This would be an introductory class for students who are a little more experienced than complete beginner, but are not familiar with drawing non-human animals and want to get more serious about their drawing skills. During the course students will get an overview of several animal species, but each will be recommended to begin thinking on which type of animals they’d like to focus on or find most interesting.
This course will teach you:
How to draw and paint animals from real life and memory.
Detailed Curriculum
Lesson 1 (intro)
Introduction to animal drawing principles, proper sketching techniques, addressing common misconceptions, and highlighting the importance of observational drawing and sketchbooking. First lesson entails an overview of animal anatomy. Becoming familiar with quadrupedal skeletal structure, comparative anatomy explained, becoming familiar with proportions, and general shapes seen in skeletons and constructing a simplified animal structure. Our first project will start with rough silhouettes and blind contour drawings - these are done from observation of animal pictures. The project done in this class will be used as an evaluation for the teacher to know where each student’s skills are at.
Lesson 2
Drawing what you see. Focus on observational drawing techniques. Students will take a closer look at skulls and skeletons and will draw one of their choice from observation using the techniques detailed in the class. The project will be done with white charcoal on black paper/boards.
Lesson 3
Focus on animal faces, in particular those with protruding snouts/beaks, explaining why they are challenging to draw due to the 3D shapes. As an introduction to the different angles for animal faces, students will sketch front, side, and ¾ view sketches of animal faces (single species of their choice).
Lesson 4
Perspective on the animal form as it relates to their underlying structure, Forms converging on other forms. Perspective drawing exercise, using 1 point perspective to construct simplified faces with snouts (bodies for those that are more advanced) - stylization is part of this project and students are encouraged to experiment and have fun with their depictions of animals. The goal is to become used to the idea of thinking of the animal form in 3 dimensions.
Lesson 5
3D form continued. Students will make a simple clay sculpture of a simplified animal head that they can use throughout the class and at home to understand the different angles of the animal facial structure.
Lesson 6
Now using the understanding of 3D shapes students will work on a realistic animal portrait of their choice using pencil or colored pencil (there is some flexibility on the medium used depending on the student’s comfort level). Lecture portion will focus on choosing good reference pictures, how to find sources of inspiration, and composition for animal portraiture.
Lesson 7
Animal portrait continued - during this class students will continue working on their drawn portrait and will receive instruction on depicting lighting and fur texture with lines in pencil and/or ink.
Lesson 8
Animal anatomy continued. In this class students will be introduced to muscle structure, the impact of evolution on an animal’s appearance, brief overview of quadrupedal walk and run, the effect fur has on the animal body shape, focus on identifying big shapes, anatomical landmarks, and construction based on reference images. The project for this class will be drawing several animals from a profile view using techniques detailed in the lecture, ideally of varied body shapes - students are encouraged to choose animals they have particular interest in.
Lesson 9
Gesture revisited and feline anatomy overview. The lecture portion of this class will focus on feline anatomy, the difference between domesticated cats and big cats, rhythm in the feline body, and specifics on drawing paws, ears, eyes and snouts on cats and their relatives. This class will have a project focused on capturing gesture, energy and movement by doing quick sketches of felines from a variety of pictures using the knowledge learned so far throughout the course.
Lesson 10
This lesson will consist of an overview of canine anatomy and the project focus will be on proportion. Lecture portion will go over what makes canines anatomically different from felines, their general body structure, stance and silhouette, differences between wolves, domesticated dogs and their non canine relatives (foxes and hyenas) and tips on drawing characteristics unique to each species/dog breed. The class project will consist of drawing a variety of different canines and dog breeds (at least 3), focusing on the proportional differences between them and how this affects their appearance and shape.
Lesson 11
Ungulates and volume. Ungulates are hoofed mammals, which include horses, deer, cows, pigs, goats, giraffes, even rhinoceros! They have a unique skeletal structure that is quite different from that of their carnivorous counterparts, and due to their large herbivorous digestive system they possess a rounded abdomen that allows us to clearly see overlapping forms when drawing them. Students will get a rundown of ungulate anatomy, primarily focusing on horses, deer, and bovines (cows). The class project will consist of drawing an ungulate of choice once or multiple times with an emphasis on showing 3d form and overlapping shapes.
Lesson 12
Final project start. Overview on ideation, moodboards, choosing a medium, thumbnailing and finding inspiration.
Lesson 13
Watercolor, ink, and colored pencil overview - how to polish a sketch and turn it into a finished art piece.
Lesson 14
Final project wrap-up.
