Have you ever seen someone’s realistic drawing and thought, “HOW did they do that?” You may think that some people are natural artists and others aren’t, but even those gifted with a nature talent will drastically improve their skills by understanding the fundamentals of their subject matter, and by learning simple tricks about how art behaves. That means that anyone can improve by learning these things too. 

This is a confidence building class for your nature and art lovers. In this one time class learners will be given some simple tricks to improve the proportions, artistic quality and accuracy of their work. They will learn to follow the step-by-step process to draw more realistic birds, even if they have no art experience. All these little birders need to improve their bird drawings is the ability to pay attention, follow instructions, and a willingness to give it a try. This is a skill that can grow with the youngest learners. This class is also available for ages 9-12.

The first half of the class we will be learning a few simple but transformational tools that are like keys to unlock the students ability to draw birds realistically again and again without teacher guidance. We will quickly discuss the importance of observation and learn to see basic shapes in our reference photos. 
In the second part of the class, I will lead the students in a directed drawing of a bird, using the techniques and tools that we discussed in the first portion of the class. 
If there is time left, students are welcome to add color to their birds. 

The aim is that by the end of this class, students feel confident enough to go away and apply what they’ve learned to continue to draw expressive, realistic birds on their own. This is the perfect lesson for nature lovers, nature journalers, and art lovers alike. We will draw simple, but realistic birds from photos as practice for longer drawings, or for documenting birds from life for nature journaling.


PLEASE NOTE: I have had some feedback from parents saying that they cannot find the files that are supposed to be available after enrollment. Outschool has told me that you can find these by clicking a button that prompts you to view the class as the parent, not the student. If you cannot find them, you can message me, but they are also not necessary to have printed out for class. Students will be able to follow along with the class without the references printed. They are for your convenience only.