Four Skillshare classes I'd recommend

Last year I got one of those three month trials for Skillshare that were floating around the creative internet. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed my time and if I only had the spare time needed in order to make it worthwhile actually paying for a subscription otherwise I would’ve continued!

Basically I used it as an excuse to fangirl about Jessica Hische some more but trust me these classes below I’d totally recommend whether it was Jessica teaching them or someone else so don’t worry there is no bias at all. (Maybe a tiny bit but they’re good classes!)

Digital Illustration: Learn to Use Procreate with Jarom Vogel

This was the first class I took on Skillshare, before my trial as it’s a free class. I think it was initially recommended to me by Hollie (Black and White Studios) if I can recall. At the time I’d had Procreate for quite a while and was mostly well versed with the basics but not that much in terms of illustration. I really loved Jarom’s style, and I’d already been following him on Instagram but I didn’t actually realise he had a class until Hollie shared it.

Illustrated Lettering: Design a Book Cover with Jessica Hische 

Oh hey Jessica. Not going to lie, I watched mostly all of Jessica’s classes but this one was my favourite. One of my goals in life is to design at least one book cover (hopefully more than one) but I’d never really considered how much actually went into it. I thought surely it can’t be that much harder than a magazine cover right... And I did those all the time. Turns out I was wrong. Jessica takes you all the way through the journey she takes for her book covers, from actually reading the book through to brainstorming and layout to creating coloured sketches ready for presenting to a client. A lot was learned during this class. 

Level-Up Your Script Lettering with Ian Barnard

Similar to Jessica Hische, Ian Barnard is one of my lettering favourites so if he’s got any advice or tutorials I’m first in line lapping it up. I may sound biased but genuinely this is a really great class for upping your lettering game, as says in the title, and is perfect for beginners and pros alike. Even if you’ve been lettering for years like I have you’ll still learn a lot, things you may not even think about and are partly already doing but Ian helps you see ways to fix problems and tips to improve your already excellent lettering.

Hand-Lettering Workshop: Illustrating with Lettering with Mary Kate McDevitt

All about integrating illustration into lettering, which is something I’ve been trying to do more and more recently. Mary Kate McDevitt isn’t one of my favourite letterers, don’t get me wrong she’s amazing and talented but she’s not one I’d name if someone asked me my favourite letterers. So this recommendation isn’t based on bias like the previous two may have been, I genuinely think this is a great class for developing your lettering from simple strict letterforms, to including illustrative style and flair which can reflect the type subject. Plus it’s all about the sketching so you may actually pick up a pencil for the first time in a while, and not an apple pencil! 

What about you? Have you picked up a Skillshare trial yet, if not feel free to use my code link for 2 months free and we can learn together. But some of the classes are free and don’t require a premium membership so have a look around. Are there any Skillshare classes you’ve done recently that you recommend?

- Sophie

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