Transcripts
1. About the Class: Teaching art is my passion, and I love that I
get to share my art and guide other people in
their watercolor journey. If you're eager to
teach your art, but don't know where to start, then this class is for you. Hi, my name is Shlie and
I'm a watercolor artist, Online art educator and a
Skillshare top teacher. I have been painting for
about ten years already, and I have taught thousands of students through
my online classes. My art revolves around
painting watercolor flowers, capturing nature on paper. You might have seen my work on different social media platforms where I share my process
videos and tips for beginners. This class aims to provide
structure and direction and a step by step guide to help you put your ideas into action. In this class, you'll learn
how to come up with a topic, and then we'll break
down the steps of the project idea and
create an outline. You'll also learn how to
create a realistic timeline. I will use one of my
classes as an example so that you can see how each
step is applied in action. I'll end my class with some practical tips and advice like creating
a cover photo. So these are small things that
can really go a long way. I have provided the worksheet
in the resources section of the class that can help
jumpstart your planning process. My teaching experience
can be summed up with this thought that we learn to teach and we teach to learn. By making more classes
over the past few years, I've sharpened my painting
and teaching skills. All right, so I'm excited
for you to teach your art, so let's get started.
2. Class Overview : Welcome to the class overview. The goal of this class is
to help you teach your art. In this class, I will
be sharing a step by step guide on how you
can start this new path. Of course, we have
different approaches to things so feel free to tweak
it according to your liking. This is what personally
worked for me, so I'll be showing snippets
of our real class that I just published and how I apply the things that I'm
teaching in this class. Or your project, I have
provided the worksheet for you, which you can download in the projects and
resources section. You may print this
and write down your answers or you can
do it digitally too. If you don't have a specific
outline yet for your class, you can simply start
with the first page of the worksheet where you
can tell us more about yourself and maybe some
class topics that you have in mind so that we can all chip in and brainstorm with you. All right, let's start
with the first lesson, which is all about how to
come up with a class topic.
3. Decide on a Class Topic: The first step in creating a
class is to choose a topic, and I know that it can
feel daunting at first because you probably have
so many ideas in mind. But I'm going to share with
you some of the ways that I generate a topic
or a project ID. But of course, you
don't need to be boxed in with these examples, as you know your audience and your skills better
than anyone else. So, number one, is
personal experience. So this can be
about maybe travel. Maybe you recently saw a lot
of landscapes and flowers, and that can be a source of inspiration for your next class. As for myself, there was a
time when I had an art block, and what I would do
is I would get up really early and paint some quick paintings
in the morning. And that became an inspiration for some of my daily
watercolor challenge class. And my aim was also to help other people get out
of an art block. Number two, scrolling
through pinters. Of course, you can find a
lot of inspiration there, but try to find a spin off of the subject that
you normally paint. For example, I paint
a lot of flowers, instead of looking
for flower bouquets, I will look for wedding cakes
with sugar icing flowers. That will give me
a different idea. Number three, seasonal topics. This is actually one of my favorite ways to
generate a topic. And I love creating Christmas cards
every single year during the holiday season. Sometimes I create
fall theme paintings or maybe some spring florals. For new tools or new mediums
or maybe new techniques. I recently did a
class that's all about using filbert
brush like this. The students usually are
familiar with round brushes, but they are not familiar
with a filbert brush. I thought that it would
be a great way to introduce a new tool to them so that they can paint in a different way and apply
it to their own style. Number five, focusing on a specific subject
within your expertise. So since I paint
a lot of flowers. Sometimes I would do a class
that's all about roses, or maybe all about sunflowers
or cherry blossoms. These are very specific class on how to paint these
types of flowers. So if you have a certain medium or a certain subject
that you have in mind, you can also try to do that. For example, if you
paint landscapes, you can do some
sunset landscapes, maybe create seascape class or maybe a winter
theme landscape. Number six through
experimentation. This can also be a bit similar to the
personal experience. What happened was that
I was trying to mix watercolor and gouache to
experiment and just have fun. Eventually, I created
a certain style using that technique that
became also a class. I did a class on how to
combine watercolor and gouache to create
some pastel colors and add some mini flowers. Number seven questions
from the community. Just try to observe
some comments and questions that are being
asked often online. So when I was starting out, people would ask how
do you hold the brush, how do you mix colors or maybe how much water do
you add to your paint? These are things that
may sound trivial, but it can be a class in itself and it can solve
a problem or a pain. When you're creating a, think about how this can
be valuable to your students and how they can apply the skill to
their own style. Let's take my recent
class as an example, so I can walk you through
how I build this class. Okay, let's move on
to the next video.
