Recently I have conducted some Zoom meetings/demos and classes online through Zoom.com meeting application and I will be doing more of them in the near future and I would like to talk with those of you that are going to take an art class online. The problem I encountered so far when it comes to teaching students online is that I couldn't watch them paint but instead saw their faces and their expressions when they paint (way too many had worried looks on their faces). Seeing the student's faces while they painted didn't do me much good when it came to seeing how they were painting. 

After watching students on Zoom I realized I needed to have the students get better setups with both the camera placement and their lighting.  What students need to do is get the web camera on their laptop or tablet or smartphone to focus more on the painting that they will be working on and if they can move their device easily to a shot of their face that is okay, but I find it more important in a class to see the students work and not their face. I know who is painting in each window on Zoom because their name is at the bottom of their window.

 

Below I have posted a bunch of gadgets that you can get at Amazon that can hold your camera above your work and can be moved to focus on you too. 

The most important thing when setting up your camera is that you have it above your work and have it pointing at your work/painting like when you are taking a photograph of your work. Many times students set it up so it is in a vertical position, which would be fine if the painting were vertical. As the teacher however I also like seeing your palette in the shot so I can see how you are mixing your colors and what colors you are using.

If you are using the camera on your laptop it can be a bit tricky to have your camera above you pointing down so I suggest that you just tilt your screen downwards to view your painting and palette upside down. It's not the best angle but at least if will be of your painting and palette and not your face.

Then there is lighting which is very important to get right so the teacher can see your work and see the colors and values that you are using. They make the selfie lighting rings now that work really well of just get a good desk lamp. Whatever you get make sure it doesn't cast dark hard-edged shadows over your work or palette.

Spend some time before you take a class to really set up your workspace and watch video tutorials on how to use applications like Zoom so when you are in an art workshop you can spend all your time on learning what the teacher has to offer and not waste any time learning how to use your equipment or the applications that you use for the art classes.