DND Favorite Things: Skillshare Online Classes

DND Favorite Things: Skillshare Online Classes. Four reasons I love online classes + two FREE weeks of Skillshare Premium for my readers!

This post was written thanks to collaborating with my friends at Skillshare. They are one of this month’s DND Partner Program sponsors. Sponsors allow me to pay my bills and still give things away free to you all. Win, win! This post contains sponsored links. 

DND Favorite Things: Skillshare Online Classes

I’ve shared many a time that one of my favorite things to do is take online classes. Nearly every month, I take one to five classes! Why? Here are four reasons I think online classes rock:

• I can take them from home. In my PJs. Score.
• They pose a challenge (the fun kind of challenge). Learning new things keeps me motivated and inspired and gives me skills that help me grow my business.
• I always learn something new. Even when taking a class on a skill I already have (which I often do),  I always come away with a new tip or trick I didn’t know before. I also love to see how different artists approach the same thing.
• Two words: “Me time.” Studies show hobbies are good for your health (mind and body). Sign me up!

My happy place to get creative: The Dawn Nicole Designs Home Studio

Why Skillshare Rocks

I am so excited to share an excellent place to take online classes with you: Skillshare. It’s a platform for fine-tuning professional skills and pursuing creative passion projects! The Skillshare community is comprised of over 15,000 classes in design, business, photography, and more.

There are over 2 million students and thousands of teachers (from 100+ countries!) who are learning everything from logo design to email marketing to drawing and illustration. Students can enroll in hundreds of free classes, or unlock unlimited access to the full class catalog by upgrading to Premium for a low, monthly rate.

And I adore their mission statement:

We started Skillshare to close the professional skills gap and provide universal access to high-quality learning. By teaching the skills needed in tomorrow’s world, Skillshare empowers people to advance their careers, improve their lives, and pursue the work they love.

Pretty cool, right? And you know what’s even cooler? Skillshare is offering my readers a one-month free trial of Skillshare Premium. Thanks so much, Skillshare! To take advantage of this, simply click the button below.

Choosing Classes

With over 15,000 classes to choose from, it can be hard to narrow it down. I love that the Skillshare platform lets me save my favorite classes so I can take them as time allows. Here are the five classes I ultimately decided on for this month.

I’ll be coming back to this post as I take each class to share a little update/review and my overall thoughts on the class. I’ll also be sharing sneak peeks on social media as I work through each class throughout the month.

UPDATE: My thoughts about each class after taking them are in pink.

• Urban Sketching | Drawing What You See. Taught by one of my fellow Tombow Brand Ambassadors, Peggy Dean. I’ve always admired Peggy’s lettering and art skills, and I’m so excited to take this class, especially since we’re doing so much traveling while we’re living overseas for a few years! It’s no wonder Peggy is an award-winning teacher! She’s fun to watch and is a great teacher. I love the style presented in this class and will be definitely adding it to my sketchbook.
• Modern Watercolor Florals: 3 Ways. Working on my watercolor skills, especially florals, is one of my top goals this year. I’m drawn to the more modern styles of florals, so this class had to be on my list. I had a lot of fun practicing these. My skills have a long way to go to be like Amarilys but her work is #goals.
• Lettering for Designers: One Drop Cap Letterform at a Time. When I first started lettering during Design School, the first lettering artist I began to follow was Jessica Hische, so I’m totally fangirling about taking her Skillshare Class! This was my favorite class by far. This class alone is more than worth the cost of a 1-year membership to Skillshare!!!
• Painting with Watercolor: From Inspiration to Fashion Illustration. I’ve followed Paper Fashion on social media for as long as I can remember, so I was thrilled to see Katie offers a class! I love fashion as much as I love art and I’m so drawn to Katie’s slightly abstract style of Fashion Illustration. This was my second favorite class. Katie makes it look so effortless but I found it harder than I thought to achieve her beautiful and somewhat abstract style. I loved this class.
• Watercolor: Paint Your Own Patterned Notecards. I met Juliet Meeks, the teacher of this class, earlier this year when she emailed me. I’ve followed her ever since and she’s a master of patterns, so this class had to make my list. I also love that it’s on the shorter side…which made it easier to sneak a fifth class into my busy schedule! This class was short which was great. It’s definitely perfect for someone brand new to watercolors. I was hoping to see more than one basic pattern taught though, so I’m hoping Juliet adds some videos on more types of pattern work because I love her style!

FINAL THOUGHTS: I did the trial just like you guys and after taking these five classes I’m opting to pay for the Premium Membership to Skillshare. If you pay annually it breaks down to around $10 a month. Since I typically pay $30-300 PER each online class I take, this is a crazy good deal, especially with as many classes as Skillshare offers!

My five classes are picked, saved, and I’m ready to have some fun taking them!

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Which classes are you most excited to take?

Let me know in the comments!

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