumblr, Blogger, or another blogging platform of your choice. You can even self-host your site if you have the knowledge and funds to set it up.

Since you are showing off your artwork, when you are writing your posts you want to use pictures, NICE pictures. Art is a visual communication and, especially if your work is a hand made drawing or painting, you want the image to reflect your work as truly as possible. Try to make it true to colour, and as clear as possible.  Show off your best work!

  • Write a little bit about your art – what inspired this particular piece?  How did you make it?  What materials did you use?  What exactly is it?  You don’t have to write a super long essay since you want the main focus to be your art, but just a couple of paragraphs will do.
  • Use alt tags when uploading your images – keywords describing your art piece – so it will show up on Google image search!  This is very important and could be a key driver of traffic to your art blog.  When you add an image to your post there should be a section to add alt tags. Search for “how to add alt tags on (your blogging platform here)” if you are having trouble finding it.
  • Connect with other bloggers.  Follow the “art” tab and other tabs that interest you and start liking, following and reading other blogs!  Eventually some of them will come check out yours too.  You might even find other artists to collaborate with on future projects!
ladybug mandala instagram

Share Your Blog Posts to Social Media

Now that you’ve written a blog post about your art, what do you do next? Share it! If you don’t already have a business Facebook page, Twitter, and/or Instagram account, start one now!  Share your art and blog posts to each of these, and any others you enjoy using.

Pinterest – Pinterest is an image-based sharing website, which is great for artists, and can be a big driver of traffic to your blog. Pin to your own boards and try to join group boards for even more potential readers.

Add your social media and blog addresses to your social media profiles, and any other websites where you post your art.

Monetize your Blog: Sell your artwork online!

If you’re an artist then one of yours goals is probably to sell your artwork. Get started by checking out my post Selling Art Online for Beginners. Then you can show off all your products on your sparkly new blog!

I currently sell my work on the following Print on Demand websites:

Start with the sites listed above and see what works for you. There are also other ways to make money from your artwork and you can use your blog to promote these endeavors! Take a look at the Artist Resources section of my website for even more tips on how to monetize your art online.

Also, don’t sleep on collecting e-mail addresses. Encourage people to sign up to your e-mail list for first dips on your new art, products, and latest blog posts.

Conclusion

I hope this blog post has convinced you of the benefits of starting a blog for your art business, and given you some tips to get started!

Feel free to add any other benefits of blogging for your business that I might have missed. You can also ask any questions or post any comments in the section below.


Cheers,

julie signing off

Further reading and resources:

Zentangle Inspired ACEO Art Cards

~ Julie ~ Leave a comment
aceo art card zendoodle face

My latest creative venture involves making these miniature Zentangle inspired ACEO cards. Above is the first one I created which incorporates a woman’s face cut out from a magazine and collaged onto the paper.

What are ACEO Art Cards?

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals.

ACEO’s are miniature artworks the size of baseball cards, 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size. They are a spin off of ATC’s or Artist Trading Cards.  ACEO’s are highly collectible (and affordable), and come in a variety of styles. You can often find them for sale on eBay and other websites.

Zentangle Inspired ACEO Art Cards:

zentangle inspired ACEO art cards

Below is my latest piece, drawn with my new Faber Castel Pitt artist pens combined with collage elements from women’s magazines.

Fashion sunglasses zentangle art

I am trying to work a little bit of shading to make them really pop!

zentangle collage woman's face
flip flop doodle art zentangle inspired aceo cards

If you would like to see more of my artwork please visit my website, or check out my store! You can purchase my artwork on a variety of things from art prints to t-shirts and bags!

Have a great day,

julie signing off