Learning objectives
Drawing an object of any kind, whether a quick sketch or a more detailed finished work, needs close and careful observation - the ability to really see a subject. Using a sketchbook to make drawings of animals first-hand is an invaluable way of developing these observational skills, as well as your visual memory. And it is often surprising how much more is discovered about an animal when it is analysed with the attention needed to start describing it on paper with pencil, pen or brush.
To make the quick rhinoceros sketches left) I had to look, look and look again at the animals before I even put pencil to paper. By the time I had completed these pages I felt I knew the shape of a rhino’s ear, his horns, nostrils and pointed lip (distinguishing him as a browser from the almost above right).
