What's included
1 live meeting
50 mins in-class hours per weekProjects
1 hour per week. includedMastery Evaluation
Post your final work to the Outschool classroomProgress Report
includedClass Experience
Beginner - Intermediate Level
Calling all digital artists!!! Nearly everyone can who can hold a open file on a digital drawing app can learn to draw well... with lots of practice and good instruction! If you are willing to try something new and learn to "see" in a new way, your drawing abilities will improve. In this on-going digital art class, practice a new drawing technique every week using your choice of digital device and app. ⭐New to Outschool? Message me before you enroll!!!⭐ This is a beginner digital drawing class for students who are interested in drawing realistically, but have no previous knowledge. In this class, students will learn to "see" as an artist, focusing on positive and negative space, details, values, and textures that others may never notice. Many of the exercises in this class are based upon Betty Edward's book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain;" these methods have served me well in teaching others to draw realistically for nearly 20 years. We will draw from reference photos, drawings, and from life. Every lesson is designed to give learners a new way to think about drawing and art-making in the digital world. The list of techniques will rotate back around again with a different subject matter each time, so you can continue to take the class and review techniques with a unique drawing at the conclusion of every class. During instruction, I will create along with your learner so they can pick up little artist's tricks from me on-screen. I will alternate screensharing my screen and students' screen. Please log in to Outschool/zoom on the same device as your digital art app to facilitate easy screen-sharing. If you can, I also recommend logging into the classroom a second device so learners can watch my share screen more easily. Please make sure your learner has access to a pixel-based (raster) graphics drawing app for class. These are some of the most popular ones: Procreate (iPad) Adobe Photoshop (paid subscription on a laptop) Photopea (free in laptop browser) GIMP (free laptop install) Medibang (free laptop or mobile install) Autodesk Sketchbook (free laptop or mobile install) ibis Paint (free laptop or mobile install) Krita (free laptop install) (See SUPPLIES section for further details.) Schedule of Topics: Week of 11/11: Portraits (Using a diagram & photo!) Week of 11/18: Composition & Cropping (Photos will be provided, or bring your own!) Week of 11/25: Drawing beginning with Negative Space & Contours (Teacher provides image) Week of 12/2: Character & Fashion Design Week of 12/9: Shading simple 3-D objects from life - 2 Point Perspective Week of 12/16: Upside down drawing Week of 12/23: Gesture drawing (Human figures in action!) Week of 12/30: Still Life (Arrange & draw a real object in YOUR house!) Week of 1/6 Value: Shadow-shape drawing - Rotoscoping Week of 1/13: Contour drawing (Blind contour, Modified!) Week of 1/20: Human proportions (How big are those feet anyway?) Week of 1/27: Shading simple 3-D objects - Spheres, Cones & Cylinders Week of 2/3: Landscapes - Drawing from a photo Week of 2/10: Shading simple 3-D objects from life - 1-point Perspective Week of 2/17: Vase / Face Illusions (Positive/ Negative Space) Week of 2/24: Sketching animals using Shapes (Class chooses animal/creature!) Week of 3/31: Still Life on Colored Ground - Drawing with White on Black (Arrange & draw a real object in YOUR house!) Week of 4/7: Quadrant Upside-down drawing (Teacher provides image-- students MAY bring their own!) Week of 4/14: Shadow Shading - Coloring Book Method ** This topic list will repeat with different images so you can repeat the topic cycle. ** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Full-curriculum and assessments or evaluation is available for homeschool students! The work is equivalent to a middle school or high school Drawing 1 class or Graphic Arts 1 but is easy enough for upper elementary students or as a fun after-school activity. Grading and critical feedback will be provided privately through Outschool student messages. The class may be repeated for continued credit (Drawing II, etc.); I will provide leveled-up assignment variations in class for intermediate students and teen learners.
Learning Goals
Master the basics tools in a digital drawing app
Master a new realistic drawing technique every week
Other Details
Parental Guidance
💡 Please log into the Outschool classroom on the same device as your art app and give permission for zoom to control your device remotely if possible. If you are using a hand-held mobile device for your art app, I recommend you ALSO log into the Outschool classroom on a second device with a student-facing camera.
Depending on the student's topic of choice, we may look up pictures and other source material. I will curate my searches while we do our art research and only show the best (and safe) pictures.
For digital artists, I require that parents take care of helping students with installing apps and checking that they work or creating any necessary accounts before class. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are paid programs that require a subscription. Photopea, GIMP, Medibang, Krita, Autodesk Sketchbook, and ibis Paint are free programs that work much like Photoshop, creating and editing bitmap images ( *.jpg, *.png, etc.)
RASTER GRAPHICS PROGRAMS
💻 Photopea.com -Free online software that works nearly exactly like Adobe Photoshop and is great for students using a computer. Students who have not purchased and installed Photoshop on their computer may opt to use Photopea instead if they have a strong internet connection. Find it at https://www.photopea.com
💻 Adobe Photoshop - Still the industry standard for photo editing and digital art. It is available for any device in a PAID edition, but free and “lite” editions exist for mobile devices. Find it at https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop or search your app store for "Photoshop."
📱 GIMP, Medibang, Krita, Autodesk Sketchbook, ibis Paint, Procreate, etc. - Students may choose to use the graphics software of their choice. If not listed here, please check with the instructor to be sure your program will work for this class.
Supply List
For digital artists, I require that parents take care of helping students with installing apps and checking that they work or creating any necessary accounts before class. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are paid programs that require a subscription. Photopea, GIMP, Medibang, Krita, Autodesk Sketchbook, and ibis Paint are free programs that work much like Photoshop, creating and editing bitmap images ( *.jpg, *.png, etc.) RASTER GRAPHICS PROGRAMS 💻 Photopea.com -Free online software that works nearly exactly like Adobe Photoshop and is great for students using a computer. Students who have not purchased and installed Photoshop on their computer may opt to use Photopea instead if they have a strong internet connection. Find it at https://www.photopea.com 💻 Adobe Photoshop - Still the industry standard for photo editing and digital art. It is available for any device in a PAID edition, but free and “lite” editions exist for mobile devices. Find it at https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop or search your app store for "Photoshop." 📱 GIMP, Medibang, Krita, Autodesk Sketchbook, ibis Paint, Procreate, etc. - Students may choose to use the graphics software of their choice. If not listed here, please check with the instructor to be sure your program
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Teacher expertise and credentials
Virginia Teaching Certificate in Music/Theater/Arts
Master's Degree in Education from Virginia Commonwealth University
I teach classes on a variety of arts-related subjects:
* piano, sight-reading, song-writing;
* realistic drawing techniques;
* comic book creations & anime drawing styles;
* digital arts, Photoshop, graphic design.
Look at the bottom of my profile to find my other classes.
→ https://outschool.com/teachers/Elizabeth-Essex ←
I hold a Bachelors in Fine Art from Virginia Tech and a Masters in Art Education from Virginia Commonwealth University and am a former public school art teacher. I love teaching drawing, painting, sculpture and Photoshop to learners of all ages. I've been running my own piano studio for 10+ years. There's a special place in my heart for creative works and the artists that make them, especially fantasy stories and narrative artworks, comics and graphic novels.
Reviews
Live Group Class
$19
weekly1x per week
50 min
Completed by 4 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 9-14
2-6 learners per class