Natural Science Illustration Program

Drawing I is the foundation course for all sequential courses taken at the Yale Peabody Museum. It is here that the necessary techniques in rendering light on form, value, texture, perspective, proportion, and composition are taught. Each student will be given individual assignments and critiques, along with a final project, which is due at the culmination of the course.

Drawing

Learn the basics of observational drawing starting with simple objects so that you can sketch what you find outdoors as well as indoors. Students will be encouraged to carry their sketchbooks and journals wherever they go; and there will be a balance between presentations by the instructor with actual practice followed by group critiques. Guest naturalists will join some of our critiques so that they can help us identify what we discover in the different seasons. Learn to slow down and observe more deeply as you connect and open up to the ineffable in natural objects through the making of art.

Drawing

Students will explore, sketch, and journal outside and then will bring some seasonal specimens they find inside to work from.  In April and May we will be searching for spring flowers, and we will welcome guest naturalists who will help us identify things that we have discovered.  Learn to slow down and observe more deeply as you connect and open up to the ineffable in natural objects through the making of art.

Drawing

We will read and discuss writings with the theme of nature, and we will explore and discover possibilities for creating our own haiku and other simple forms of poetry. We will then see how these words can inspire us when we are enjoying observational drawing, and we will try illustrating our own poems.

Drawing

Get a taste of what is involved when you paint with watercolor. The traditional approach to transparent watercolor painting will be taught, with the focus on limited palettes, mixing, layering, and glazing to create luminous, beautiful colors in this special medium.

Watercolor

Learn the fundamentals of color theory to enhance your work in any medium.  The class will work mostly in water media and colored pencil, but students may use any medium of choice. One 3-hour session.

Workshop

Start in on the basics of observational drawing as you draw your own maple leaf. You will have the opportunity to practice gesture and contour drawing after watching a demonstration, and at the end you will be able to discuss all drawings with the group.

Drawing

Capture the essence and beauty of a Barred Owl with simple linework using graphite, charcoal, and carbon pencil. No previous drawing experience is necessary. Open to beginners as well as experienced artists.

Drawing

Learn the structure of a blue jay feather and how to authentically portray its color and detail in watercolor and colored pencil. No previous drawing/painting experience is necessary. Open to beginners as well as experienced artists.

Drawing

Exploring the shapes, colors, lumps and bumps of seasonal gourds! All drawn in colored pencil.

Colored Pencil

Botanists identify trees in winter by their dormant twigs and buds. Working from a key, students will be able to name the species of a tree from a photograph of these delicate, intricate structures. They will make their own drawings of these special features so they can identify tree species outside in their own neighborhood.

Drawing

Dive right into this beginner class. Guided projects, chosen by the instructor, introduces students to essential colored pencil techniques. No experience necessary.

Colored Pencil

Through the eyes of a naturalist and an artist, explore the fascinating lives of birds of the Northeast, documenting their nesting, breeding, and migrating habits via a sketchbook journal. We will record and draw our observations of various common species of birds, their anatomy, and their interrelationships with plants. No previous drawing experience is necessary, but Drawing I is recommended. Open to beginners as well as experienced artists.

Drawing

The shadows and intricacies of bird nests lend themselves beautifully to the medium of pen and ink. This workshop will explore the process of drawing a nest from life using a Micron pen.

NOTE: This course will be taught in a Yale classroom, in-person only

Drawing

During each class session we will focus on different themes in nature by looking at drawings and watercolors from the Yale University Art Gallery’s collection. We will discuss the works we are focusing on as a group, as the instructor facilitates. A staff member from the YUAG will join us for the discussion and Q&A in the last half-hour. During each month the students will be encouraged to explore the illustrated YUAG online catalog for added information as they write and sketch in their journals.

Other

This class will guide participants through a step-by-step illustration of a well-known Peabody dinosaur, Triceratops. We’ll begin by studying the unique characteristics of Triceratops and drawing the skeleton. We’ll add the proposed musculature over the skeleton and finally a body covering in color. This step-by-step approach can be applied to illustrations of other prehistoric animals as well as modern vertebrates. Materials will include drafting film and colored pencil. Drawing experience recommended.

Colored Pencil

We will explore some of the wonderful new books out there and have the opportunity to have a dialogue with some of the authors and illustrators. We will also learn about the process of creating children’s books by journaling and creating storyboards for our own books!

Other

Museum exhibits often require models for display. Students will explore the process to create 3D models of a nature related objects using SUPER SCULPEY, a polymer clay, which is a professional level material that allows for highly detailed model making. Students learn product details, modeling, creating texture, baking, painting and displaying museum models.

Other

Do you have an idea for a children’s wildlife related picture book? Students explore developing ideas to preparing documents for submission to publishers. The workshops explore the research, concept development, sketching, book layout design, text design, illustrative techniques and putting the full package together for submission. It is suggested that students come to class with a book idea.

Other

Are you considering creating an online portfolio or a website? This course is for those who have yet to have their own online space or are looking to reboot their outdated website. Since everyone's needs and goals will be different, this course will guide the students one step at a time to narrow down what type of website service/platform would match their needs while considering comfort levels in the digital space.

