Sketchbook Skool, LLC

What Sketchbook Skool, LLC does

Sketchbook Skool, LLC is a privately held, bootstrapped online art education company founded in 2015 and co-founded by author Danny Gregory and illustrator Koosje Koene. It serves adult hobbyist learners — primarily beginners who believe they cannot draw, plus intermediate artists and creative-wellness seekers — through a catalog of 13+ on-demand video courses covering foundational drawing, watercolor, iPad/Procreate digital art, dip-pen lettering, figure drawing, creative coaching, and illustrated journaling/memoir creation, priced between $49 and $149 per course with lifetime access.

The platform is delivered through a Kajabi-hosted storefront at sketchbookskool.com, with optional community engagement via Skool Yard on Mighty Networks. Courses are taught by Danny Gregory alongside a roster of 20+ guest instructors, and the business is supported by a parallel organic content marketing footprint including a YouTube channel with weekly live drawing sessions, the Art for All podcast, and a weekly essay newsletter that drives a 15% first-purchase discount. The company is founder-owned, has 1–10 employees, is US-domiciled as an LLC, and has no disclosed external investors, acquisitions, or institutional partnerships.

Revenue is generated entirely through direct-to-consumer one-time course purchases plus occasional live online workshops (e.g., the Tempera Flowers 3-hour Zoom session at $59), with no subscription tier, B2B channel, or third-party distribution. Customer testimonials indicate a distributed learner base across the USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Switzerland, and Australia, consistent with the company's claim of having helped 'tens of thousands' of people through its courses, books, and video content.

Name

Sketchbook Skool, LLC

Legal name

Sketchbook Skool, LLC

Website

http://sketchbookskool.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sketchbook Skool is a founder-owned online art education platform selling on-demand video courses in drawing, watercolor, iPad art, and creative journaling to adult hobbyist beginners, priced $49–$149 with lifetime access, and supported by organic content marketing through YouTube, podcast, and newsletter channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Course Sales: One-time payment for lifetime access to individual courses. Customers purchase specific courses (e.g., $99 for iPad Artist, $66 for Quick Draw, $149 for Your Illustrated Life) with immediate access to all video content.
2. Live Workshop Sales: One-time payment for live online workshops with specific dates, such as the Tempera Flowers workshop at $59

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sketchbook Skool, LLC sells on-demand video-based art education courses directly to individual hobbyist learners through its website. The catalog includes beginner through intermediate instruction in drawing, watercolor, iPad/Procreate digital art, dip pen lettering, figure drawing, illustrated journaling, and creative coaching, primarily taught by founder Danny Gregory with 20+ guest instructors. Courses are purchased one at a time with lifetime access, supplemented by an optional paid private community (Skool Yard) and occasional live Zoom workshops.

Product overview

Sketchbook Skool is an online video-based art education platform offering a portfolio of 13+ distinct courses centered on sketchbook and drawing instruction. The core offering consists of video courses taught primarily by founder Danny Gregory along with 20+ guest instructors, covering drawing fundamentals, watercolor, digital art (iPad/Procreate), specialized techniques (dip pens, figure drawing), creative coaching, and illustrated journaling/memoir creation. Courses are delivered on-demand via a Kajabi-powered platform with lifetime access, supplemented by free content including Danny's weekly essays, a YouTube channel with live Thursday drawing sessions, and a podcast. The platform operates two separate systems: a content library for purchased courses and the Skool Yard community hosted on Mighty Networks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Skool Yard: Private social network for course participants hosted on Mighty Networks, similar to Facebook but private and exclusive to SBS students.

