Drawing Exercises Designed to Improve Your Field Sketching Abilities

TIPS FOR 'FIELD SKETCHING' INDOORS!

Below you'll find two videos to help you hone your field sketching skills when you can't get out in the field.

The first video is a recording of a live workshop where I cover some of the challenges of field sketching, then I lead you through some sketching exercises using photos and videos from my travels.

In the second video, I lead you through several more drawing exercises as described below.

Video #1: Introduction to Virtual Field Sketching Challenges and Sketching from Videos Exercises

Video #2: Sketching from Photos Exercises

The exercises in the video training below are designed to sharpen your field sketching techniques when you can't get in the field or haven't had much experience drawing living wildlife in the field. The exercises are drawn from previous workshops I've taught (some of which you may have already viewed) but even if you've seen them before, I believe they are excellent exercises to practice regardless.

-Please download the handouts below which I use in the video demonstration (except the one titled 'Bonus Reference Photos' which you can use for additional practice after completing the exercises below.

SUMMARY OF VIDEO EXERCISES and WILDLIFE SKETCHED

1.      Blind contour (acorn). 9-minute mark

2.      Non-dominant hand (toucan). 13-minute mark

3.      Mirror image (African Elephant). 20-minute mark

4.      Gesture sketches (Asian Elephant, not narrated). 32-minute mark

5.      Drawing from memory (dying poison dart frog). 43-minute mark

6.      Gesture sketching (amphibians). 57-minute mark

7.      Timed gesture sketching (American Robin, not narrated). 80-minute

8.      “Live’ sketching practice (Black-headed Grosbeak nest video).89-minute mark

(You can watch the higher-resolution grosbeak video on my YouTube channel, as well as many other wildlife videos to practice from)

Complete and Continue