The Community's 22 Favorite Lives of 2021

Celebrate the end of the year with Domestika's top livestreams sharing how-tos and tips in craft, illustration, marketing, and more

December is a month of celebration and reflection; for creatives, it's a great opportunity to look back on the projects that excited us and the lessons that shaped our skills while getting ready to enter the New Year learning something new.

To help you on your creative journey, this article is packed with recordings of the year's top live talks hosted by Domestika teachers, sharing how-tos, tips, and tricks across various disciplines such as craft, illustration, lettering, marketing, 3D animation, and more.

Ready to get started? Watch the videos below or click on the titles in red to access the full Live post for details on materials, additional resources, and more.

1. How to: Create a Paper Cut Tree of Life, with Karishma Chugani

Karishma Chugani (@karishma_chugani) is a storyteller and paper-cutting artist whose work blends ancient narrative formats from across the world. In this Live, she shows you how to tell your own story by creating a paper cut tree of life.

2. How to: Paint Japanese Shodo Calligraphy, with Rie Takeda

Rie Takeda (@rietakeda) is an artist and calligrapher who teaches students how to concentrate their Qi (vital energy) flow and apply it to paper with brush and ink. In this Live, she shows you how to prepare your mind and your materials and paint a shodo symbol.

3. How To: Create Effective Instagram Story Sales Posts, with Dot Lung

Mother of Social Media Dragons Dot Lung (@dotlung) is a leader in generating brand awareness and building relationships with audiences. In this Live, she explains why sales posts are an important step towards earning revenue and traffic, and teaches you three types of sales posts that you can create for your Instagram stories, with a worksheet to help you maximize their effectiveness.

4. Live Art: Creative Sketching, with Mattias Adolfsson

Mattias Adolfsson (@mattiasadolfsson) is an award-winning Swedish illustrator whose clients have included Google, The New Yorker, and Disney. In this Live, you can watch him in action as he takes audience questions while illustrating creative sketches, and discusses inspiration and not overthinking creative decisions.

5. How to: Create Inflatable 3D Lettering on Cinema 4D, with Thomas Burden

Thomas Burden (@thomas_burden) is a 3D animator and art director who has worked with Nickelodeon, The New Yorker, Apple, and McDonald's. He creates animations in Cinema 4D that are characterized by a fairground aesthetic, neon signs, and toys. In this Live, he shares how to create inflatable 3D mylar lettering using cloth dynamics and high-resolution meshes.

6. How to: Interpret an Iconic Image of Audrey Hepburn, with Connie Lim

Get creative in this Live using paper, tracing paper, coloring pencils, and watercolor paints. Connie Lim (@_connielim_) is a fashion illustrator who has worked with huge names like Bulgari, Louboutin, and Givenchy. Her distinctive style blends illustration with mixed-media collage. In this Live, she demonstrates how to illustrate an iconic image of Audrey Hepburn.

7. How to: Paint a Realistic Eye in Watercolor, with Michele Bajona

Painter Michele Bajona (@michelebajona) is a contemporary figurative artist, who was trained at the New York Art Students League, and has exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. In this Live, he teaches you step-by-step how to create a realistic watercolor painting of the most expressive element in any portrait: the eye.

8. Painting a Still Life, with Carlos R. Casado and Laura McKendry

In this collaborative Live, you can watch two experts paint a still life. Carlos Rodríguez Casado (@carlosrodriguezcasado) is from Spain and currently works as a press and editorial illustrator specializing in watercolor. Laura McKendry (@laura_mckendry) is from the UK and is renowned for incorporating unusual tools into her watercolor and ink-based pieces. Here, they work at the same time, with different techniques, while answering audience questions.

9. Crafty Tuesday: Make a Framework for Your Papier Mâché Character, with Sarah Hand

Sarah Hand (@the_sarah_hand) is an artist and teacher who specializes in papier mâché, and bringing cute and funny characters to life through this medium. In this Live, she shows you how to make a framework for your own papier mâché character.

10. Crafty Tuesday: Denim Wallet with Crochet, with Steel & Stitch

Crochet and upcycling expert Emma Friedlander-Collins, also known as Steel & Stitch (@steelandstitch), is a remaking champion who is passionate about finding ways to use her craft powers for good. In this Live, she teaches you step-by-step how to create a wallet using a piece of denim and crochet.

11. Live Challenge: Character Based on Audience Votes, with Maddy Vian

Maddy Vian (@maddy_vian) is a freelance illustrator and art director who specializes in children’s illustration and creating unique, playful, and colorful characters. In this Live, she was challenged to create an animal character using prompts voted on by the audience.

