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September 2021

  • 12 Online Upcycling Courses for Getting Creative at Home
    Craft

    12 Online Upcycling Courses for Getting Creative at Home

    Experts in upcycling share techniques and ideas for creating while recycling Upcycling is a brilliantly creative way to draw attention to the importance of recycling. Finding new uses for materials that had been cast aside as useless, and transforming them into uniquely personalized objects, is very stimulating for the imagination. If you are passionate about sustainability and you love crafts, this increasingly popular practice is for you. Learning upcycling techniques and applying them to your creative projects is the first step to reducing your environmental impact and contributing to a better planet.

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  • 7 Online Writing Courses for Crafting Great Stories From Scratch
    Writing

    7 Online Writing Courses for Crafting Great Stories From Scratch

    Unleash your inner writer and discover the key components of drafting a novel with our beginners’ writing courses Writing is an exercise that enables you to connect with yourself and with others. Through the written word, we can convey our thoughts and emotions without being limited by space and time. Stories and narratives are a powerful way of packaging our ideas so that they resonate with others. If you are looking for resources to help you overcome writer’s block, you have come to the right place. Below, we have curated a list of seven online courses that will motivate you to start writing stories, whether they be novels, short stories, imaginary, or nonfiction. To learn more about each course, click on the titles in red and discover top tips from professional writers.

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  • 10 Free Online Digital Illustration Classes for Beginners
    Illustration

    10 Free Online Digital Illustration Classes for Beginners

    Up your skills and get inspired by these free digital illustration classes led by Domestika experts Digital illustration is the art of creating images that tell stories through the use of digital tools. Artists manipulate images using a digital illustration interface, like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, and a pointing device, such as a tablet, a mouse, or a stylus. Digital illustration is used extensively in web design, advertising, animation, video games, social media, and more. It's also often combined with traditional illustration for editorial work. When an illustrator's drawing skills are transferred to a digital environment, and paired with digital tools (used correctly), the work can take on a different form with unique and spectacular results. Taking a digital illustration course can help you make the most of these tools, giving you the opportunity to explore different possibilities with your drawing and develop your creativity through experimentation. It's also a way of playing around with and discovering the best software to suit your style.

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  • Build Your Own Scale Model of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope
    Craft

    Build Your Own Scale Model of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope

    Craft a cardboard replica of the iconic telescope with this free template shared by NASA’s website dedicated to the Hubble Stargazers and space fans are generally known for looking up to the skies, but here’s a crafty activity that’ll draw your attention down to Earth for a few hours: A pattern to make a scale model of the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hand Held Hubble is a 3D paper model of the iconic space telescope that’s played a huge part in shaping and broadening our understanding of the universe today while creating some incredible space photography.

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  • What Is a Digital Product and Which Are the Best-Sellers?
    Marketing

    What Is a Digital Product and Which Are the Best-Sellers?

    Learn how to create digital products, the basics of building a prototype, and discover popular products on the market From apps to e-books to games, the creation of digital products is responsible for a massive chunk of wealth generation in the world today. They don't require hefty upfront investments and can be executed without huge resources, however their production requires a certain methodology and a new way of thinking about product design. Identifying demand, harnessing talent, and putting creativity into practice are all critical skills in this industry. Read on to find out more about the biggest digital products in the market and how to go about creating your own, from ideation through to prototyping.

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  • Essential Materials to Sculpt Clay Portraits
    Craft

    Essential Materials to Sculpt Clay Portraits

    Discover the tools you need to model, measure, and preserve a full-scale clay portrait bust Sculpture provides an alternative way to recreate a moment, an expression, or even an emotion. Sculptor and university professor Efraïm Rodríguez (@efraim_rodriguez) uses clay sculptures to portray everyday characters with incredible realism. But achieving these results requires great precision when choosing materials, defining proportions, and selecting the elements to execute the piece. Here, Efraïm introduces the essential tools and techniques needed to create a portrait in clay.

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  • Free Adobe Illustrator Template for Data Visualization
    Teacher Design

    Free Adobe Illustrator Template for Data Visualization

    Learn to create engaging infographics with information designer Federica Fragapane's free Illustrator template Crafting graphs and tables that are easy on the eye can be a tricky task, but when elegant design meets data visualization, reading and understanding complex information becomes a genuinely pleasant experience. Taking infographics to the next level, information designer Federica Fragapane (@federica_fragapane) is renowned for her ability to transform tables and numbers into an opportunity to tell a captivating story. Here, she shares her free Adobe Illustrator template for designing data visualizations.

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  • 6 Free Tutorials for Learning How to Animate in One Hour or Less
    3D & Animation

    6 Free Tutorials for Learning How to Animate in One Hour or Less

    Add movement to your ideas with a little help from Domestika teachers From the first magic lanterns to super 3D audiovisual productions, animation is an art that never ceases to amaze. Many creators and brands favor this technique to convey their ideas, tell a story, and provide information clearly while entertaining their audience. Animation is reaching more and more ground on social media too. If you want to learn to animate to expand your portfolio, rest assured that this technique is not as complicated as it seems. Have a look at the selected tutorials below, designed to learn a skill in 60 minutes or less. To access the content, simply click on the red titles. Procreate Tutorial: How to Create a Gif Using Static Images GIF is one of the most widespread digital graphic formats today, allowing you to reproduce animations with a maximum of 256 colors. GIFs are small in size and communicate ideas in a simple way, which is why it this format is perfect for social media. If you want to learn how to animate photos or illustrations, check out this tutorial by Natalia Rojas (@LosNaked), a Colombian designer who will teach you how to take still images and turn them into a GIF to share on multiple platforms.

