Sketching Neotropical Birds is a course that builds upon (and comes bundled with) Christine’s foundational courses, Sketching Backyard Birds for Beginners and Stick Figures to Songbirds in Sixty Minutes.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Monthly Live Workshops
This course includes a new workshop each month for a year, starting in January 2021. The workshops are taught live online to encourage participation with students but can be watched at any time in the future at one’s leisure. They average 90 minutes and introduce the basic biology, ecology, and anatomy of the month’s featured family of birds followed by a step-by-step drawing demonstration and a question and answer session with students sharing their drawings.
Monthly workshops focus on families that are primarily or exclusively found in the neotropics such as Quetzals, Trogons, Tanagers, Cotingas, Motmots, Manakins, Harpy Eagles, Sunbitterns, and much more!
Bundled Foundational Courses
Sketching Backyard Birds for Beginners; a course that covers foundational concepts in drawing birds, with a focus on families well represented in the northern hemisphere including warblers, cardinals, thrushes, chickadees, quail, finches, orioles, sparrows, jays and much more.
Stick Figures to Songbirds in Sixty Minutes; a quick course for beginning sketchers to familiarize yourself with Christine’s Six Step Roadmap to Sketching Success.
"As a beginning birder, learning more about birds and how to draw them has deepened my experience. As an artist, her supportive teaching style has really improved my drawing skills. Her courses have given me real confidence. I really can't recommend Christine enough. Beyond that, her classes are fun and something I really look forward to as she delights me with the natural world.”
- Heather Crellin
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Course Curriculum
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PreviewJanuary Workshop: Quetzals; Family Trogonidae
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StartFebruary Workshop: Tanagers; Family Thraupidae
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StartMarch Workshop: Cotingas, Family Cotingidae
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StartApril Workshop: Manakins; Family Pipridae
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StartMay Workshop: Motmots; Family Momotidae
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StartJune Workshop: Accipiters and the Harpy Eagle
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StartJuly Workshop; Kingfishers; Family Alcedinidae
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StartAugust Workshop: Tyrant Flycatchers; Family Tyrannidae
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StartSeptember Workshop: Macaw Parrots; Psittacidae Family
"Christine helped me to become more confident and excited about drawing birds. As a big-picture ecologist, I’ve thoroughly loved getting back into the habit of slowing down and focusing on the smaller details. I feel like I’ve become a better artist AND a better biologist! Plus, Christine’s videos are very approachable, educational, and fun"
- Nicole Weprin
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"Christine Elder is a great teacher as you feel she is talking to YOU even though it is all online right now. It is non-threatening for a beginner like me who until recently was scared by a blank sheet of paper. What is especially wonderful is that thanks to Christine’s teaching and guidance I pay more attention to everything in nature, I notice more details... a delightful progression from looking with binoculars, to taking photos and making video clips, and now drawing and even painting. The world has become bigger, more beautiful, and more interesting. "
- Charlotte Elton
Your Instructor
I love helping people discover how easy, fun, and satisfying it is to sketch and paint the natural world.
I’ve taught sketching courses for over two decades, both as local classes and abroad at festivals and conferences in the U.S., Jamaica, Mexico, and Honduras.
I can proudly say that my students routinely tell me, “This is the best drawing I’ve ever done!”
As a professional biological illustrator, I’ve worked on numerous projects for books, magazines, scientists, and museums.
I’ve also led international nature sketching holidays to such exotic locales as Mexico and Honduras.
My favorite media include pencil, pen, watercolor, and gouache. I also enjoy digital art techniques using my Cintiq tablet.
My formal education includes Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in biology as well as a graduate certificate in scientific illustration.
I reside in central Oregon, where I love to hike, ride horses, and take my nature journal into the mountains where I love to sketch and paint the wildflowers, birds, and mammals I see..
“Christine is such a wonderful teacher. She knows her field really well and is very generous with her time and information. Her classes are top of the line and so much fun.”
—Lorna Cahall, student
Frequently Asked Questions
My Guarantee
If you’re not completely satisfied, I offer an unconditional 30-day money-back guarantee. However, I do hope that you’ll first watch some of the workshops and try the sketching exercises before you decide that it wasn’t worth the money you paid.