Drawing on Location
Learning to See for Drawing, Painting & Sculpture
With Neil Rizos

A great deal has been said about the importance of drawing & painting from life and on location.  If wildlife is your preferred subject, especially birds, I'll begin by saying what life drawing is not.  It is emphatically not  the place to begin the essential study of anatomy - skeleton, muscles, feathers, fur and proportions.  Concerning the 'craft' of art:  In my experience, working on location is also not the best place to begin learning about materials, drawing, color, composition and the complex relationships among these and other elements.
All of the above is more effectively learned in a controlled environment where we can study both the subject and the medium.  This needn't be a long, tedious process and the results make it worthwhile.  So why bother to draw from life when we have photos, cameras and videos?  Because life drawing presents valuable information, insights and experiences not available otherwise - very much like traveling in person rather than reading about travel or watching travel programs.  Bottom line:  It values the personal process (how I'm living my life) not simply the product. 
Available in three formats

One-day (6 hour) workshop  The elements of successful nature life drawing 
  • Materials
  • Purpose & objectives of life drawing
  • Fundamentals of observational drawing
  • Basic anatomical knowledge of the subject(s)
  • Life drawing

Two-day (12 hour) workshop  The elements of successful nature life drawing
  • Materials
  • Purpose & objectives of life drawing
  • Fundamentals of observational drawing
  • Additional anatomical knowledge of the subject(s)
  • Life drawing
  • Using field studies with other resources toward finished art pieces

Once a week (2 hours) for six weeks  The extended workshop allows for in-depth study of each of the elements of successful nature life drawing
  • Materials
  • Purpose & objectives of life drawing
  • Fundamentals of observational drawing
  • In-depth anatomical knowledge of the subject(s)
  • Life drawing
  • Using field studies with other resources toward finished art pieces
draw owls in bird journaling class
Arrangements can be made to bring live birds into the Zoomroom or classroom for life drawing.
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     This information is derived from my years of hard-earned experience as a professional artist.  It is powerful and it is valuable.  I present it to those students who have a sincere interest in learning to draw well and quickly, to foster a deeper experience of the natural world.  All images,this carefully considered text and the method outlined herein, are registered with the United States Copyright Office and fully protected by International and United States Copyright Law.  Unauthorized use, especially for any degree of financial or material enrichment, will continue to be successfully prosecuted with every legal instrument.