fbpx

Robin Hood’s Bay Sketching Course

WITH IAN FENNELLY

Follow-along and learn Ian Fennelly’s advanced perspective sketching techniques as he sketches the extraordinary village of Robin Hood’s Bay!

E 73 Lessons   6 Workshops  j 1 Spectacular Location

COURSE DETAILS

Tucked away in the cliffs of North-East England, Robin Hood’s Bay is a spectacular fishing village that’s steeped in history and bursting with myths, legends and fantastic true-life stories of pirates and smugglers!

In this phenomenal new course, filmed on-location, Ian Fennelly takes you on a captivating sketching journey - teaching you how to capture the romance, history, and charm of this extraordinary old-world village.

Ian Fennelly Robin Hood's Bay

PERSPECTIVE MASTERY

Built on a steep hill that is densely packed with odd-shaped buildings, and a maze of cobbled alleyways and roads that sweep down to the sea, Robin Hood’s Bay is a course focused heavily on drawing perspective.

You'll learn everything from how to draw the basic perspective of a sloping roof through to capturing the complex perspective of a detailed sweeping scene.

Ian breaks it all down into simple steps and shares his best tips and tricks, and the tools he uses for sketching incredible perspective-rich scenes.

Ian Fennelly Robin Hood's Bay

The WORKSHOPS

73 lessons make up 6 engaging online workshops that have been professionally filmed on location. Each workshop has been carefully designed to develop and hone your skills, step-by-step, as you work through the course.

THE LAUREL INN, NEW ROAD

In this first engaging workshop, you’ll learn how to capture this steep sweeping scene and its stunning staggered buildings and ancient pub, The Laurel Inn.

Ian breaks down even the most complex of scenes like this into basic steps and simple shapes. You’ll learn how to sketch a loose outline, ensuring you fit everything onto your page while capturing the strong perspective of the buildings that follow the sweep of the road.

Using a limited 3 colour palette, you'll learn how to apply your colours in a playful way while intentionally capturing the white of the two main buildings.

You’ll finish this scene by drawing the subtle details that hold your picture together. And it's through this detail stage that you’ll learn how to let your picture ‘breathe’ by leaving the right details out, yet still telling a believable story of this incredible old-world coastal town.

THE STOCKS, KING STREET

Workshop 2 focuses heavily on drawing the extreme perspective in this scene and the wonderful detail and architecture that sweeps up and around this tight bend.

There's an abundance of information to sketch within this classic view of Robin Hood’s Bay, but it’s important that you learn what to leave out of your drawing so that you don’t clutter up your picture.

In this packed workshop, you’ll learn how to pick out, emphasise and exaggerate the things that are important, you’ll learn how to measure the angles within your sketch, and you’ll understand how to use subtle objects that add structure and frame your scene. You’ll also learn how to let your paper work for you, and how to add drama and character to your sketch with just 3 colours.

This is a busy scene, but Ian breaks it all down into a handful of stages and simple shapes so that you know the steps to follow whenever you’re confronted with a ‘complex’ view like this.

THE SMUGGLERS PUB

In workshop 3, you’ll be working with Ian to draw the front elevation of the Smugglers pub while capturing the perspective of the two buildings and enticing steps alongside them.

Ian shows you how to distort and angle your buildings to add drama and excitement while differentiating and correctly scaling the buildings you’re drawing.

There is a lot of character and strong visual features within this scene. You’ll learn how to ‘balance’ your picture by understanding which key features you should leave out while learning how to link some of the more subtle details together.

In this workshop, we’ll also take a slight detour to let Ian share the art of lettering. Watch and learn as he shows you how to draw 3-dimensional writing, and when you should shorten words within signage for best effect.

Click all 3 tabs above to discover what's included in each workshop.

THE SLIPWAY

In workshop 4, we head down to the beach and look back up towards the slipway that leads you into this stunning scene.

This workshop focuses on how to manipulate the detail to strengthen your perspective. You’ll learn how to structure the irregular shapes, patterns, and direction of the cobbles as they sweep up the slipway, to create a strong sense of perspective. And you’ll learn how Ian uses subtle hatching techniques to further exaggerate the perspective within the scene.

