I recommend following the sequence of lessons listed below, especially for beginners, which will help you get the most out of this course quickly.

1.      Gather some basic sketching materials. All you really need for exercises #1-6 below are a graphite pencil and some paper. Once you work through those, you can gather more art supplies for exercise #7 and above. You may want to check out the Suggested Materials section for a list of my favorite art supplies.

2.      Sign up for Weekly Tips and set aside 30 minutes each week to try these quick and fun exercises.

3.      Complete the introductory mini-course; Stick Figures to Songbirds in Sixty Minutes

4.      Download and complete the simple exercises in the Getting Started with Nature Sketching workbook.

5.      Complete the Whole Brain Techniques workshop. 

6.      Start the unit of Foundational Drawing concepts doing it in order, especially the Line, Shape, and Form lessons.

7.      Start the unit on Media Demonstrations, beginning with the Showcase of Sketching Materials video to get inspired about and familiar with some various art media I recommend.

8.      Based on which materials most interested you in the previous video, continue to explore the other media demonstrations in this unit.

9.      Once you’ve gotten familiar with some media and practiced some of the techniques above, I recommend continued practice with the video in the Nature Journal Page Demonstration.

10.  And at any time you might want to pop into any of the quick tips listed under the Unit; Quick Lessons to Improve Your Drawing Abilities.