Digital

Stunning artistry with a pencil! Create silvery tonal portraits of animals and plants and free yourself from an artificial light source. Like artists since Renaissance times, students will learn to intuitively portray their subjects with light coming from the upper left. Through toning in this way, students will bring their subjects to 3-dimensional life in intricate detail.

Drawing

This course will introduce students to the fascinating world of drawing and painting birds. To better understand how birds behave, a basic foundation of avian anatomy will be introduced, using taxidermy mounts and skins from the Yale Peabody Museum’s vertebrate zoology collection. We will learn how to observe the structure, behavior, and coloration of various bird species by field sketching and painting birds from live video cams. Hands-on demonstrations will be included, as well as individual guided instruction and critiques.

Prerequisite: NSI 244X: Watercolor I

Multi-media

The beauty and clarity of natural science drawings in ink have been admired for centuries. Students will master the techniques of traditional scientific illustration using both crow quill and technical pens to depict the natural world in stipple and line.

Prerequisite: NSI 201X: Drawing II

Drawing

Learning the elements of composition and design is essential for completing successful paintings and illustrations. Exploring Notan composition, spatial relationships, the golden mean, balance, and structure, we will create dynamic studies that will serve as templates for final watercolor, colored pencil, and mixed media compositions.

Prerequisites: NSI 101X: Drawing I & NSI 201X: Drawing II, NSI 244X: Watercolor I or NSI 244X: Colored Pencil I

Colored Pencil

Learn the techniques of applying layers of delicate tones with colored pencil to create velvety finishes reminiscent of early botanical paintings and scientific drawings. We will experiment with tinted papers, solvents, drafting film, and burnishing techniques to achieve these dramatic effects.

Colored Pencil

Begin your exploration of color with this approachable medium. In our first few meetings students learn and practice key color concepts: primary and secondary color, local color, color temperature, hue, chroma and value.  With this background, students will then learn techniques needed to create beautiful, detailed drawings on a variety of drawing surfaces.

Colored Pencil

Learn the basic techniques of watercolor painting including mixing color, washes, layering, dry versus wet, and achieving fine detail. Students will learn how to plan a painting and develop it carefully in order to capture the beauty of the medium.

Watercolor

Whether you are taking classes for your own enjoyment or to complete the Certificate program, this is your opportunity to receive personal guidance from an instructor on a work in progress or a final course project that you have not submitted.  You will benefit from the instructor's personal insight and discussion of other student work.  All media will be considered. 

Other

In this class, students will observe and sketch specimens from the vertebrate anatomy collection at the Yale West Campus. Areas of focus will be research and hands-on study of the anatomy and musculature of the cat and the horse and an in-depth final study of a vertebrate of choice representing its skeletal and musculature development.

Drawing

In this virtual 8-week course, students will take their completed illustrations in a traditional medium and manipulate them for publication in Adobe Photoshop. The famously complicated and ever-changing Photoshop palettes and tools will be discussed and the tools most often used by professional scientific illustrators will be covered. After taking this workshop, the students should have a working knowledge and a basic understanding of Adobe Photoshop.

Digital

Explore the exquisite variety of form, function and structural adaptations of flowering plants. Each week students will draw the parts of two flowers from different families to produce an artistic botanical plate of each one. When possible, students will dissect live flowers in class. When fresh flowers are unavailable to students, they will work from published references to produce their illustrations. Each class will include a primer on basic botany.

Other

In this course we will use colored pencil and graphite on paper to create a botanical illustration. Emphasis will be on colored pencil technique creating color studies of the subject using sketches and transferring sketchbook work to a final piece.

Colored Pencil

Expand on your drawing and watercolor painting skills to paint more complex portraits of various creatures in their natural settings in watercolor. We will paint a different species each week via EZoom; one motif may carry into a second week if complex. Use a phone or document camera over the workspace if possible.

Prerequisite: NSI 244 Watercolor I

Watercolor

Create stunning watercolor paintings of flowers with and without insects. Learn how to complete each painting in specific stages by using painting elements to emphasize what is key. Student prepares a contour drawing from motif provided by the instructor before each class.

Watercolor

Expand on your drawing and watercolor painting skills to paint complete portraits of baby animals in their natural settings in watercolor. We will paint a representative of as many different animal orders as possible or at least a different species each week via Zoom; one motif may carry into the second week if complex. Use a phone or document camera over the workspace if possible.

Watercolor

Learn valuable techniques from professional artists and marketing experts on how to promote and sell your artwork. Set goals, develop a portfolio, a simple website, and a brand, to target clients who will buy your work. Students will benefit from learning the legal and business aspects of sales such as copyrights, contracts, invoicing, and work for hire. 

Other

Explore the intricate and varied beauty of insects. Students will learn basic insect anatomy and colored pencil techniques to create detailed drawings. Students will focus on three insect orders: Coleoptera (beetles), Hymenoptera (bees and wasps) and Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). Photo references will be provided by the instructor.

Colored Pencil