I am on Skillshare

After teaching watercolour and oil painting on my YouTube channel since 2019, I recently had the opportunity to teach an art class on Skillshare. It all started when I began sharing tutorials on my YouTube channel as a hobby. Despite being a YouTuber in my free time and taking classes on the platform, I had never considered teaching as a potential career path. However, everything changed when I was contacted by Skillshare's team and offered the chance to become an art instructor.

What is Skillshare you may ask?

Skillshare is an online platform offering video classes covering a wide range of creative subjects. As a member, you gain access to the complete library of classes, with new ones being added regularly.

Upon signing up, you can enjoy a one-month free trial of Skillshare with no commitment to continue beyond the trial period.

Anyone can teach on Skillshare, and they organise monthly challenges to assist new instructors in creating classes. However, the platform is not a free-for-all; there are guidelines and rules in place, along with staff who oversee classes to ensure quality. Skillshare is structured and curated to facilitate easy discovery of top-notch classes and to provide constant inspiration. Besides individual teachers creating classes, Skillshare collaborates with renowned influencers and experts to develop their exclusive Skillshare Originals.

watercolor illustration

Skillshare's distinctive feature lies in its dedication to fostering a creative community.

Skillshare encourages a personal connection between teachers and students. Skillshare teachers are real and relatable. Teachers can relate to their students’ challenges and struggles as many have had similar experiences and students are encouraged and inspired by their teachers’ stories.

Each class is designed around a project so students can put what they learn into immediate action. Students are encouraged to interact with each other and give feedback on each others’ projects, too. There’s also focus on creativity as a lifestyle and a commitment to lifelong learning, something that really resonates with me.

Skillshare has come a long way since I first started teaching there and it continues to grow. It’s received a lot of press and been highly rated as a place to work. I’m honored to have been a part of its growth and to have been chosen as one of their Top Teachers. Getting a behind-the-scenes look at the company during quarterly meetings and the annual Top Teacher Summit always reaffirms my commitment to the platform and makes me proud to teach there.

So here's my class.

By clicking on this link, you can enroll in my class on and enjoy a complimentary one-month access.

Join my class for free

The title of this 9 lessons course is: Watercolor buildings: a complete guide to painting architectural landscapes made easy.

Enhance your architectural painting abilities through a detailed watercolor painting course! This class is designed for beginners and will equip you with the necessary skills to transform

Throughout the course, you will master:

• Find the right materials that work for you

• Choose a good reference photo, or wonder outdoors

• Create an accurate pencil sketch learning "everyday perspective rules"

• Use watercolor layering techniques to bring your sketch to life

• Paint your own urban scene

I really hope you will join me in this wonderful chapter of my art career!

Getting ready for Inktober 2024

Today, I will provide you with an insight overview of my plan for Inktober 2024. I will discuss the significance of Inktober and why I believe it remains relevant today, outline my strategy for successfully completing the challenge, and share the art materials I intend to use.

• What is Inktober?

  Jake Parker created Inktober in 2009 as a drawing challenge to improve his own inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. It has since grown into a worldwide endeavor with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year.

  You can find all about Inktober 2024 in their website linked here.

  The rules are simple: for the month of October, Jake Parker provides one prompt for each day, for 31 days:

  
  

  • Draw (possibly using ink)

  • Post on social media using the hashtag #Inktober2024

  • Repeat.

Differently from previous iterations, this year's prompts are all theme based, covering everything travel. They will go from 'Backpack' to 'Binoculars' to 'Passport'.

inktober 2024 prompts

• Why Inktober is still relevant?

  Having the freedom to create is the main point, I found. Usually when I create a piece of art, being a painting or a sketch, I always keep on the back of my mind the idea of making it a valuable piece, something I can eventually monetise, make a living from etc. While this is all good and sound, I am kind of missing the freedom of experimenting with my art, waste a bit of paper, and improve in those skills that are so rusty in the back burner.

  Inktober gave me the possibility of bringing back those skills and flex some art muscles that otherwise I would not.

• What is the strategy for success?

Over the years, I have attempted to participate in Inktober multiple times, achieving varying levels of success. Last year (2023) was the first time I actually managed to complete the 31 drawings, and all came down to strategy. I have some small simple rules:

• Keep it small

• Use a limited amount of art supplies

• Plan ahead!

• What art supplies will I be using this year?

  In terms of art materials I will be using for Inktober 2024, I am keeping it quite simple and sweet. I will be travelling over the month of October so the amount of materials MUST be limited, portable and effective, giving me the most versatility and result possible.

  
  

  • The Palomino Blackwing Pearl is my preferred pencil. It could be the finest pencil I've ever tried. It writes smoothly, glides effortlessly, and is highly durable against drops.

