A self-paced, online course where you’ll learn foundational techniques for sketching birds with ease and confidence from the comfort of your own home.
This introductory course will show you how to quickly and easily capture the essence of living birds through your sketches. Whether your local birds are robins, hummingbirds, woodpeckers or jays, this guide will help you get started sketching them with ease and confidence. You’ll learn basic techniques for creating loose gesture sketches of birds in pencil, including hints for sketching birds from both photographs and from living species in your own backyard!
• Do you enjoy watching birds in your backyard or at the park?
• Have you always wanted to try sketching birds in a journal but didn’t know where to start?
• Perhaps you’ve thought to yourself, “I can’t even draw a stick figure.”
• Do fears of insecurity and judgment hold you back from attempting to learn to draw?
This course is perfect if you are:
• An aspiring sketcher who thinks you can’t even draw a straight line.
• A homeschooling parent who wishes to integrate bird studies into your science curriculum.
• An artist who wants to explore a new subject and medium.
• A field biologist who’d like to incorporate sketching into your research notes.
What’s Included:
This is an online course that includes:
- A 40-page downloadable PDF guide; Sketching Backyard Birds for Beginners.
- Step-by-step video tutorials on a variety of common backyard birds.
- Sections on bird topography and the steps in mastery of bird sketching.
- High-resolution photos of birds to practice sketching from.
BONUSES:
- Beginner’s mini-course; Stick Figures to Songbirds in Sixty Minutes.
- Kid’s section with downloadable bird species coloring pages.
- Ongoing updates to course including videos from recent live workshops.
- When you purchase this course you also get Christine’s 16-page guide Getting Started with Nature Sketching. This downloadable PDF booklet is chock-full of fun and easy sketching activities for the beginner, plus hints for sketching outdoors.
Praise for Christine’s teaching:
“Christine has a refreshingly welcoming approach to teaching about birds through art that reflects her obvious passion for wildlife and conservation of our natural environment. Whether at her home in Oregon or visiting us deep in the tropics at the Vallarta Botanical Garden, she has a marvelous potential to connect people with birds in a rich and meaningful way.”
—Neil Gerlowski, Executive Director, Vallarta Botanical Garden, Mexico
The Benefits of a Sketching Practice:
You’ll find that the practice of sketching can serve as a meditative, stress-reducing activity. It can also serve as a focused way to learn more about the behavior and anatomy of your subject.
My philosophy about sketching is that the process is more important than the product. I don’t believe in teaching people to draw solely for the purpose of making a ‘pretty picture’. I focus instead on what you learn about your subject through your sustained observations while you sketch.
So, in this course, you’ll improve both your observation skills and your drawing skills, and have fun while you’re at it!
About the Creator:
Hi, I’m Christine. I love helping nature-loving folks who’d like to be able to sketch what they see in nature to break through their insecurities around drawing, in order to form a deeper connection with the natural world through their sketchbooks.
I’ve spent over 20 years teaching people to enjoy the beauty of nature through the practice of nature sketching. I’ve taught workshops for folks of all ages, both in the U.S. and at international birding conferences and festivals.
I can proudly say that my students routinely tell me, “This is the best drawing I’ve ever done!”
My formal education includes Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in biology as well as a graduate certificate in scientific illustration.
In addition to teaching, I co-lead birdwatching tours throughout the western hemisphere and enjoy sketching the many exotic birds I encounter, from hummingbirds in Costa Rica to hornbills in Malaysia.
More Praise:
“Christine is a dynamite teacher, even for slow art learners like me. I’ve taken two bird sketching classes with her – she’s patient, entertaining and knows how to integrate biology with technique.”
—Denise Fainberg, student
“Christine is so genuine—in her love of nature and desire to teach others about its beauty. She warmly welcomes people into her nature-loving community. You won’t regret joining Christine!”
—Ian Fawley, Interpretive Ranger, Silver Falls State Park, Oregon
“Your introducing me to drawing (the scariest thing ever!) actually has led me to draw as a form of meditation and journaling without words … loving it!!! Thank you forever.”
—Marie Mathews, student
“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
“Christine is a strong, youthful scientist who entices others to look at the loveliness of nature. Her energy is contagious. Her passion and love for nature permeate whatever it is she is doing. She’s the real deal and has the scientific knowledge to accompany her enthusiasm.”
—Jill Harke, Director, John Muir Mountain Day Camp
