Drawing Animals from Life
Learn how to bring your animal sketches to life with dynamic gestures!
Teacher Artwork by Marc Lalumière
Drawing Animals from Life
In this course, you’ll learn to accurately depict animals by studying their anatomy, movement, and unique adaptations. You’ll explore a wide variety of species, including live models of insects and fish to cats, dogs, reptiles, and birds, while practicing essential sketching techniques such as texture rendering.
Through lectures, demonstrations, and direct observation, including a field trip to the Redpath Museum, you’ll discover how evolution, behaviour, and environment shape each animal’s form. You’ll also gain insight into how anatomical structures translate into believable movement and character.
By the end of the class, you’ll have the skills to quickly and convincingly sketch real animals, as well as the knowledge to design original and imaginative creatures. You’ll finish the course with a collection of studies and a final creature design project that combines anatomical accuracy with creative vision.
- Course Type Online Illustration Classes
- Duration 10 weeks
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Skill Level
Level 2 Level 2
Second level classes are for students who have a good foundation in the basics of realistic drawing (such as perspective, proportion, shading and colour theory) and already know how to use Photoshop, but need more in-depth knowledge to create professional and complex artwork.
This level is about expanding knowledge, strengthening skills, and transitioning to the world of concept art and illustration.
- Language English
You can now combine 3, 4 or 5 classes to avail a 5, 10 or 15% discount on your purchase!
Our Online Courses are now priced in Canadian Dollars to provide you with quality artistic training at affordable prices.
Schedule
This class will be held onsite at the following location:
Cestar Collège - Studio Syn
3440 rue Ontario E, Montréal, QC H1W 1P9
Term: Winter 2026
Class Timings: Saturdays from 12 PM to 3 PM, Daylight Savings Time (EST or UTC -5h)
Date of first class: January 24th
Duration: 10 weeks
Please note that our classes times are listed as EDT (GMT-4) but that starting on Sunday, November 3rd, 2025, all class times will go into EST (GMT-5).
It should be noted that students should set aside a minimum of 3 hours per week to complete assignments for this class. Students may even require a bit more time (4-5 hours per week) depending on how quickly they can work through assignments.
Prerequisites
To enroll in this course you should have:
- A foundation in the basics of realistic drawing, such as basic perspective, proportions and shading.
- Ideally completed our Foundations of Drawing class or have equivalent practice/experience.
If you are unsure of your skill level, please contact [email protected] for additional guidance.
You should have at least intermediate level English to take this class. Please be advised that there could be artistic nudity in our classes. Students should be 14 years old to enroll.
Minimum Artistic Skills Required
Your current skill level should roughly be on par with the artwork featured here before taking this class. If you are still unsure, please send an email to [email protected]; we will be happy to assess your artwork!
Required Materials
Material List:
- Eraser (any brand)
- Kneadable eraser (any brand)
- Mechanical eraser pen (Tombow recommended)
- Pencil sharpener (any brand)
- Sketching Pencils: 4H, HB, 4B (any brand)
- Colored Pencils: 1 white and 1 black (KOH-I-NOOR or Prismacolor recommended)
- Fabriano Spiral Sketchbook 9"x12" or similar
- Strathmore Bristol Vellum Paper Pad 11"x14" or similar
- A drawing board (26” minimum)
- Bull clips
Optional materials:
- Canson Tracing Paper Pad, 11"x14”
- Brown Craft Paper Sheets 18"x14"
- A blending stump
Course Outline
*Please note that the following outline is subject to change slightly at the teacher's discretion.
Week 1 - Fish: Understand the basics of sketching animals and learn to draw cetaceans and fish
Week 2 - Insects: Learn different sketching techniques and how to draw insects
Week 3 - Reptiles: Understand how to render scales as you draw live reptiles and snakes
Week 4 - Dinosaurs: Take a class field trip to the Redpath museum to sketch dinosaur bones. Illustrate a living dinosaur using what you learned about reptiles to represent realistic muscles and skin around the skeleton (note: students will need to purchase the entry fee)
Week 5 - Birds: Learn how to draw convincing birds
Week 6 - Dogs: Understand the anatomy and movement of canines.
Week 7 - Cats: Understand the anatomy and movement of felines.
Week 8 - Final project: Research and concept
Week 9 - Final project: Drawing
Week 10 - Presentation of the final project
Instructor Info
Registration
You can now combine 3, 4 or 5 classes to avail a 5, 10 or 15% discount on your purchase!
Our Online Courses are now priced in Canadian Dollars to provide you with quality artistic training at affordable prices.
You will soon receive an email receipt for your purchase.
Please bring a photo ID for the first day of class.
Your transaction was not completed. Please try again. If the problem persists, please email us at [email protected] or call us at 514-998-7625
Questions and Assistance
Feel free to send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call at 514-998-7625
Please consult our FAQ; most of the commonly asked questions are answered in detail there. If you cannot find the answer to your question, please feel free to fill out the form below, or, send an email to [email protected]