Find Your Inner Picasso Through These Online Art Courses

For The Kids

Keeping the kids entertained for the next three weeks until schools reopen may prove a challenge. Rather than pull your hair out in a fit of frustration, set up an arts and crafts table to help both you and the little ones blow off some steam. Turn this fun activity into a guided learning session by checking out these handy online arts resources for young artistic minds:

National Portrait Gallery - David Hockney: Drawing From Life

Often the first things children learn to draw are subjects from everyday life. Help them learn the basics of portraiture with this free online resource from the National Portrait Gallery. This teacher's resource explores key themes and drawing techniques used by artist David Hockney in his self portraits and sketches of his family. Once you have worked through the programme with the little ones, invite them to participate in a family drawing challenge. Whomever draws the most creative portrait of another family member gets to choose what the family has for dinner!

Lillian Gray Art School

Lillian Gray Art School is one of the most highly reputed learning centres for artists in the making in Johannesburg. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent national lockdown, Lillian Gray has offered free online art classes for children and adults. All you have to do is subscribe to the Lillian Gray YouTube channel to find an array of resources to keep you and the kids entertained for hours on end. Learn the basics of drawing, perspective, shapes, proportion and much more. Lillian Gray also has some great videos on art projects you can do from home. What more could you need to see you through the next few weeks?

Udemy: Art Courses For Kids

You may know Udemy as the online platform famous for its super reasonable skills courses. However, we bet you didn't know that the platform also offers art courses for kids! Invest a little extra time and money in your child's artistic future by purchasing one or two of these Udemy courses. Our top pick would be the Building Kids Confidence Through Drawing course. During this time of uncertainty and fear, kids need all the confidence they can get. Perfect for children aged eight and above, this course is a steal at only *R150. Get it here.

e-Classroom

Need something quick and simple to keep little hands busy while you work, cook or clean? Check out e-Classroom's free downloadable drawing resources. Suited to children aged three to five, these step by step sketch worksheets will teach them how to draw an assortment of animals and shapes. So, get out the wax crayons and let imaginations soar. Don't forget to display your child's artwork on the fridge or somewhere else in the house to bring a little colour to this bleak situation.

Teens & Adults

You needn't attend art school to develop a broad knowledge on art history. Spend some time during the lockdown period learning about artists through free massive open online university courses (MOOCs) and other downloadables. Of course, if you simply want to get creative without the added academics, there are lots of online art classes for adults:

edX

edX is one of the largest MOOCs platforms, bringing together courses from universities around the world. Their arts and humanities courses are broad ranging and cover many topics, from the art of Ancient Egypt to animation and graphic design. Many of these courses are self-paced so you may take as long as you like to work through them. You also have the option to obtain a certificate of verification by paying a little extra. What better time to add a fun new skill to your resume than now anyway? Check out edX's art and culture course offerings here.

Coursera

Kick off your adventure into creative making with a course presented by the Museum of Modern Art and Coursera. Each week, you will learn about a new aspect of art making, curatorship and modern criticism, while taking a virtual tour through the Museum from the comfort and safety of your own home. If that doesn't get the creative juices flowing, check out Coursera's range of other arts and culture courses. Whether your interests lie in photography, graphic design or UI/UX design, Coursera is sure to have a course to stimulate your inner artist.

Skill Share

Looking for an online sharing community to keep you motivated and inspired during this period? Visit Skill Share. This video platform brings together international art communities to share tips and tricks on drawing techniques, the business of being an artist and even digital design and illustration. Learn from experienced artists and business people with ease of access and as much flexibility as you need. Skill Share's art courses are great for beginners and advanced artists. You may even consider sharing your own work once the creative bug bites.

BluPrint

In light of the worldwide response to the COVID-19 outbreak, BluPrint have made all their online arts and craft courses free to access for two weeks! With over 1 300 instructional videos and resources, this is an opportunity you don't want to miss out on. BluPrint's online classes are divided into four main craft hobbies - fabric and fibre, food, art and living. You may start out watching their videos on drawing, painting and paper crafts and end up knitting your own winter hat and gloves! There is an endless amass of creative inspiration here, so get started as soon as you can. *Classes will be free to access until 16 April 2020.