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Animal Drawing

Animal Drawing

An 8-week course focused on understanding and illustrating animals by breaking down animal anatomy to its simplest forms and shapes
cover image

Illustrate & analyze the animal form

Illustrate & analyze the animal form
Animal Drawing emphasizes developing an understanding of the anatomy of wildlife and domestic animals. Students will learn to construct quadruped skeletons as well as rendering fur and reptilian skin. Furthermore, there is an exploration of form and perspective with an analysis of gestures and expressions. Learning to draw animals is a vital step in creating populated landscapes as well as building a foundation that strengthens believability when developing creature designs.
Registration Now Open
Registration Period
Jul 17, 2024 - Oct 07, 2024
Course Start
Oct 02, 2024

Course Format

Standard

Skills Level

Beginner to Intermediate

Duration

8 weeks

Q&A

Once a week

Feedback

Individual recordings

Lecture Type

Pre-recorded
Assignment
Due each week. Expect to spend 8-10 hrs/wk viewing lectures, Q&A, and time on assignments.
PREREQUISITES
Good drawing foundation or analytical figure drawing
MATERIALS
Photoshop (or equivalent), OR sketchbook, paper, pencils, pens, brushes

The more you know, the better.

Introduction to structure: how animals are built | Understanding form | Gesture | Shape & bony landmarks in equine & bovine forms
Introduction to the skeleton: movement & limitations of the joints | Balance & proportions | Learn how to take the complex skeleton and simplify it to basic shapes to have a manageable way to better understand how the skeleton of the animal functions and moves
Form and form direction | Filling out structure and surface form with muscle and deep tissue masses
Breaking down the forms into simple shapes | Familiarize yourself with skeletal landmarks and shapes of the animals covered in this week | Study from photos and life if possible
Understanding the construction of basic shapes & muscle structures within them | Construct your animal drawings as you put together skeletal structure with muscle forms and shapes on top | Focus on understanding the foundation of the animal through skeleton and construction drawings before adding muscles
Construction shapes | Skeleton & muscle overviews | In-depth look at how aquatic animals function
Construction shapes | Skeleton & muscle overview | Wing feather groups | Beaks | Folding & unfolding of the wings
Bird hipped | Lizard hipped | Construction shapes | Muscle & skeleton overview | Rendering techniques for coloring & finalizing animal drawings

Bringing out the best in talent

LECTURES BY Shannon Beaumont
Course Start: Oct 02, 2024
Mike Wiesmeier has been working in the animation industry since 1991. Mike’s production work has included interactive, commercial, games, and feature animation projects, including six features at Walt Disney Feature Animation, work as a supervisor on a traditionally animated feature film in Barcelona, Spain, and most recently on a AAA game, interactive theme park ride, and Netflix series projects in Montréal. Mike’s teaching career began while working at Walt Disney Feature Animation. In the years since he has taught animation, life drawing, animal drawing, and figure sculpture at institutions worldwide including The Art Institutes of California, The Getty Center museum, The Huntington Library, Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Syn Studio École d’Art in Montréal, and Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy.

Instructor's Gallery

Concept Art

PRICING SCHEDULE

Even though our courses are the most affordable for the quality of education, these finance options allow you to focus on your goals instead of the barriers that keep you from reaching them.

3x Payments

$233

2x Payments

$349.50

Full payment

$699

Fall TERM REGISTRATION Now Open
Jul 17, 2024 - Oct 07, 2024
COURSE BEGINS on Oct 02, 2024
Animal Drawing

What makes this learning experience unique?

PERSONALIZED FEEDBACK

Receive personalized feedback on all assignments from the industry’s top professionals.

LIFETIME ACCESS

Enjoy lifetime access to the spectrum of course content, including lectures, live Q&As, and feedback sessions.

CERTIFICATION

Show off your Certification of Completion when you turn in 80% of course assignments.

FLEXIBLE LEARNING

Learn anywhere, anytime, and at your own pace with flexible, online course scheduling.

Testimonials

Very enthusiastic and engaging. Listening to her lectures and her live Q&A was always a pleasure.

Ian

Shannon was very informative and engaged in everyone’s work with wonderful feedback.

Alyssa

Very knowledgeable of the content taught within the class. Great at clearly conveying ideas and concepts to the students, even without direct contact or interaction during the lectures.

Cody

Awesome instructor! She’s really nice and even takes the extra time to post additional resources. Also quite patient and understanding.

Eric

Shannon is a wonderful person and teacher. Her love for her craft does nothing but inspire to be better and I will ALWAYS be thankful to her for that!

Antonio

Shannon goes above and beyond. She visibly puts more time, effort and energy into each student’s work and critique than anyone else. Her critique and QAs are always lengthy (in a good way), she explains things in simple terms, and she is constantly sharing resources, whether on the forums or in the QAs or your critiques. Her caring and commitment to her students shows through in all she does.

Tyler

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