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  • What Is the Batik Dyeing Technique and What Does It Involve?
    Craft

    What Is the Batik Dyeing Technique and What Does It Involve?

    Learn about the mysterious origin of this ancient textile wax-resist dyeing technique Although most people associate batik with the hippie movement and aesthetics associated with Eastern cultures, few know the truth about this technique's history. Batik has been admired for its complexity and richness over the centuries and, in Southeast Asian villages, it has even become a sign of one’s local identity. Associated with spirituality and identity, batik is a textile art full of history. In this post, we share some surprising details about its origin.

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  • 6 Online Professional Animation Courses for Beginners
    3D & Animation

    6 Online Professional Animation Courses for Beginners

    Learn 2D and 3D animation techniques, character design, typography, and more from top professionals When Pixar released its much-loved animated film Toy Story back in 1995, 3D illustration was far from being mainstream. In fact, the studio took a big gamble with the film... and it paid off. Toy Story grossed more than $300 million and paved the way for a new market that continues to expand today. If we look back at the different uses of animation that we’ve seen since then, 3D language has become a standard format for telling infinite stories, from television series to video games, coming on in leaps and bounds as technology has evolved.

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  • 4 Drawing Exercises That Will Loosen up Your Hand
    Illustration

    4 Drawing Exercises That Will Loosen up Your Hand

    Illustrator Raúl Urias shares tips on improving your drawing and illustration technique Raúl Urias (@raulurias) is an illustrator and visual artist who finds inspiration in pop culture, traditions, and history to create work with a modern twist. Having worked on major projects for clients such as Google, Nike, Converse, and ESPN, over the years he has developed a methodology that allows him to constantly reinvigorate his creativity. In this article, Raúl shares one of his favorite illustration exercises, which is not just a great way to practice technique but also opens the doors to new ways of working and new aesthetics.

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  • Free Recipes for Paper Mâché Paste
    Teacher Craft

    Free Recipes for Paper Mâché Paste

    Learn two basic paste recipes shared by artist Sarah Hand and create imaginative paper mâché objects You can create something extraordinary from simple and accessible materials using paper mâché. Artist, author, and teacher Sarah Hand (@the_sarah_hand) sees paper mâché as a way to slow down and enjoy the present moment. She teaches paper mâché to people of all ages and has published a book sharing her expertise on this craft. You can sculpt interesting characters that tell their own stories through paper mâché and layered paints.

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  • 3 Free Tutorials on Creating Your Portfolio in Less than 15 Minutes
    Illustration

    3 Free Tutorials on Creating Your Portfolio in Less than 15 Minutes

    Presenting your illustration or creative work well doesn't need to take as much time or effort as you might think Given how competitive the creative industries can be, first impressions will often be the key to securing (or missing out on) a great opportunity. To ensure you get as far as you deserve, you need to curate an incredible selection of your work that showcases your talent. If you want to make sure you are doing everything you can to achieve this, check out these three tutorials from professional illustrators that will guide you down the right path. They all insist that creating a decent illustration portfolio doesn't need to take as much time and energy as you think. Remember that you can access each tutorial in full by watching the videos below or clicking on the titles in red. Enjoy!

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  • 5 Travel Photography Accounts to Inspire You
    Teacher Photography

    5 Travel Photography Accounts to Inspire You

    Photographer Sandra Holmes shares a list of the Instagram accounts she goes to for inspiration when planning trips Slowly, the time is approaching to start traveling again. I'm one of those people who starts preparing weeks before a trip. I want to make the most of my vacation before I’ve even started packing my bags. I begin sorting out books, guidebooks, and brochures, and use Pinterest to gather interesting information. I also read books and watch movies that immerse me in my destination's atmosphere. This is all part of my creative routine that not only helps me organize my trip logistically, it's also preparation for documenting my travels through photography.

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  • Essential Materials for Knitting with Circular Needles
    Craft

    Essential Materials for Knitting with Circular Needles

    Learn how to choose yarn and what tools you need to get started in the art of knitting with circular needles Using only yarn and two needles, textile designer Carmen García de Mora (@carmengarciademora) creates seamless and timeless garments with her own hands. And she does it with very simple and accessible materials. If you are curious to see what it takes to create a circular top-down garment, read on as Carmen lists the tools that are never missing from her work table and that you need to get started in the art of knitting with circular needles.

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  • What is Fileteado Porteño and What Are its Features?
    Typography, Calligraphy and Lettering

    What is Fileteado Porteño and What Are its Features?

    Discover what is behind the decorative lettering style created in Buenos Aires, Argentina At the end of the 19th century, long before the term ‘lettering’ was being used in Buenos Aires, immigrant artists experimented with long-haired brushes and text, searching for an identity for their very young city. They eventually found it among mischievous proverbs, roguish phrases, and jokes. If tango is the music of Buenos Aires, fileteado porteño is its mark, its hand writing style, and its signature. Curled, ornate, and dramatic, just like the spirit of Buenos Aires, fileteado and its messages are a reminder to the inhabitants to not forget the origins, history, and even life philosophy of their city. Unesco has declared it Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Read on to find out why!

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  • Step into the Magical World of Gary Baseman
    Illustration

    Step into the Magical World of Gary Baseman

    Creator without limits and father of a world that bears his signature, Gary Baseman talks about his life and career He might be defined as an illustrator, in that what he draws comes to life, but Gary Baseman doesn’t just illustrate and design, he creates whole worlds that surround him and those who follow him. Don't miss our interview with him in which he tells us more about himself, his projects and his life, never far away from a notebook.

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