4. Reverse Engineer the Process: Reverse engineer the process. Since I paint with watercolor, I start with the end product, or what we call
the final project that students will create. From there, I will reverse
engineer the process, or in a simpler terms, I will work my way backwards. Let me share with you how
I did it in my class. First, we need the end product. After deciding that
I wanted to focus on a class that's all
about Filbert brushes. I painted potential projects
that my students can paint. Then I chose these
three paintings. I usually prefer painting around two or more paintings or projects for my students so that they can
practice some more. So once we have the
final projects, you can ask yourself how
you created this painting. It might be helpful to actually film your projects as
you paint so that you can look back and just check the techniques that you
have used in your project. I asked myself, how did I
achieve painting this flower. What are the brush strokes that I did to form the flower shape, and what are the
colors that I use, what materials did I use? And how can my students
paint like this? Just to give you
an idea of how I break down the
process in my mind. And I look at this painting. I know that I started
from the center. Then I added some
nice fluffy petals by twisting and
turning my brush. Then I added some leaves
and some finishing touches. List down the potential lessons after identifying the
step by step process. When you're creating a class, think about lessons from your
target viewers perspective. If your class is for a
beginner, then ask yourself, if I were a beginner, what are the things that I want to be included in this class. In the example that I gave
about painting a pony, I had to twist and turn my brush to create these beautiful I realized that I
needed to introduce some prerequisite skills
to paint this flower. This meant adding some
supporting brush work exercises for petal strokes, leave strokes, maybe some more
floral warm up exercises, and even a floral
composition guide. Now, if I go in straight to the projects without
these drills, then the students might
feel a little bit frustrated because they haven't had enough practice
with this brush. Now that we have
the end product, the step by step process, and then we added some lessons. Next, we can start creating the script for
our introduction video. So I personally like
doing the script last because it gives me a better
sense of the whole class. It will also make it
easier for you to create key points that you
can include in the video. Okay, now that we have reverse
engineered the process, let's now move on to
creating our outline.
5. Create a Class Outline: Let's now talk about
creating an outline. Going to add some snippets
from my class to give you a better idea of how to
apply it to this outline. Here is an overview
of the lesson. It will be split
into seven parts. Feel free to pause this video so you can
read the outline. We'll start with the outline
with the introduction. This is the introduction video and it's like a trailer
for your class. So make sure that you add clear
objectives or key points. This is an example of how
I added it to my class. I added some texts to my
introduction video just to make it very clear that this is something that they
will learn in my class. Next is the class overview. You can talk about the
projects here in this video to get your students excited and also to set
their expectations. I usually show a run through of all the projects in my class and maybe explain
a little bit about it. Next, we'll go to the materials. This is a painting class. That's why I need to include the materials that my
students will need. It's also nice if you
can give an advice or maybe a recommendation of maybe certain brands
of paints and brushes. What is blank. Talk about the main subject or the
main theme of the class. For example, teaching about
how to paint with gouache. You can talk about
what is gouache and what is the difference between gouache and watercolor. In my case, I focus on
a filbert brush class. I need to talk about this brush. What I did in my
class was that I simply compared it with
a round brush so that my students can understand
how each brush works and how they can apply using a filbert
brush in their own style. Next is building skills. I really made sure that I built the foundation of using
the filbert brush. What I did was I added some
lessons about techniques. I added some brushwork drills, some petal strokes, a lot
of warm up exercises. If you're doing a
painting class, this is where you
add those lessons. You can also add
some lessons about color mixing or maybe a
floral composition guide. Basically, anything that will strengthen the skills
of your students, you can add it in this part. Now that your students
have been prepared well, they had some warm up exercises. It's time to apply those
skills to the projects. So when it comes to projects, I usually start with
an EC one so that it's not that intimidating and
they can finish it quickly. It is going to help them be more motivated to continue
painting more projects. If you're teaching
a very long video, what you can do is you can
split it into different parts. So this is what it
looks like in my class. You can see that project three
is split into four parts. The first video is
about focal flowers. Next is secondary flower. Then I added fillers and leaves. Last is the finishing touches. Doing this makes it less
intimidating for the students. All right. Let's go to the
last part of this outline, and that's conclusion
or your final thoughts. In this part, you can share tips and advice
for your students. You can encourage your
students to paint the final projects or maybe encourage them to go out
of their comfort zone, maybe look for a different
reference photo. You can also encourage
your students to create projects in this video. Also in the final thoughts, you can ask for some feedback so you can improve
your teaching skills. But now that you
have your outline, let's now create a
realistic timeline for you.
