‘Back to school’ is in the air. Happily, if you’ve got a bit of an itch to acquire new skills – or just fine-tune the ones you already have, online options for continuing education are affordable and convenient, making it easier than ever to be part of a learning community.

Desk Clutter     ©2016 Elizabeth Fram                                                                                             For the most part clutter makes me crazy, yet have to admit that the usual state of my desk is more disaster zone than zen garden. But, if I take the time to pay attention, there are some interesting compositions lurking in the mess.

I first learned about Craftsy from a couple of my favorite sketch bloggers who were branching out to offer classes via that platform. Over the past couple of years I’ve signed up for several courses and have been extremely happy — I’ve learned a lot and felt they were an excellent value. Consisting of a series of videos, you can progress at your own speed, have lifetime access to the class, and even interact with the teacher. Unlike many other courses, sign-up is on-going so it’s possible to begin any time you like, and lessons are downloadable for off-line access. I love having the ability to start my art day early by watching a lesson or two while working out on the treadmill or stationery bike. Reasonably priced (most classes are under $40), they also have significant sales from time to time.

I have friends who have mentioned various online classes that they’ve taken and enjoyed, so it’s definitely a growing trend that accommodates our busy lives with no limitations on location.

Seltzer     ©2016 Elizabeth Fram                                          Sometimes I can make sense out of the jumble of stuff that keeps getting pushed aside on my desk. It’s an opportunity to both feed my affinity for organizing a subject toward the outer edges of the frame (as written about in this post), and for thinking about rhythms of space and value.

Here is a short list of teachers I am aware of (some on Craftsy, some not) that, while I don’t have personal experience with all of them, I wouldn’t hesitate to pursue any of their classes if it addressed my needs. Links can be found on their sites.

• Marc Taro Holmes of Citizen Sketcher
• Shari Blaukopf of The Sketchbook
• Stephanie Bower of Drawing Perspectives
• Liz Steel
• Sketchbook Skool, brainchild of Danny Gregory that features numrous well-known and respected artist and designer “fakulty”.
• Jane Davies
• Suhita Shirodkar

If you have an online instructor or course to recommend, please share with all of us in the comments.