# Course Insights - Skillshare courses worth your time | Gareth B. Davies Source: https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/ # Skillshare courses worth your time At-a-glance reads on hundreds of the best Skillshare courses. Open any course for what you will actually learn, who it is for, and whether it earns your time. New to Skillshare? Members get a free first month, enough to take any course here at no cost. Search courses Topic All Photography Video & Animation Music & Audio Food & Drink Tech & Coding Personal Development Writing Productivity Illustration & Drawing Graphic Design Business & Marketing Other Level All Beginner Intermediate Advanced All levels Length All Under 30 min 30-90 min 1.5-3 hrs 3 hrs+ Showing 1-24 of 549 Sort Top rated Most popular Shortest first ## Courses [Graphic Design 8 /10 ### Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design A tight 36-minute primer that hands you five design principles from Ellen Lupton herself, but skips the software fundamentals a true beginner needs. Ellen Lupton · 36 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/graphic-design-basics-core-principles-for-visual-design/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Intro to Procreate: Illustrating on the iPad A genuinely thorough tour of Procreate's interface that will save hours of trial and error, though it teaches the tool, not how to draw. Brooke Glaser · 118 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/intro-to-procreate-illustrating-on-the-ipad-updated/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Basic Skills / Getting Started with Drawing A structured 16-lesson foundation course that turns drawing into a repeatable skill-building routine rather than an innate gift, with real practice assignments attached. Brent Eviston · 261 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/basic-skills-getting-started-with-drawing/)[Graphic Design 8 /10 ### Typography That Works: Typographic Composition and Fonts Ellen Lupton turns three type classifications into three business cards in 35 tight minutes of genuinely expert craft advice. Ellen Lupton · 35 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/typography-that-works-typographic-composition-and-fonts/)[Video & Animation 8 /10 ### YouTube Success: Script, Shoot & Edit with MKBHD MKBHD walks through his exact scripting-to-editing workflow on one real review, but the gear and studio setup are miles beyond a beginner's reach. Marques Brownlee · 73 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/youtube-success-script-shoot-and-edit-with-mkbhd/)[Business & Marketing 8 /10 ### Introduction to SEO: Tactics and Strategy for Entrepreneurs Rand Fishkin's 90-minute strategy briefing skips the technical checklist and teaches you to think about SEO the way a business owner should. Rand Fishkin · 90 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/introduction-to-seo-tactics-and-strategy-for-entrepreneurs/)[Graphic Design 8 /10 ### Demystifying Graphic Design: How Posters Work A one-hour trip through Cooper Hewitt's poster archive that hands beginners six genuinely reusable visual moves, taught by a working curator. Ellen Lupton · 64 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/demystifying-graphic-design-how-posters-work/)[Writing 8 /10 ### Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact Roxane Gay distills her personal-essay process into a tight hour of craft thinking, but offers no exercises or feedback loop to practice it. Roxane Gay · 61 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/creative-writing-crafting-personal-essays-with-impact/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Modern Calligraphy: 4 Easy Steps to Go From Beginner to Brush Lettering Pro A genuinely structured beginner course that teaches letter anatomy before ever touching a brush pen, so the habits that stick are the right ones. Peggy Dean · 108 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/modern-calligraphy-4-easy-steps-to-go-from-beginner-to-brush-lettering-pro/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Start Drawing: Techniques for Pencil Portraits A working artist walks through the exact pencil grades, plane structure, and feature-by-feature shading logic behind a lifelike graphite portrait. Gabrielle Brickey · 71 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/start-drawing-techniques-for-pencil-portraits/)[Graphic Design 8 /10 ### Logotype Masterclass with Jessica Hische Jessica Hische walks through her literal client checklist for refining logotypes, using a real Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams rebrand as the case study. Jessica Hische · 92 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/logotype-masterclass-with-jessica-hische/)[Food & Drink 8 /10 ### From Plant to Cup: Brew an Amazing Cup of Coffee A Blue Bottle trainer packs coffee's actual science into 58 minutes, with a real formula you can replicate tomorrow morning. Michael Phillips · 58 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/from-plant-to-cup-brew-an-amazing-cup-of-coffee/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Magical Pen & Ink Illustration / Drawing & Illustrating Practices in Ink for Beginners A tight 28-minute tour of inking tools and shading tricks that trades depth for breadth, best treated as a shopping guide with technique seasoning. Yasmina Creates · 28 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/magical-pen-and-ink-illustration-drawing-and-illustrating-practices-in-ink-for-beginners/)[Graphic Design 8 /10 ### Dynamic Brand Identity: Designing Logos That Evolve A working design leader breaks down the exact process behind five real, decades-spanning identity systems, not a theory lecture on branding. Paula Scher · 71 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/dynamic-brand-identity-designing-logos-that-evolve/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### ODD BODIES: Illustrating Expressive, Stylized People A working illustrator breaks down his exact process for stylizing figures through six hands-on drawing exercises and one full inked illustration. Tom Froese · 144 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/odd-bodies-illustrating-expressive-stylized-people/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Form & Space / 3D Drawing & Perspective A structured, project-based method for turning flat circles and squares into believable volumetric spheres, cylinders and boxes in perspective. Brent Eviston · 165 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/form-and-space-3d-drawing-and-perspective/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Making Your First Zine: From Idea to Illustration A fast, hands-on 46-minute class that gets you folding, cutting, and filling a real one-page zine by the end. Kate Bingaman-Burt · 46 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/making-your-first-zine-from-idea-to-illustration/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Dynamic Mark Making / Drawing with Expression & Creativity A tight five-day module on making lines feel emotional and tactile, not just accurate, though beginners with zero drawing base may struggle without the earlier course. Brent Eviston · 90 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/dynamic-mark-making-drawing-with-expression-and-creativity/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Drawing and Painting Portraits: A Guide for Artists A working iPad portrait workflow from a professional artist, but it demands solid figure-drawing fundamentals before Procreate ever opens. Gabrielle Brickey · 139 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/drawing-and-painting-portraits-a-guide-for-artists/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### 28-Day Drawing Challenge: Anatomy for Illustration and Comics Jazza strips anatomy down to three repeatable steps, block, shape, define, skipping muscle names entirely to make bodies easier to draw fast. Josiah (Jazza) Brooks · 152 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/28-day-drawing-challenge-anatomy-for-illustration-and-comics/)[Other 8 /10 ### Hand Sewing Basics: Work Wonders with Fabric, Needle & Thread A dress historian teaches five essential hand stitches with real garment examples, delivering genuine sewing competence in just over an hour. Bernadette Banner · 68 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/hand-sewing-basics-work-wonders-with-fabric-needle-and-thread/)[Graphic Design 8 /10 ### Illustrator Secrets: 5 Techniques to Add Realism to Your Work A tight, technique-dense masterclass in faking three-dimensionality in Illustrator, taught by working professionals who use these exact moves on real client posters. DKNG Studios · 40 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/illustrator-secrets-5-techniques-to-add-realism-to-your-work/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Painting Light and Shadow: The Basics for Portraits and Characters A working portrait artist's practical shorthand for lighting faces, strong on observable patterns but light on underlying color science. Gabrielle Brickey · 101 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/painting-light-and-shadow-the-basics-for-portraits-and-characters/)[Illustration & Drawing 8 /10 ### Drawing People in Procreate: Stylized Character Illustration for Beginners A focused 137-minute drill on breaking heads, hair, torso, hands, and legs into simple shapes for stylized Procreate characters. Iva Mikles · 137 min](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/drawing-people-in-procreate-stylized-character-illustration-for-beginners/) ← 1 2 … 23 →