Top 5 websites according to Sylvester

It should come as no surprise to anyone that studying at Design School Kolding isn't always great. There are weeks when the project gets you down, your group is being annoying or you have good old fashioned artist block. While these experiences are few and far between, they still occur from time to time and when that happens the best thing you can do is take to the internet for a good old pick me up.

Now, the internet is a complex, scary and weirdly perverted place that one can easily get lost in. So allow me to share some words of wisdom with you budding designers out there, on how not to get sucked into a black hole of despair and procrastination (one that I have found myself in many times).

These are my top 5 web-activities that you cannot live without.

5. Speed paints
Speed paints are videos of other people painting or drawing, sped up to take no more than a couple of minutes. Speed paints verge on procrastination, so be careful with them. But if I find myself stuck in a rut, it helps to see how someone else has taken on the very same challenge and succeeded.

4. Tumblr
Tumblr is a creative social network, where you set up a blog and in turn can follow other people's work. Everytime one of the people you follow upload a picture, a poem or a piece of music, it will turn up on your dash. Tumblr can be tricky, so I would advice to go at it with great caution. It can quickly turn in a to a mayor tool for procrastination, if you don't watch out.

3. Audiobooks
I have an almost sick relationship to the audiobook. I will gladly admit that I go through about two or three in a month. Recently, I have gotten a passion for the classics, which is why I was elated to find out that you can get them all for free at this website.

2. Online figure drawing at PIXELovely or Quickposes 
If you find yourself in a situation where you have no idea what the hell you are going to do, it always helps to go back to the basics. By that, I mean figure drawing. I always find it helpful to take a 30 minute course at the start of a day to make sure that I am on my A-game. These are websites that offer figure drawing classes, where you draw from pictures, for free.

1. Coursera
Now, this might sound odd, but I find that the best way to take your mind off of any stressful situation is to let yourself be entertained by some new knowledge. This is why I like nothing better than putting on a lecture and settling down with a nice sketch. For that, I have Coursera. Coursera is a website that offers free university courses from top universities (Stanford, MIT, Oxford). I am currently enrolled in an art history course from The California Institute of Art.

I hope that you have found these recommendations helpful and if not, you can always go back to watching cat videos on YouTube. This is my favorite.