Start date: Thursday 26th February 2026

Subject: Sketching Mountain Wildlife

Medium: Graphite Pencil

Course length: 6 x 1.5-hour lessons (9 hours total)

Included in the workshop: All tuition, reference photo (emailed), feedback and an edited recording of the course.

A workshop kit containing everything you need is available to purchase for £8.99

Suitable for: Beginners and advanced artists.

Location: Live via Zoom – invitation emailed after booking.

Time: 7.00pm-8:30pm GMT (Please be ready with your materials by 6.45pm)

Price: £99

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COURSE STARTED

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My Zoom sketching courses have taken us on journeys to varied habitats in different parts of the globe in search of wildlife to discover and sketch.

In this course, we will be sketching a selection of animals that have made their home in some of the world's mountainous regions. Mountains make up around 25% of the earth's land area, but play host to more than 85 % of the world's animals.

The course will focus on the fundamental techniques of sketching wildlife with a graphite pencil. We will look at the use of basic shapes to quickly establish correct proportions. Shading - utilising techniques such as hatching, scribble shading, blending and highlighting - will be closely covered in each of the subjects. These techniques will be important in sketching the variety of textures in fur and feathers, as well as finer details.

Along the way, as we get to know the individual subjects through the sketching process, we will also learn something of their mountainous habitat, physiology, status and other interesting facts.

After the course, you can discover and research even more mountain wildlife to add to your collection of sketches; the more you practice, the more your sketching will improve.

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Lesson 1 - Thursday 26th February - Wild Yak

The wild yak is an undomesticated ox found in the Himalayas. A huge animal, weighing in at over 2000 pounds and sporting a thick, shaggy fur coat, the wild yak is certainly an imposing sight.

The first lesson will focus initially on the basic shapes needed to quickly establish the overall form and proportions of the yak. I've always found this to be an invaluable part of the sketching process, whether from photographs or from life.

There are varied textures in our first subject, especially that long, shaggy fur, which I'll show you how to create quickly and effectively in a sketch.

We will also be using the kneadable eraser as a highlighting tool this week, especially on the horns of the yak, to suggest the harder, shinier surface.

As with all of our subjects in this course, you will have to option to add a hint of background to suggest the appropriate habitat or, if you prefer, to leave the background blank. Naturally, I will provide visual suggestions/guidance should you need it. Alternatively, you can research and add in your own background.

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Lesson 2 - Thursday 5th March - Alpine Marmot

The alpine marmot is a large ground-dwelling squirrel, up to a metre in size.

This rather chubby, but cute-looking rodent has a thick fur coat that enables it to live in the cold, high mountains of central Europe.

This week's sketch focuses mainly on the thick fur texture of the marmot around the front legs, contrasting with the short, dense fur of the head and face.

The facial features are very squirrel-like; especially the small dark, shiny eyes, which will create a focal point for the finished sketch.

The addition of a muted, alpine background will give perspective to the sketch.

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Lesson 3 - Thursday 12th March - Andean Condor

Andean condors are the world's largest raptors and the largest flying birds by wingspan, soaring high above the mountains and valleys of the Andes. This week's sketch will seek to capture this huge bird in flight.

After establishing basic shapes and proportions, the main focus will be on the types and textures of the feathers – mostly the wing feathers.

Pencil shading is fairly straightforward in this sketch; mostly black and white feathers.

There will be the chance to create some contrasting texture in the mountain background; muted in tone to allow the condor to be the focal point of course.

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Lesson 4 - Thursday 19th March - Alpaca

Alpacas inhabit marshy mountainous areas of South America, from Colombia and Ecuador down to northern Chile and Argentina.

This week's sketch focuses on, for me at least, the most interesting part of the alpaca – the head, and the thick, woolly fur on top of the head.

Once again, the initial focus will be on using basic shapes to establish the proportions of the head and camel-like facial features.

The alpaca's dense fur, especially on top of the head will be created using a combination of light pencil shading, soft blending with paper towel and lifting out with the kneadable eraser; altogether some interesting techniques in this week's sketch.

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Lesson 5 - Thursday 26th March - Chamois

Chamois are related to goats, sheep and antelopes. Like mountain goats, chamois are well suited to the mountainous areas of Europe and western Asia.

The pose of the chamois is one I particularly like to sketch; a rear view of the animal with its head turned back. This pose can be quite a challenge if you don't use the basic shapes method to begin with. Naturally this is the initial focus of this week's sketch.

Once the basic shapes are lined up correctly, we can then establish the outline, antlers and markings before adding some more relaxed scribble shading to create the fur texture.

After the sharper details have been sketched in, a subtle hint of mountains in the background will bring context to our sketch of this handsome chamois.

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Lesson 6 - Thursday 2nd April - Mountain Gorilla

Mountain gorillas are one of the largest and strongest living primate species. Despite their imposing appearance, these social, peaceful, and mostly vegetarian creatures are gentle giants, inhabiting the volcanic slopes of eastern Africa.

The 'knuckling' stance of an adult male mountain gorilla, with his head turned to the viewer is a powerful image, and this is where we can put into practice what we have so far learned from the basic shapes method.

Most of the fur can be sketched using the scribble hatch process, while the facial features will naturally require a little closer attention.

The addition of a dark forest background will help us to use the kneadable eraser to lift out atmospheric highlights to further strengthen that classic outline.

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There is a kit available to accompany this course, which includes:

• 2B graphite Pencil

• A4 150gsm Cartridge Paper (approx. 8 sheets)

• kneadable eraser

• Reference photos (6) emailed before the class and included in the kit
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​​** Kits are posted out approx. 1 week before the course starts **