Filming a Course With Domestika

When Domestika first contacted me about filming a course with them I was super excited, but also a bit nervous; I’d been filming painting tutorials for a while, but never in front of a room full of people! I’m normally just by myself, with no-one to see me when I make a mistake or forget what I was going to say (this happens A LOT!), and I can fix just about anything through the magic of editing…

So handing over control of all this was a little daunting.

But I quickly found that the Domestika team are absolute pro’s when it comes to dealing with nervous teachers. And they’ve been doing this a while now- their system for preparing a teacher for filming week runs like a well oiled machine.

Each stage of my process; from drafting the course outline, fleshing out the lessons, filming week, and post-production, was led by a friendly and encouraging Domestika team member that was always happy to answer my questions and help me to prepare.

Before Filming Week

So before I went to Madrid at the end of August to film, my producer and I had regular calls to plan out the stages of the course. I would say that a good 75% of the work was done here; with each lesson planned and outlined, including exercises I would teach, examples of my work that I would share and a list of the SUPER IMPORTANT THINGS THAT I MUST NOT FORGET TO SAY!

All this info went into a document that was with us all through filming week to make sure we didn’t miss anything out and was so.freaking.helpful!!

Traveling to Madrid

Domestika made all the travel and hotel arrangements, and the week before I went I got to pick my meals for the days where we’d be in the studio.

This is such a wonderfully thoughtful detail- I would hate to have to find my own food in an unfamiliar country where I don’t speak the language and have a food allergy! It was such a comfort that this was all taken care of- and the food was delicious!

When I arrived at the studio, I was greeted by my lovely producer Laura, who I was familiar with from our many video chats. She showed me around and I got to see the beautiful studio that had been set up for me to film in- it was perfect for the magical landscapes I’d be teaching about!

I was introduced to my filming team and everyone was so friendly and encouraging!

Filming

The filming process was an absolute joy- and I owe this to all the prep work that we’d completed in advance. At no point was I unsure of what I was doing next, and my producer kept an eye on making sure I included everything that we’d outlined.

Alongside the lessons, we also filmed the course trailer and the first lessons of the course where I shared a little about myself and how I got started with gouache. These are some of the last things that were filmed- at which point I had gotten used to the cameras and was much more comfortable with the process.

The last thing that we filmed was the course trailer, and for this the art department came and fully reset the studio; taking out the desk and adding a couch for me to sit on. We filmed the trailer script and also some other fun bits with lots of plants and some footage of me painting.

My filmmakers were so creative when it came to this, and you could see how much they love this part of their job- It was also a lot of fun to do and it all came together to make an awesome trailer and a course that I’m so proud of!

You can check out the finished course trailer on the class page here:

Overall I have only lovely things to say about the whole experience- I enjoyed it so much that when Domestika asked if I would return to film a second course, I agreed without hesitation!

My second course is all about using gouache and watercolors together, and comes out soon! I’ll be back to share more info about the new course and why this is the perfect follow-up to my first one.

Until next time, happy painting!