Products and services

• How to Draw Without Talent Beginner-friendly on-demand course teaching foundational drawing techniques (contour drawing, negative space, basic building blocks) through 26 compact video lessons; designed for adults who believe they cannot draw and want a step-by-step path.
• Seeing On-demand course teaching students to observe and draw like artists, covering self-portraits, watercolor nature studies, still lifes, and ballpoint pen drawings, taught by multiple instructors including Andrea Joseph, Brenda Swenson, Cathy Johnson, and Koosje Koene.
• Art Bootcamp Foundational sketchbook practice course available in a 2-week drawing-only format ($49) and a 6-week full format ($99), covering drawing fundamentals, watercolor techniques, and mixed media; taught by 11 instructors including Felix Scheinberger, Andrea Joseph, and Jane LaFazio.
• Quick Draw On-demand course teaching rapid sketching techniques with 35+ short video lessons on tools, techniques, and mindset shifts; designed to build confidence and develop a freeing, fluent daily drawing habit, priced at $66.
• People Drawing People Multi-instructor masterclass for drawing the human figure featuring 7 instructors (Danny Gregory, Carlos Aponte, Felix Scheinberger, Jason Das, and others); covers proportion, capturing likeness, portraits, self-portraits, tone, volume, and foreshortening.
• Watercolor Rules Comprehensive watercolor course covering fundamentals and how to break rules creatively, delivered through 100+ video lessons by instructors Ian Sidaway, Ian Fennelly, Inma Serrano, Jennifer Orkin Lewis, and Koosje Koene.
• Dip into Dip Pens On-demand course teaching dip pen drawing and hand lettering techniques, covering nibs, inks, line control, sketching, and lettering; instructed by Danny Gregory.
• Be an iPad Artist Digital art course teaching iPad illustration using Procreate, delivered through 68 videos covering layers, masks, custom palettes, brushes, digital collage, calligraphy, and combining analog and digital media; priced at $99 and instructed by Danny Gregory.
• Your Creative Coach Creative coaching program of 52 video lessons covering creativity management, overcoming blocks, goal setting, time management, and dealing with the inner critic; includes accountability groups and community support.
• Your Illustrated Life On-demand course teaching students to create an illustrated memoir/sketchbook documenting their life story, delivered through 50+ in-depth video lessons with 300+ projects and prompts; priced at $149 and instructed by Danny Gregory.
• Start Your Sketchbook Journal 31-day guided course for developing a creative habit through words, drawings, and observation; features 31 guided video lessons with daily exercises requiring approximately 25 minutes each.
• The Creative License 31-day course designed to unleash creative potential through daily lessons focused on mindset shifts, authentic expression, and building sustainable creative habits; based on Danny Gregory's book and priced at $99.
• Me Time Self-paced illustrated memory project of 30 prompts for recording daily life, with two short videos per prompt (one explaining the prompt and one showing Danny's response); priced at $49.
• Tempera Flowers Workshop Live, scheduled online painting workshop teaching tempera stick techniques for painting flowers via a 3-hour Zoom webinar with pre-recorded demos, live Q&A, and replay access.

Quantifiable outcome

• 26 compact video lessons for foundational drawing skills
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CreativeLive: Online creative education platform offering courses in art, design, and craft taught by working practitioners. Comparable in its focus on adult creative self-development, video-based teaching, and instructor-led curriculum similar to Sketchbook Skool.
• Skillshare: Subscription-based online learning platform with a large catalog of creative courses including drawing, watercolor, and illustration — directly comparable to Sketchbook Skool in terms of audience (adult creative learners), format (on-demand video), and instructor-led teaching model.
• Craftsy (formerly Bluprint): Online education platform centered on arts, crafts, and creative hobbies with video courses and instructor-led learning — directly comparable to Sketchbook Skool's drawing, watercolor, and creative-hobby learning content.
• SVS Learn (Society of Visual Storytelling): Subscription-based online school focused on drawing, illustration, and visual storytelling. Shares Sketchbook Skool's audience of adult creative learners, instructor-led curriculum, and video-based self-paced format.
• Schoolism: Online art school offering structured video courses in drawing, painting, and illustration taught by professional concept artists. Comparable in on-demand fine-art instruction, instructor-led curriculum, and adult-learner audience.
• Domestika: Online creative school offering video courses in illustration, drawing, watercolor, and lettering sold to a global creative audience. Closely comparable in product type (one-time purchase on-demand courses in fine arts), price tier, and direct-to-consumer funnel.
• New Masters Academy: Subscription-based online art school offering drawing, painting, and figure-drawing instruction from professional artists. Highly comparable in target audience (aspiring adult artists), curriculum depth, and video-based self-paced format.
• Proko: Online figure-drawing and anatomy instruction platform known for video lessons and a strong YouTube brand presence. Overlaps with Sketchbook Skool in artist-instruction format, YouTube-driven acquisition, and drawing-focused curriculum.

Broad incumbents

• Udemy: Massive online learning marketplace that hosts numerous drawing, watercolor, and illustration courses by independent instructors. Broader and more general than Sketchbook Skool but overlaps in subject matter and self-serve video-course delivery.
• The Great Courses (Wondrium): Video-based educational content platform with courses on art history, technique, and creative practice. A broader incumbent whose art-related catalog is comparable in spirit but not as specialized as Sketchbook Skool's drawing-led focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCnwAvNKzdoFgRyvXEBJBv0Q
• Xx.com/sketchbookskool
• Facebookfacebook.com/sketchbookskool
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sketchbook-skool-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sketchbook Skool, LLC