I am honoured to be a Top Teacher on Skillshare.
I love making classes, seeing students take them, and knowing that something I shared has made a difference to someone else’s creative life. I have six classes, which help you to deepen your relationship with creativity, understand fear and resistance, and develop your drawing, painting and surface pattern design skills.
Watercolor Without Fear: Painting for Pattern Design (PArt 1)
This class is a “Staff Pick” on Skillshare and is currently being featured on the Skillshare home page! In the class I teach a low-risk, highly-flexible approach to watercolor painting for pattern design. Using small blocks of watercolor paper, I will show you how to work on a dynamic canvas and create your painting as a half-drop repeat.
“A beautiful course, fun and inspiring to watch. I love the structure of the course and the gentle rhythm of each session. It lifted my day to watch and learn from each session. One of the best courses I've seen! Thank you so much!” - Trudy
Watercolor Without Fear: Painting for Pattern Design Part 2
This is Part 2 of my class “Watercolor Without Fear: Painting for Pattern Design”. In Part 1 I share my process of painting a half-drop repeat pattern using watercolors - from concept to finished painting. In this class (Part 2), I share my process of digitising the painting and creating the half-drop repeat pattern using Adobe Photoshop.
Following a step-by-step process, the class covers:
• Scanning your artwork – what scanner I use, resolutions, file types
• The two main tools I use to join paintings together, and to separate the foreground motifs from the background (it's amazing how much you can do with just two tools!)
• Fixing the top and bottom seams to create the vertical repeat
• Fixing the side seams to create the horizontal repeat (hint - with my method of moving blocks around from Part 1, this part is super easy!)
• Testing your pattern and checking for any errors
• Building out your final pattern tile, creating alternative colorways, and preparing it for uploading to Spoonflower.
By the end of the class you will have a step by step process to turn your own beautiful paintings into half-drop repeat patterns for use on fabric, wallpaper and even murals!
Watercolor Techniques for Beginners: Paint a Cactus
This class won a Skillshare prize and is packed with practical tips to make watercolor easier. You will learn:
• Brush techniques
• How to master paint-to-water ratio (hint - it's not about the paint, or the water!)
• Five common mistakes beginners make (so you can avoid them)
• What to buy if you're starting from scratch on a low budget.
It’s a great class to take if you’re just starting in watercolours, or if you want to get some friends together for a paint night!
Click here to watch the class
Principles of Watercolor: Learn to Paint a Torch-Ginger Flower
Have you struggled with watercolor painting? That's because watercolor is unlike any other medium. And therefore, the way you use it, is different to other mediums. In this class I share six principles of working with watercolor. Because to have success with this medium, you have to understand it - and, more importantly, understand how to think about it. Because with watercolor, it's not just a case of trying harder. In fact, the harder you try, the worse it gets.
“Catherine has a unique ability to break down complex concepts into the most digestible little nibbles and to fire up my drive to create. I've struggled with watercolour for a long time, but with Catherine's tips, I feel like I finally understand where I was going wrong! You won't want to miss this class.” - Alanna
Watercolor or Procreate: Paint Successfully Using Shape
Are there things you avoid painting because they’re “too difficult?” Grab your paintbrush or Apple Pencil and learn to “see” like an Artist, using shapes! Join me in this 30-minute class where I’ll show you a watercolor or Procreate painting technique that is so simple yet effective, it’ll change how you look at EVERYTHING.
Secrets of Drawing: Three Easy Ways to Improve Your Line Drawings
A quick power class teaching three specific ways to improve your line drawings. You'll learn how to:
Create sensitive lines by considering ‘weight’ and ‘light’
Trust your eyes and use the ‘Look-Draw’ technique
Create more playful lines by relaxing your hand and changing your pencil grip.
“Brilliant. Accessible. Achievable and I suspect more impactful than one might imagine. Great things really do come in small packages. Thank you” - Amanda
Line Drawing: A Three-Step Approach (And a Five-Day Birdacious Bootcamp)
This class teaches a simple three-step approach that makes line drawing accessible to anyone. You will learn how to do blind contour (step 1), semi-blind contour (step 2), and then how to take these techniques and use them to draw in your own style and rhythms (step 3).
“This class was so liberating and fun. It really got me to loosen up and stop trying to control everything. I love that Catherine shares her failures as well as her successes. This made me want to continue to practice line drawing. I also loved the fun bird examples to choose from. Thanks so much for helping me get out of a rut and enjoy drawing for fun.” - Cynthia
The Toothbrush Approach to Daily Creativity
This class teaches a teeny-weeny mindshift that has massive implications for your relationship with art: take ‘Art’ off its pedestal. Instead of seeing art as a tantalising-but-difficult creative act, why not view it like you would view brushing your teeth: a daily task that has to happen, no matter what. If you’re tired, you still brush your teeth, right? If you’re in a bad mood, or you just don’t have time… you still brush your teeth. So put your daily creativity on the same task level. It's no biggie, but it has to happen.
“Excellent teacher, a very enjoyable short class. This class walks you through a clear, straightforward, strategic approach to staying with a daily art practice. In one short session, I completed the worksheets along the way and by the end felt very motivated and happy with my plan. I have a chronic illness, and this approach is very encouraging.” - Robin
Drawing Without Fear: A self-care approach to daily creativity
Fear is a common barrier that stops people from accessing and expressing their creativity. It can masquerade as busyness or procrastination — and it's the biggest thing that either stops you from starting your creative work or stops you from getting to the place where creativity is free and fun. This class explores the stages of a creative process and provides a practical framework for developing a healthy mindset around creativity. What's a healthy mindset? It's creativity with an emphasis on fun and self-expression. When creativity starts from a place of self-care, there is no space for guilt or shame.
“I loved the ideas for getting out of your head and onto the page. I'm going to set a drawing goal to create something every day for self-care and not worry about the results. This was a whole lot of fun! Thank you for helping me look at creative time in a different way in order to stop being so hard on myself and more quickly get into the state of flow.” - Cynthia