This is an introduction to my approach for sketching animals. When learning to draw a new subject, it’s best to study a variety of subjects that have a commonality among them, so for the first lesson our subject will be dogs that are sitting or lying down. I’ll take you through some examples and talk about the differences in my approach when doing a 1, 2 or 5 minute pose.

The initial marks of a sketch are arguably the most important because, just like the foundational beams of a building, those first marks will act as the groundwork on which the rest of your sketch will build upon. It can be difficult to understand the initial marks of a sketch, so in this lesson, I will walk you through my thought process of sketching simplified lines to represent what we see.

In many ways, monkeys can be more challenging to sketch than dogs due to their mobility. They are able to execute a much wider variety of poses since they have the ability to walk on their feet and have opposable thumbs. In this lesson, we will explore some of these more complex poses and I will show you how I’m able to capture the essence of them in a sketch.

The block-in technique can be an extremely powerful one when used effectively and is a popular way of getting a rough “blueprint” of your sketch down quickly. It’s also a completely different way of thinking than when we sketch with lines, which is why in this lesson, we will be concentrating on this specific technique and how to use it effectively as we practice sketching a wide variety of subjects, from little tiny squirrels to the giant elephant.

Linear structure is another powerful tool that exercises a different way of thinking and sketching than the block-in technique. While this technique is very common, it’s also one that I’ve found to often be executed incorrectly or inefficiently. In this lesson, we will concentrate on linear structure and how to properly apply this technique, focusing on several subjects that will vary in species.

Get ready for our sketches to really take off because in this lesson, birds are our subject! I’ll start by talking about the mechanics of bird anatomy as well as how to simplify them to capture their essence quickly and efficiently, and then we will tackle sketching various types of birds so that we can also explore their similarities and differences. We’ll also be doing 10 minute poses for the first time.