12. Crafty Tuesday: How to Create Textured Wall Hangings, with Lucy Rowan

Lucy Rowan (@peasandneedles) is a fiber artist who uses wool to create pieces that are full of color and texture, perfect for decorating your home. In this Live, she teaches you how to manipulate wool to add texture and volume to your woven wall hangings. She covers basic weaving, adding tassels, soumac with roving, and loops.

13. Crafty Tuesday: Developing Your Own Cross-stitch Style, with Emily Peacock

Needlework designer Emily Peacock (@emilyp) describes herself as a graphic designer who works with wool. In this Live, she explains how to develop your own cross-stitch style, sharing examples of her work and tips on how to master the technique.

14. Live Art: Learn How to Paint Using Gouache, with Susan Yung

To create paintings packed with vibrant colors and textures, gouache is a great medium to experiment with. Susan Yung (@suzcorriander) is a designer, illustrator, and background painter for animation who's worked with numerous studios including Netflix, Cartoon Network, and Warner Brothers. In this Live, she shows you how to do a traditional gouache painting.

15. How to: Create Successful Online Events, with Nathalie Koutia

If social restrictions and lockdowns over the past two years have taught us anything when it comes to event planning, it's that we need to be adaptable. The good news is, with the right extra planning and preparation, many offline events can be successfully taken online. With experience taking high-profile events online, in this Live social communications expert Nathalie Koutia (@nathaliekoutia) shows you how to create a successful online event yourself.

16. How to: Thread Paint a Flower Petal, with Shan Xu

Shan Xu (@shanxuhandmade) is an embroidery artist who specializes in thread painting and stumpwork, where she uses wires to create 3D embroidered pieces. In this Live, she shows you how to use thread painting to create a flower petal that naturally blends five different thread colors while sharing tips for common mistakes to avoid.

17. How to: Illustrate Delicious Ingredients, with Melanie Chadwick

Digital and analog food illustrator Melanie Chadwick's (@melanie_chadwick) fun and lively designs can be found on everything from food packaging and restaurant menus to city maps and transatlantic flights. In this Live, she will show you how to illustrate the individual ingredients of a fruit salad.

18. How to: Build a Powerful Brand Identity From Scratch, with Alice Benham

As a digital marketing and podcast coach, Alice Benham (@alice_benham) helps business owners and entrepreneurs get strategic about their content and reach their goals—whether they're based on profit, purpose, or both. In this Live, she explains why having a strong brand is so important and how to create a brand that stands out.

19. Learn to Lead a Graphic Design Project Step-By-Step, with Steve Wolf

A designer who specializes in brand identity, packaging design, and illustration systems design, Steve Wolf (@stevewolfdesigns) talks about finding inspiration as a graphic designer and how it drives his creativity in his Live. He’ll show you step-by-step how to lead a commercial project in graphic design, sharing a specific case creating logotypes for brands.

20. Lettering Chosen by Domestika’s Community, with Jimbo Bernaus

Lettering artist and the founder of creative studio BAM!, Jimbo Bernaus (@jimbobernaus) has worked with clients include Booking.com, Carlsberg, BMW, and Affinity Design. In this Live, he creates a lettering project using a format and style chosen by the audience ahead of time through social media voting. Through the Live, he shares and answers audience questions about his process.

21. #CreateWithPride and Pay Tribute to Your Favorite LGBTQ+ Icon, with Carlos R. Casado and Marcos Chin

A Live hosted in honor of Pride month, illustrators Carlos Rodríguez Casado (@carlosrodriguezcasado) and illustrator Marcos Chin (@marcoschinart) both draw icons from the LGTBQ+ community in their own style, sharing tips for you to craft your own tribute artwork.

22. Crafty Tuesday: Learn How to Create a Punch Needle Pattern, with Sara Luna

As a textile artist with a background in digital illustration and visual arts, Sara Luna (@saralunart) brings together the best of both worlds in her work. In this Live, she shows you how to make patterns for your punch needle projects to create your own beautiful textile pieces.

So, make the most of your vacation days over the New Year by getting stuck into these Lives and kickstart 2022 with a new creative venture. Remember, you can also find all of the Domestika Lives here.

You may also like:

- Over 350 Free Creative Tutorials to Keep Learning in 2022
- 22 Creative Tips to Improve Your Skills in 2022
- 3 Illustration Exercises to Unleash Your Imagination
- Paper Cutting Techniques for Storytelling, course by Karishma Chugani
- 3D Typography: Playing with Color and Volume, course Thomas Burden