Free Nature Illustration Course Starting Online Soon!

Creatively homeschooling parents, eclectic homeschoolers, and Charlotte Mason teachers, you’ll enjoy this free nature illustration course! A few months ago, I shared that I was going to take a “nature journal college course” from the University of Newcastle.  I really loved it! The course covers botanical illustration, but goes so much deeper than just showing you how the teacher draws objects.  Instead, you are encouraged to draw the object as you see it!  Also, you’ll learn about natural history illustrators who are helping scientists (an artist will sometimes notice things that are missed in photographs or not noticed by simply viewing an animal). 

Guess what?  The free nature illustration course is being repeated!  It begins September 18th, 2018.  The free course is called Drawing Nature, Science and Culture: Natural History Illustration 101. It comes to us online, from the University of Newcastle in Australia.

What is in this Nature Illustration Course

Here is the course schedule:

• Week 1: Introduction to the course
• Week 2: Observational Drawing
• Week 3: Field sketching and recording techniques
• Week 4: The structure of flowers and leaves
• Week 5: The structure of mammals and birds
• Week 6: Rendering (creating finished artworks)
• 
  

Here is the official introductory video:

How to Enroll and Participate in Nature Illustration 101

The Nature Illustration 101 course begins September 18, 2018. There’s still plenty of time to register, but do it soon so you’ll be ready!

The course will go on for 6 weeks, and the time needed (“effort”) is 3-6 hours per week, all of them pleasant. Once registered, you’ll be able to access the course after it is completed, but will not have the instructor’s input anymore.

You will not receive college credit for taking the free course, but you can purchase a “verified certificate” from EdX.  I don’t know anything about what that really means, but you’ll see the option when you sign up.  

A money-saving tip: I’m not an affiliate of EdX, but wanted to tell you that I noticed eBates will give you 6.5% cash back – just thought I’d throw that out there, if you wanted to go the certificate way (I simply took the course for free).