6. Set a Realistic Timeline: We all have different
lifestyles and pacing. This is a schedule
that helped me as a full time artist and the
sole caregiver of my son. And some of you may know
if you have children, your schedule will
be super uncertain. And some of you may also be working and doing
this as a sideline. So you probably have just yours as your time
to paint and film. My advice is don't be
too hard on yourself. Give yourself a little bit of grace as this is
your first class. As with any subject, there is always a
learning curve to it. So the schedule of the class
will also vary depending on the length of the class or
how tedious the projects are. Here is the overview
of the timeline. It will be split into six parts. You can pause the video, so you can read this first before you proceed
with the lesson. Week one is usually
my research week, so I would look at
different books, maybe browse online
for some ideas. This is where you can apply the tips that I
shared with you in the first lesson of the class about how to come
up with topics. So week two is all about
painting potential projects. So during this time, I'm going to really paint different styles according to the class topic
that I have chosen. So my class is all about Filbert brush and how to paint
florals using this brush. So I painted different projects in different sizes as well. And finally, I just chose just three
paintings for the class. So the other paintings that you did not choose
for your class, you can use that to pose in your YouTube channel or maybe as a bonus video in your class. Week three is all about filming all the painting
videos for your class. I usually start by
painting the projects. For me, it's the hardest to
film. So I start with that. Painting the projects first
will also help me get a better sense of the
lessons in this class, and I can adjust and maybe add some more
topics along the way. Week four is all about filming talking head videos and be roles and also
taking some photos. Let's talk some more about that. Next, I allow one day to film all my talking head videos just like what
you're seeing here. Talking head videos are
videos where you can see the teacher talking
in front of the camera. So I usually film
on the weekends so that it's
generally more quiet. And as you know, if
you live in the city, it can be quite busy
during the weekdays, so you'll hear some
cars passing by and just some more
unnecessary background noise. So the reason why I allow
just one day to really finish all the talking head videos is because it can be difficult to, you know, set up the
background and have to put on some make up and also
prepare my equipment. So I really want everything
to finish in one day. So next within that week, I also allow one
full day to just focus on taking photos
for marketing purposes, also some us that will
add story to my videos. These videos can be simply
a video of me preparing my painting area or maybe
just painting in a cafe. You can vary depending on
what class you're teaching. Week five is for my voice over. I do a separate voice over
for my painting videos, and that's because
whenever I film, it's really just
noisy where I am. So it's just impossible to film and then record
my voice as I paint. So I have to do the recording
of my voice separately. It can be a more tedious task, but that's what makes it work
for me as of the moment. Week six is more of editing, adding some finishing touches, maybe creating the
class description, uploading some projects
or project resources. Week four to week six can
be overlapping for me. Sometimes I can finish
a little bit earlier. Not really that strict
with the deadline since I know that I have to manage my personal
schedule as well. So after week six, it is launch day or the day that you will hit
that published button. I have also prepared a
worksheet where you can use it to create your
own realistic timeline. Okay, so before
launching your class, I do have some practical tips or just some practical details that might be helpful for you.
7. Practical Details: So let's go into the
practical details. These are small things
that can go a long way. Let's talk about the cover
photo of your class. This is the thumb
nail of your class, and what I will suggest is to highlight the main
subject or the main theme. In my class, I use
a filbert brush, and I added that photo
in my thumbnail. Then I also added some
projects from my class. Now, if you have maybe ten
projects in your class, just choose a few
paintings that stands out. Add that to your thumb nail. You don't need to add all
the projects because it will get confusing and it might
look a little bit messy. When it comes to
class description, I personally like
using bullet points because it makes it clearer
and easier to read. When it comes to editing, since you're new to
creating an online class, make sure to use your phones or your
headphones when you're editing so that you can hear some unnecessary noise
and you can edit it out. Then before you start filming, don't forget to wipe the camera lens or your phone lens if
you're using a phone, just to make sure that all
your videos are very crisp. Let's talk about voice over. A lot of people have a hard
time doing voice over because they sort of lose that momentum because
when you're painting, it's easy to tell
your students that, oh, you need to use your
brush in this manner. You add this and that color. It's easy to give that
instruction as you paint. But when you're
doing a voice over, you're not really there anymore. You're just watching
the video and talking. My advice is that as you're
recording your video, you can also talk, and then you can say the important things so
that as you're editing, you can listen to
your video and maybe write down the important points and add that to the voice over. Also, when you're
doing a voice over, think like there's a
student in front of you and you're talking to your student and giving
them instructions. I think that will be easier for you to do a voice
over naturally. Go to share a little bit
about marketing your class. Post some teasers
about two weeks before your expected launch to
get your students excited. It could be a post or a real or maybe just
an Instagram story. You can add some polls. You can ask them, are you
excited to learn this? When you have your class, don't forget to create an Instagram story to add
the link to your class. I usually use the app
mojo because they have some nice templates
that you can use. All right, so that's it
for the practical tips. Now let's move on to the next video as I
share my final thoughts.
8. Final Thoughts: We have reached the
end of a class. Thank you so much for watching. To sum up the class, we learned how to come up with a topic or a class project. After finalizing the
project ideas that we have, we learned how to reverse
engineer the process, or in other words, work
our way backwards. That helped us in identifying the lessons that we need
to add in our class. So next, we learn how to create an outline for the class
to make it more organized. Lastly, we were able to learn how to create a
realistic timeline. Teaching my art has been very
fulfilling as an artist. I'm always happy whenever
I see my students improve in their skills
because of my classes. My advice is that teach
a subject that you know best and also create a class that you will
personally enjoy watching. I'm excited to see you
in your teaching path. You may check out
the worksheet that I included in the projects
and resources section. It's a great way for
us to get to know you and give a feedback of a class topic or maybe a timeline that you
are comfortable to share. You can share your
project in the projects and resources section
of the class. Just hit submit and upload
your project there. If you have spare time, it would mean a lot if you
could leave a review to let other students know how this class helps you
in your art journey. You can also find
me on Instagram. You can tag me using this
handle. All right. That's it. Happy teaching, and
I will see you in my next class by. Okay.
