Animal Illustration with Charcoal and Ink
A course by Laura McKendry , Artist and Illustrator
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
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 (320)
- 14,279 students
- 15 lessons (3h 9m)
- 24 additional resources (12 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- 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
Laura McKendry
A course by Laura McKendry
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.
fnino46
Esta fue una nueva forma de hacer mis dibujos y he mejorado dibujos que hice en otra epoca, muy bueno el curso y ahora tengo mas conocimientos para mis trabajos.
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urielgmendoza
Great course, i feel inspiration , the teacher is amazing
jkim
Laura is great teacher and artist and explain the process in plain language for novice like myself. It was a joy to follow her instruction.
ritu_basetia
Love the freshness of the creative process. This is my second course with Laura, and both have been inspiring
jaalonsofe
PlusHola Laura McKendry.
Ante todo quería felicitarte por tus cursos, los dos que he realizado (Sketching creativo en acuarela e Ilustración de animales con carboncillo y tinta) me han parecido muy inspiradores.
Ha sido muy interesante tu filosofía de como enfrentarse a la pintura, sin limitaciones y ataduras, de forma totalmente libre.
Muchas gracias y espero que puedas seguir publicando más cursos.
Un saludo.
Jesús Alonso
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