Animal Illustration with Charcoal and Ink
A course by user2352442 surname2352442 , Artist and Illustrator
Joined March 2020
Embrace the simplicity of ink and charcoal and learn to print, draw, and paint striking black-and-white illustrations full of expression
Embrace the simplicity of ink and charcoal and learn to print, draw, and paint striking black-and-white illustrations full of expression
Joined March 2020
When you stop to observe the world around you, whether it’s a beloved pet or a stray pigeon, drawing it can help you gain awareness of how we all coexist. Illustrator Laura McKendry, who’s collaborated with names like Laura Ashley and Waterstones, aims to study our relationship with our surroundings in its purest form.
In this online course, learn new techniques to print, draw, and paint your favorite species. Discover how eliminating color allows you to focus on shape and expression, and compose striking black-and-white illustrations bursting with life!
If you’d like to learn more about creative illustration, take a look at her other Domestika courses: Creative Watercolor Sketching for Beginners and Illustrating Nature: A Creative Exploration.
What will you learn in this online course?
15 lessons & 24 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (299)
- 12,797 students
- 15 lessons (3h 9m)
- 24 additional resources (12 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, Turkish
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Create three separate illustrations: an animal series using monoprint patterns, a charcoal drawing of a dog (or other animal of your choice), and an illustration of a pair of animals using charcoal powder.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone interested in the world of animal illustration or with the desire to create black-and-white illustrations using a playful and expressive approach.
Requirements and materials
You don’t need any previous experience to take this course.
As for materials, you need:
- Block printing ink
- Paper
- A sheet of acrylic or glass
- Erasers
- Stick charcoal
- Charcoal pencils and charcoal powder
- A few other household objects
Reviews
A course by user2352442 surname2352442
Laura McKendry is an illustrator and artist based in London, UK, who is renowned for incorporating unusual tools and materials into her watercolor and ink-based pieces. Her work can be found on greeting cards, wrapping paper, homeware, and fine art prints for clients like Artko, Impress, Jaccart, Laura Ashley, Papyrus, WHSmith, and Waterstones.
Her book cover illustration for André Alexis’ novel Fifteen Dogs was nominated for the V&A Illustration Awards in 2016. She also teaches short courses on drawing and illustration at Central Saint Martins and the University of Arts London, and runs online workshops that focus on finding ways to unlock creativity while perfecting creative techniques.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
The Monoprint: Safari Animals
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Opening Your Toolkit
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An Introduction to Monoprinting
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Next Steps in Monoprinting
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Experimental Monoprint Animals
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U3
Charcoal Sticks: A Dog
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The Basics of Charcoal Drawing
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Choosing a Reference Photo
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Building Blocks
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Increasing the Intensity
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U4
Charcoal Powder: A Pair of Lemurs
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Experimental Charcoal
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Building a Composition
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A Pair of Lemurs
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U5
Sharing and Storing
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How to Photograph, Scan, and Share the Work
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How to Store the Work
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FP
Final project
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Animal Illustration with Charcoal and Ink
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
displayname11195334
PlusThe course was excellent! The content was well-presented. I would definitely recommend it to others.
displayname4418303
Laura you are incredible inspiring. I love the way you look at things and let go of perfectionisme. I learned so much. I loved all your 3 courses!
displayname8159086
A really great course. Very inspiring. I've already watched it several times. Always inspires you to get creative. I love the course! Thank you!
displayname13892863
I love how the expert Laura encourages experimentation and "playing around" with tools and techniques. She removes the fear of failure by showing us how to have several of the same drawing at the same time., removing the pressure of creating that one perfect drawing.
Thus, we get to know, and experiment with different things on the same drawing. She also helped me realise that tracing is not evil -as I had been taught at school!
displayname8898511
the course is very interesting and offers a playful approach; the works that are obtained are extraordinary and of great effect. Laura is very clear in her explanations and stimulating. I highly recommend it
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