We've already talked about how to get started with digital art. One of the options are online courses, which can be very useful, convenient and comfortable for a lot of people. Studying at home is comfortable, less time consuming than for example driving far distances to get somewhere, but it requires a really strong will and discipline. I have decided to put together some places where you can study and be your own master. I will list the platforms that I once tried in English myself. I will present the prices in Euros, as this is how I see them from my location. It is possible that you will have better prices in your country.
YouTube
Everyone knows YouTube. Millions of videos about all sorts of often unthinkable things. There are a lot of artists on YouTube who share their experiences and creations for free. If you search in English, you will have much more success than in other languages. I plan to start with my own tutorials in Czech, English and Dutch on YouTube, so watch the PF website that you are in the loop.
Price: FREE, with a few ads (unless you go for YouTube luxury without ads)
Udemy
Udemy is a very widespread platform for self-studying. Courses are not very expensive and quite often are at a discount (although the artists themselves suffer, but this is unfortunately a risk with Udemy). Unluckily, I have to mention again, all in English. For those who do not have a problem with English, Udemy is a good place. Here you will find tens to hundreds of courses focused on digital painting or graphic design. However, I recommend reading other students' comments really carefully, so you know what you are buying. The downside is to look for quality in quantity at times. Udemy has apps for almost all mobile apps and smart TVs.
Price: Around 11.99 EUR per course
Doměstika
I came across Domestika by coincidence, perhaps even from a Facebook advertisement. I haven't had time to try and evaluate any of their courses myself, but the video samples look quite promising. Prices are also not dramatic, very often with discounts. Doměstika’s temporary disadvantage is that the audio is mostly in Spanish with English subtitles. Maybe that's why I haven't dug into testing their courses yet.
Price: Between 9.90 and 39.90 EUR per course
Lynda
Lynda is a subscription-based platform. This means that you pay a monthly fee and you can study what you want and how much you want. Lynda is part of LinkedIn Learning. Their library is quite extensive and the courses are more or less high quality. It's up to you whether their subscription pays off as an investment in more courses than just a few about digital art. All courses are in English as well.
Price: EUR 29.98 per month, EUR 239.88 per year (approx. 19.99 per month)
Skillshare
Skillshare is another subscription based site, but much cheaper than Lynda mentioned above. The content of the courses for digital painting and graphic design is great, which I think would be worthwhile for some in this case. The courses are proffessional and well done and I have very good experience with them. Skillshare has its own mobile application, which may come in handy for some people.
Price: Monthly 9.90 EUR
Conclusion
There are plenty of places and platforms for online education. It is up to you what suits you and whether you are willing to invest in it at all. I have listed above the most popular ones, which I heard about or from my own experience. Personally, I've taken a lot of courses from Udemy, so I'll be happy to introduce some of them in one of the upcoming articles.
Do you know any interesting application or platform worthwhile to check out? Share your experience below in the comments.
