Photo: Daria Tumanova
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The time of New Year's resolutions is upon us as we vow to put our best foot forward for the upcoming year. For many, these types of promises involve learning or improving on a creative skill. Whether that’s getting better at drawing or understanding your DSLR camera, online classes can help you achieve your goals. You can learn at your own pace from anywhere in the world; and best of all, it won’t break the bank.
Perusing sites like Craftsy and CreativeLive, you’ll find thousands of e-courses to try. The sheer amount of choices can be overwhelming; what will you enroll in first? To help you in your search, we’ve selected a range of classes that cover drawing, painting, photography, and even career advice. Depending on your goals and interests, you're sure to find something that appeals to you.
Most of these classes are sold a la carte and don’t require a membership to get started. This makes them great gift options for the artistic person in your life, whether they're someone who loves flowers or simply has a passion for travel.
For more of our online learning picks, check out our past weeks of creative classes posts.
Scroll down to see our picks for creative online classes!
Photo: Patrick Fore
Photography
The Photography Starter Kit for Beginners, CreativeLive: If you’ve never picked up a camera before, this is the class for you. They start from the very beginning—learning the essential camera functions—and build from there.
Shooting Intimate Landscapes, Craftsy: Capture beauty on a small scale when you take this intermediate-level class with photographer Rob Sheppard.
Inside the Studio, CreativeLive: Anne Geddes is known for her iconic baby photos from the 1990s. Now, you can get a peek into her creative process with this course.
Behind the Scenes of a Creative Portrait Shoot, Craftsy: How can you make your photographs stand out? Learn techniques for crafting unique character portraits with the help of instructor Catherine Asanov.
Travel Photography: The Essential Guide, Craftsy: Tell the story of your adventures through travel photography. See the kind of gear you need, how to plan a shot list, and what to do when there’s bad weather.
Understanding Light, CreativeLive: Light is essential to a successful photo. In this three-day class, the fundamentals of lighting are demystified as you learn how to manipulate illumination in your pictures.
Portrait Retouching, CreativeLive: Make sure that the people in your portraits always shine. With retouching skills, it's always possible!
Photo: Peter Feghali
Drawing & Painting
Acrylic Color Mixing Made Easy, Craftsy: Make your color-mixing dreams come true by learning how to combine hues. Plus, you’ll understand how muddy colors happen so to avoid them (or make them on purpose).
Drawing Wild Animals, Craftsy: Drawing wild animals is a challenge, but with this course, the steps for depicting them is simplified. If you’re an intermediate-level drawer, this class is for you.
Expressive Figure Drawing, Craftsy: Using charcoal and reductive drawing, you’ll learn how to translate “expressive intent” into a work of art.
Painting With Color: A Contemporary Approach, Craftsy: Gain a better understanding of color through this course; it will show you how to build dimension through your painting as well as simplify even the most complex of subjects.
Essential Linear Perspective Techniques, Craftsy: If you’re puzzled by perspective, this class will help you to understand it and create convincing depth and accurate proportions.
Botanical Illustration, Craftsy: Love flowers? Capture their beauty by learning how to paint them in a lifelike way.
Photo: Carl Heyerdahl
Creative Careers
Product Photography at Home, Craftsy: Whether you have an online shop or are planning on starting one, professional-looking product shots will help boost sales. See how to capture your own.
Driving Traffic to Your Online Business, CreativeLive: Instructor Neil Patel (a My Modern Met favorite) offers hands-on learning for driving traffic to your business via search engine optimization (SEO).
Fulfill Your Creative Purpose, CreativeLive: The new year is a perfect time for reflection. This class will help you “uncover your creative purpose” and build a roadmap for success through your artistic practice.
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