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This holiday season, you’re probably already looking forward to the coming year and thinking of learning a new skill or honing an old one. But an online art class might be just the right gift for a creative friend or family member. Below, see a list of some of the best online courses for artists.
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On June 2, 2021, a noteworthy event took place in the world of online education. On that day, LinkedIn completed the integration of the online educational content and thousands upon thousands of video lessons that were part of Lynda.com. Lynda.com was one of the first online education websites and one of the most successful. Now, all of this content will appear on LinkedIn Learning.
The move comes more than six years after LinkedIn purchased the online education company from its co-founders, Linda Weinman and her husband, Bruce Heaven, who started the site in 1995. Price: $1.5 billion.
In addition to being a writer and entrepreneur, Linda Weinman is also an artist. On Lynda.com, students of all kinds (artists included) can learn to cut a portrait in Photoshop, produce a funny animated GIF for their grandparents, or edit a graduation video for family and loved ones.
Today LinkedIn Learning is one of the best online educational services, but it’s not the only one that artists can use to gain skills in digital photography, video, audio, animation, or even hands-on services like how to use Microsoft Office or create a PDF. Here are four web-based platforms (including LinkedIn Learning) that can help you broaden your artistic horizons.
LinkedIn learning
LinkedIn learning You are required to have a monthly subscription to access all content on the site. Its extensive library contains more than 16,300 courses in seven languages across creative, technical and business categories. Since Lynda.com was acquired by LinkedIn, it has continued to add features. For example, you can now access content in different languages.
There are also a lot of features that help you keep track of how you are learning. For example, a website tells you how much of a particular video you need to watch in order to complete it. It will read “Cycle 1 hour 45 minutes 51 seconds left,” which means you have less than 2 hours of video to watch to complete the course. Additionally, if you are using the web version of the course, you can access the text and follow along with the speaker; Text is highlighted in bold, in real time, as the teacher speaks in the video.
LinkedIn Learning has a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. After a one-month free trial, you can pay for your subscription monthly ($29.99/month) or a full year upfront ($19.99/month). You can also pay for the courses individually. There is also some free content on the website, and students and teachers should check with their schools to see if they can access the service at no cost or via a team plan.
YouTube
It will come as no surprise to many that there is another great educational resource for artists YouTube, where you can find how-to videos on just about anything, including less common technical techniques like silverpoint or frottage drawing. One of the main attractions of using YouTube is that it’s free. But the downside is that unlike LinkedIn Learning, which curates content, anyone can create and upload YouTube content. The quality of videos varies a lot, so you may not always be confident that a YouTube video creator is, in fact, an expert in their field. You can download YouTube mobile apps for both iOS and Android devices.
skillshare
oriented to creative types, skillshare Combines a curator model (such as LinkedIn Learning) with a model where anyone can be a tutor (such as YouTube). Courses that Skillshare deems most worthy are promoted on the site’s promotion pages; Recent featured content included introductions to landscape painting, DSLR photography, and hand lettering. There’s also a wide range of courses for kids, from step-by-step tutorials on how to draw jungle animals to kid-friendly watercolor projects. To access all of Skillshare’s content, you need a premium membership: pay an annual fee of $168 (which works out to $13.99 per month) or monthly payments of $32 each. iOS and Android mobile apps are available for each of these platforms. Now, you’ll get 30% off membership, if you pay annually instead of monthly. However, if you sign up monthly, you’ll still get the first month free.
Coursera
a pathsa It is basically a free service that works with many universities, and distributes content in conjunction with the courses offered by these universities. It offers a wide range of courses and also lets you check out classes taught by premium teachers in top-tier schools for free. However, if you want to get credits for taking classes, or earning a certificate or degree, this is when you will need to pay.
In the Arts and Humanities department, you’ll find undergraduate courses in contemporary art (from the Museum of Modern Art), graphic design (from the California Institute of the Arts), and music production (from Berklee College of Music), to name a few. Tired of being a hungry artist? Go for an MBA from the University of Illinois or a Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan.
Coursera’s pricing varies depending on whether you’re paying for a premium version of one of their courses, or a Specialization, Certificate, or Degree package. Right now, the site’s annual subscription is $359.10 at 10% off. Mobile apps are available for both iOS and Android devices.
master class
You’ve probably seen one of the commercials for master class, an online education subscription service that streams celebrities from recording tutorials on a wide range of topics from cooking to science to philosophy. Instructors include musician Alicia Keys, chef Gordon Ramsay, editor and fashion icon Anna Wintour, comedian and actor Steve Martin, and other notables. One commercial even features well-known artist Jeff Koons, but other artists are teaching courses as well, including photographer Annie Leibovitz (photography), street artist Futura (spray painting and abstract art), Tyler Mitchell (storytelling and photography), Es Devlin (turning ideas into art), and Jimmy Chin (adventure photography), with more always being added.
Relying on the power of the stars, courses can also be entertaining and informative, but this comes at a price. So how do you know if MasterClass is right for you? You can watch free videos or classes for many courses without having to subscribe to the service. The lowest cost annual membership fee is $180 or “$15 (billed annually)”. For a limited time, you can purchase one annual MasterClass membership and get one additional annual membership for free. check This page to learn more about the offer.
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