12 Online Courses to Learn How to Overcome Creative Block

Maximize your creativity in the new year with these courses to unlock and hone your skills

Perhaps one of the most common struggles within the creative world are blockages. From feeling like we're out of ideas to the fear of staring at a blank page, lacking inspiration, or just hitting a wall, these moments can make us feel stuck and disrupt our creative flow.

If any of the above feels familiar to you—as well as introspective exploration to understand the root of the problem—one way to help you move forward is by exploring new activities and exercises. Stepping away from the problem can be an effective way to move beyond the blockage; rather than getting frustrated, we can use it as an opportunity to try new things.

In these online courses, you'll learn advice and tips from the experts who understand what creative block is and how to overcome it by using different tools to stimulate thinking and improve your creative routine.

For more information about the courses, click on the titles highlighted in red.

Exploratory Sketchbook: Find Your Drawing Style, a course by Sarah van Dongen

Drawing is a matter of habit, discipline, and (most importantly) having fun. Knowing how to enjoy the creative process and have fun with every decision we make—from the colors to the materials—is essential to make creativity part of our day-to-day routine.

If you're interested in experimenting with your drawing style and learning new ways to approach it, this course by illustrator Sarah van Dongen is a great way to explore new exercises, discover different kinds of materials to use in your practice, and find ways to make observation a dynamic process where you integrate your own vision and play with ideas.

Daily Sketching as Creative Inspiration, a course by Sorie Kim

Daily sketching isn't about perfection; it's an opportunity to explore your imagination, stimulate your creativity, and make a log of your day. Plus, it's a great way to improve your drawing technique.

If you're unsure about starting your own sketchbook, or you don’t think you have enough ideas to take to the page, this course by illustrator Sorie Kim will become a great guide. Throughout the course, the illustrator and instructor suggests fun exercises to loosen your hand, shares prompts and techniques to get you going, teaches techniques for building up your drawing skills (such as perspective drawing), and lots more.

Artistic Illustration: Draw from Your Imagination, a course by Fito Espinosa

Knowing how to use our emotions, thoughts, and feelings is essential to create authentic and honest pieces that also speak to others.

If you're still struggling to translate yourself onto the page, this course by the painter, illustrator, and plastic artist Fito Espinosa will guide you on your creative journey, teaching you how to transfer your inner thoughts and feelings to the outside world. From introspection techniques for finding ideas to tips for developing your own style, each lesson will help you make use of different illustration techniques to create from your own imagination.

Artistic Watercolor Sketching: Dare to Express Your Ideas, a course by Felix Scheinberger

Getting over the fear of making mistakes and daring to do things just because it feels right is one way to overcome creative blockage and transform it into a liberating experience.

This is what artist, illustrator, and author Felix Scheinberger believes. In his course, he'll guide you through different techniques for sketching and illustrating in watercolor in a way that frees your hand and mind. Throughout the lessons, you'll learn about the materials, techniques, and processes that Felix uses when experimenting with a blank sheet and how to develop your own style in your sketchbook.

Transforming Your Creative Ideas into Personal Projects, a course by Ji Lee

The ultimate goal of creativity doesn't always have to be about the final creation; it's also about the journey and a way of approaching life and all of our personal projects.

If you're looking to reawaken your creativity in all outlets, turn your ideas into personal projects that will rekindle your desire to create with this course from Facebook and Instagram Creative Director Ji Lee. In it, you'll learn how to make creativity an attitude with which you conduct yourself every day, and how to use this attitude to apply creative thinking for various projects in your life.

Techniques for Developing your Creativity, a course by Silvia Ferpal

Observation and ideation are essential steps during the early stages of any project. By honing our skills in both, we not only learn ways to structure our creative process but also how to generate ideas from scratch and bring each project to a successful conclusion.

In this course by Silvia Ferpal—the winner of the National Design Award (Spain, 2019)—you'll learn all kinds of tricks and exercises to help train your eye and think up new creative ideas. Sharing various techniques, activities, and tools, Silvia will guide you through your creative journey, building a project that uses all your creative skills.

Illustrated Life Journal: A Daily Mindful Practice, a course by Kate Sutton

Starting a creative mindful practice is an opportunity to build up your skills while taking some time to reflect on your day and unwind. This is what freelance illustrator and Kate Sutton practices; she finds peace and inspiration through daily illustrated journaling as a way to document life and appreciate the little things that each day brings.

Through her course, Kate will show you how to develop a regular drawing habit and explore creative mindfulness using your own life as inspiration; you'll learn how to express your feelings on paper with drawing prompts and ideas to boost your creativity, as well as exploring new ways to express your creative ideas.

Illustration Techniques to Unlock your Creativity, a course by Adolfo Serra

Just as a writer has a library on hand for when they want to find a quote or search for a reference, it's important for artists to have their own bank of inspirational visual references and guides for techniques to stimulate their creativity.

In his course, illustrator Adolfo Serra will help you build your own artist’s portfolio, developing your own bank of pictorial resources, techniques, processes, and more that act as great tools when creating new artworks. He also shares his favorite exercises to free your hand as you create your illustrated sketchbook.

Creative Artist's Diary: Define Your Visual Language, a course by Armando Mesías

You might keep (or have kept) a written journal with daily life accounts, but what about about diary purely dedicated to your creative ideas?

In this course by artist Armando Mesías, you will learn to keep a creative journal to help you find your own language. While experimenting with techniques such as drawing, collage, and watercolor, you’ll learn to understand how your creative process works and take better advantage of it.

Creative Watercolor Sketching for Beginners, a course by Laura McKendry

Artist and illustrator Laura McKendry is a firm believer the best way to approach your creative process is with a playful attitude. As she sees it, your sketchbook is a playground to create unique illustrations and awaken your creativity.

If you're ready to let loose, explore what can happen when paint meets wet paper through Laura's course. Filling your sketchbook with rough sketches, you'll learn how to enrich your work with unconventional color combinations and create experimental illustrations that express your playfulness.

Digital Sketchbook: Awaken Your Creativity, a course by Del Hambre

If you love drawing but can't face the blank page, this course by illustrator Fernando Del Hambre will help you get started.

As well as hearing expert advice for experimenting with your blank sheet, throughout the lessons you will discover new methods to structure your ideas, tips to get them down on paper, and how to make the most of each moment of your creative journey as an opportunity to find yourself and unleash your imagination.

Graphic Illustration Laboratory, a course by Weberson Santiago

To develop your own illustration style, you mustn't be afraid of experimentation or feeling comfortable translating your ideas onto the page. It might sound like a difficult task, but with the illustrator, professor, and writer Weberson Santiago to guide you, it can become a stimulating and fun process.

In this course, you'll learn how to make use of different materials—such as graphite, charcoal, ink, and acrylic paint—to discover which medium you like to work with best. From there, you'll begin to develop your personal style and learn techniques to guide you for each page.

Ready to start the year experimenting and owning the blank page? Explore all of Domestika's online creativity courses to kickstart your creative process, discover new approaches, and move beyond the blockage.

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