Drawing Foundations: Sketching the Landscape

Course details

Learn how to quickly capture the atmosphere and mood of a landscape like an artist, and take the next step from sketching at home to sketching outside. This course includes an introduction to the materials you'll need to draw outdoors, as well as 7 practical principles to creating successful landscape sketches, combining drawing theory, on-location drawing demonstrations, and studio-based drawing tutorials. Author Will Kemp, founder of the Will Kemp Art School, shows how to capture, compose, and balance the scene in front of you and take your ideas back to the studio for further refinement.

Learning objectives
Assembling your materials
Integrating proportion, scale, and light
Thinking inside a frame
Drawing with depth
Sketching with a painting in mind
Capturing changing conditions
Drawing rocks, buildings, trees, and more
Creating mood and atmosphere
Putting it all together in the studio

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome

1. Introduction to Materials

02 - Facing the fear of sketching outdoors
03 - Sketchpads and paper
04 - Pencils, pens, and watercolors

2. Landscape Sketching Foundations

05 - What makes an attractive picture
06 - Proportion and scale
07 - Composition
08 - Light and shadow
09 - Perspective and changing viewpoints
10 - How to frame your view and focal point

3. The Basics of Landscape Sketching

11 - A flat drawing
12 - A drawing with depth

4. How to Get the Most Out of Your Sketchbook

13 - What are you going to use your sketches for
14 - A sketch with a painting in mind
15 - From sketch to studio

5. Capturing Changing Conditions

16 - Sky and clouds
17 - Water and reflections

6. How to Draw Elements of the Landscape

18 - Houses and buildings in the landscape
19 - Rocks and mountains
20 - Trees and foliage

7. Creating Mood and Atmosphere

21 - Tonal paper
22 - Pen and wash
23 - Watercolor markers

8. Putting It All Together

24 - Final project - A vast landscape