  • The Sailor Fude nib Fountain Pen is my inking tool of choice (I have spoken about it in a previous article), the bent nib allows for a huge amount of line variations and it is 'inkable' with you preferred ink of choice.

  • In my case ink of choice will be the Platinum Carbon document ink. It is waterproof and super saturated, allowing you to use any water based medium on top of it without any smearing or feathering.

Hope this was helpful. Have a great Inktober 2024.

MY FAVOURITE ART SUPPLIES

When I discovered watercolour art, a whole world of experimentation, learning and opportunity appeared to me almost by magic. It brought an incredible freedom to my artistic process and great opportunity of experimentation. All of a sudden, static art became portable, free to leave the art studio and see the wold outside.

Exploring art in this new manner remains my preferred method, and it continues to be my approach. Through practice and experience, I have been able to identify my favorite and most frequently used art materials. While these preferences may evolve over time, influenced by various factors such as emotions and seasons (for instance, color palettes often mirror the world around us), the supplies I am about to mention are always readily available to me.

NOTE: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

• PAPER:

Let's discuss paper. I understand that it may not be as trendy or thrilling as colours or technical art materials, but as I gained more experience, my enthusiasm and attention to detail regarding paper also increased.

My absolute favourite paper of choice is Arches 300 gms rough cotton paper.

Even though this paper has a luxurious texture and a ton of character, it is made entirely from cotton fibers, which allows water to pool on the surface and stay there for an extended period. This provides me with ample opportunity and time to experiment with colours on the page, preventing any premature drying, and enabling to achieve flawless, consistent washes.

While Arches blocks can be costly, I discovered that purchasing large flat sheets and cutting them to your desired size is a cost-efficient method to use this exquisite paper. The only drawback to this approach (aside from the cutting process) is that you might have to visit a local art supplies store instead of making an online purchase.

• BRUSHES:

There's nothing more exciting, and terrifying than talking about brushes. Exiting because, let's face it, everyone loves a delicious brush. At the end of the day this is the tool that extends your brain through your hand, and makes your art come to life.

The terrifying point is the price.

I am always on a budget when it comes to art supplies, so I had to invest a bit of research on the subject before finding a good compromise between quality and affordability.

As we speak, my favourite sets of brushes (and the one that I use everyday, and even travel with) is the ESCODA Travel Brushes Blue Set. You can easily find it on Amazon for about 70 Euros.

The set includes three round brushes of varying sizes, providing a wide range of brush strokes and techniques, suitable for thin lining (ideal for inking) as well as large washes.

Each of the three brushes is crafted using premium synthetic fibers, essential for those who, similar to me, prioritise both environmental consciousness and tool quality.

• DRAWING TOOLS:

After much research and an enormous amount of trial and error I came to the conclusion that I only need two drawing tools in my everyday-carry pencil case. One pencil and one pen.

First of all the pencil: nothing fancy here, just what I am more comfortable with, an all purpose pencil which is reliable and sturdy. My latest choice is a Mitsubishi Unistar with a B lead.

You can find them on Amazon in a bundle of 20 for about one Euro each.

In my experience, the B lead is ideal for creating deep, dark lines with a bit of hand pressure, as well as light, smooth marks, making it suitable for everyday use.

Pen. Believe me, I experimented with various options. From different fineliners and fountain pens to ballpoint pens...but I ultimately settled on a fantastic and affordable fude nib pen. My current love is the Sailor Fude nib pen (the green one).

If you are not familiar with this pen, give it a try, it will amaze you. The bent nib acts like a brush, allowing an array of different lines that you could hardly achieve with any other tool.

Being a fountain pen, it can work with cartridges and as well with a converter, giving you the chance to experiment with different inks, and perhaps save a penny on the cost of the inks too.

• WATERCOLOUR SET:

As per the drawing tools, I have been trying a lot of watercolour sets of different brands and qualities. The options are endless, ranging from prices and compositions to a wide array of colours.

I am not going to describe here every single colour pan in my set (this, if you are interested, may be the topic for a further blog).

Through this excruciating research I found myself brought back and back again to the Sennelier watercolour set. They are not the cheapest but their properties are absolutely unique.

There is a hint of honey in the composition of the watercolour, making it flow beautifully on the paper. Their rich pigmentation as well allows you to achieve so much surface coverage with the tiniest bit of colour, creating beautiful and always perfectly smooth washes.

Although you may find a lot of ready made sets, ranging from set of 10ml tubes to half pans, I ended up building my own set by buying one by one each of the colours that I find myself using more in my palette.

As I mentioned in the beginning, the composition of my palette changes quite often, based on the season we are in, the colour of the environment, the place or the subject I am painting etc.

If I have a suggestion for you is to try them, see what works best and enjoy the process!

I sincerely hope that you found this brief article helpful. Feel free to let me if any of these tools are also your favourites for work!