Fave Online Teachers
Aaaaand it’s March! One of my favorite months! Spring is right around the corner! Trees and flowers are blooming! And one of my daughters has a birthday this month. Things always seem hopeful and cheery in the month of March. Happy March, everyone!
In trying to come up with ideas for blog posts, I quickly came up with a healthy list. I was encouraged by it! But then I got overwhelmed in trying to decide in WHAT ORDER to present them. So, I’m going with my gut and starting with sharing a list of my favorite online teachers.
When I first decided I wanted to stray from the graphic design computer and start creating with my hands, I didn’t know which way I wanted to go. My skills in drawing weren’t the best, but I doodled non-sensical things all the time! I certainly never considered painting as I have NO background in that. I have little to no sewing skills (I’m hoping that will change soon), but I CAN embroider straight lines. :D Well, I didn’t go in any of those directions.
I don’t know how or where I discovered brush lettering and/or faux calligraphy. But I do know I started in 2016 with Amanda Arneill. She is a brilliant and talented letterer out of Canada, who has a robust collection of online courses that teach you lettering from the the basics to advanced. She also offers courses for lettering on the iPad. I have not delved into the iPad as I wanted to keep it analog. I enjoy the sound of the brush pens on paper, and I prefer the imperfections of the hand lettering. So I remain iPad-free. But back to Amanda, she is so fun to watch, and she has a sense of humor to boot. I cannot say enough good things about her teaching style. So I learned to letter from Ms. Arneill. I am nowhere near being an expert, but I now, in addition to doodling, I can letter. Yay! If you think you want to learn the art of hand lettering, I recommend Amanda Arneill. You can find this amazing teacher here: amandaarneill.com. You can also find her on YouTube where she offers free tutorials.
About the same time, I started an Instagram account to follow different lettering artists. I started noticing that a lot of lettering artists also like to include watercolor paintings in their compositions. And then I got hooked on watching watercolor videos on Instagram. It took me back to the days when I used to watch Bob Ross on PBS. I LOVED watching him paint. He was a magician with oil paints! Well, I felt the same about all these watercolor artists. And that’s how I found Jenna Rainey. She stood out among the rest. She is a young, master watercolor artist with some sass and brass! If I had to guess, she is probably a Gemini, because I am one too. :D She is based in California. Her work is bright, sunny and colorful. And she has a YouTube channel, where she has free watercolor tutorials. I think she posts a couple of tutorials a week, and she has a podcast. She is a content-making beast! But I digress. She makes watercolor painting look SO EASY! And best of all, she’s published a couple of watercolor books (with a third on the way). The first one is Everyday Watercolor. I purchased it, and I am slowly working my way through it. But it’s amazing the kind of progress you can achieve from a book! Between her YouTube tutorials and her book, I’ve come a long way! The second book is Everyday Watercolor Flowers, which I have not purchased. It’s more advanced, and I am still at a “loose” beginner stage. Jenna also offers other brilliant online courses that you can find here: jennarainey.com.
More recently, I’ve become a fan girl of Shayda Campbell (also from Canada). I fall short of words to describe her. She is just a joy. Her branding is so sweet and soft and friendly. I just want to fold her up and carry her in my pocket! I found her one day when I was trying to figure out the best way to go about doing architectural watercolors. Now, Shayda is mostly a floral watercolorist, but Google led me to her one architectural watercolor tutorial. I watched it and it turned me into a forever fan. I’ve binge-watched most of her tutorials on YouTube. She also does ink line drawings and bullet journaling - bujo (this is a new term for me). And a couple of weeks ago, I watched her create a toy felt mouse. I mean, I won’t be creating felt mice any time soon, but now I know how those get made!!! And her ink drawings really speak to me. My own work has always been less formal and sketchy. I gravitate to the “perfectly imperfect” as she often says. I am learning so much from her now. Please visit her on YouTube or on her website shaydacampbell.com.
Now you know my top three favorite online teachers that have helped me (and continue to help me) find my creative chi. Next up… favorite podcasts? Or how I learned surface pattern?? Who knows… Stay tuned.