In part 3 of this week’s “Learning through the Holidays” mini-series, I wanted to share some of my favorite free sites and tools for learning. As a creative, some of my best - most creative - work comes from brushing up on old skills and picking up new ones. Whether it’s learning calligraphy or food styling, I love picking up new skills along the creative journey.
1. CreativeLive
I remember watching CreativeLive religiously for months at a time back in 2012 - when they offer a few live-streamed classes a month - and raving everyone I knew about it. Looking at CL now, it’s amazing to see how the business has blossomed. Back in the day, the site had only photography-related classes, now it’s an online haven for masterclasses for all creative and business streams. The business model has remained consistent and simple throughout the years: classes are free while they are broadcasted live, and can be purchased for re-watching for a very reasonable fee.
2. SkillShare
Some of my favorite photography classes have been from on Skillshare. In particular, I love the simple and practical tips taught through the short-video format of Skillshare. I’ve already picked up some great food photography styling tips and got a ton of inspiration for my next outdoor hiking trip. If you don’t have a lot of time to spend in front of the laptop, and would rather dive into practical hands-on learning quickly, then Skillshare is the perfect place to learn everything from graphic design and video editing, to calligraphy and hand-drawn maps.
3. Tuts+
I think Tuts+ might be more popular among programmers, and that’s certainly why/how I first came across the site. In an effort to learn some basic HTML coding to improve the layout of my travel blog, I turned to Tuts+ tutorials. I quickly discovered that Tuts+ had a lot more creative courses. I particularly like them for their Design & Illustration tutorials. I thought I couldn’t teach myself Adobe Illustrator until I came across the massive database of classes from Tuts+.