You’ll discover how to mix 3 different colours on the page to create a range of tonal values that tell the story of this location: the moss, the eroded rocks, and the gaps between the cobbles. You’ll learn how to link your colours together while keeping your picture firmly balanced. And you’ll learn when to stop adding detail so that you don’t overdo your picture!

This is a fun and comprehensive workshop that doesn’t come without its challenges. From working around inconveniently parked cars to dealing with the hustle and bustle of a typical seaside town!

OLD LIFEBOAT STATION

In workshop 5, you'll be sketching this scene of the old lifeboat house that is surrounded by boats, bollards and buildings peaking out, with lots of detail such as windows, chimneys, lobster nets and more.
The focus of this workshop is very much on how to place and correctly scale all of the different elements on your page. And it all begins with capturing the structure, scale and the strong sense of perspective of the lifeboat house, which frames the composition.

You will apply a lot of detail early on, exploring the scene closely while working deeper and deeper with your fine liners. You'll learn how to capture the textures that tell the right story while finding repeating patterns that link your picture together. Using your black and grey brush pens, you'll see how Ian adds character to his line work and exaggerates his patterns and perspective.

As you work through this scene you'll also be making decisions on which elements to leave out and which compositional devices to include that add character and structure to your page. As with all of the workshops in this course, you'll again be working with a limited palette of just 3 colours.

This is an exciting workshop where you'll get to watch extreme urban sketching and learn how Ian deals with the challenges of working in a very busy location!

NEW ROAD HILL

Make no mistake, this iconic view of Robin Hood's Bay is a challenging scene which captures the extreme perspective of New Road and the jumble of rooftops and buildings as they scale and sweep off into the distance.

But in Workshop 6 Ian breaks everything down into lots of steps. You'll start by loosely sketching the structure and composition of the scene while ensuring the perspective and scaling of your buildings are kept crisp and sharp. Next, you'll follow Ian as he mixes a palette of 3 colours and applies them to create a sense of depth and space, and uses brush pens to introduce a range of contrasting tones.

But the detail and perspective are the focus of this workshop. You'll discover how to tackle this complex layering effect and how to scale your buildings correctly so that they reduce and merge into the distant landscape. You'll discover how to emphasise elevation and you'll learn how to draw features and effects that add character while reinforcing the extreme perspective in steep sweeping scenes like this.

This final workshop is Ian Fennelly at his best, sharing tips, techniques and lots of humour throughout while inspiring and challenging you to push yourself and stretch your skills to that next level.

Click all 3 tabs above to discover what's included in each workshop.

Workshop #1

THE LAUREL INN, NEW ROAD

In this first engaging workshop, you’ll learn how to capture this steep sweeping scene and its stunning staggered buildings and ancient pub, The Laurel Inn.

Ian breaks down even the most complex of scenes like this into basic steps and simple shapes. You’ll learn how to sketch a loose outline, ensuring you fit everything onto your page while capturing the strong perspective of the buildings that follow the sweep of the road.

Using a limited 3 colour palette, you'll learn how to apply your colours in a playful way while intentionally capturing the white of the two main buildings.

You’ll finish this scene by drawing the subtle details that hold your picture together. Through the detail stage, you’ll understand how to let your picture ‘breathe’ by leaving particular details out, yet still telling a believable story of this incredible old-world coastal town.

Workshop #1

THE LAUREL INN, NEW ROAD

In this first engaging workshop, you’ll learn how to capture this steep sweeping scene and its stunning staggered buildings and ancient pub, The Laurel Inn.

Ian breaks down even the most complex of scenes like this into basic steps and simple shapes. You’ll learn how to sketch a loose outline, ensuring you fit everything onto your page while capturing the strong perspective of the buildings that follow the sweep of the road.

Using a limited 3 colour palette, you'll learn how to apply your colours in a playful way while intentionally capturing the white of the two main buildings.

You’ll finish this scene by drawing the subtle details that hold your picture together. Through the detail stage, you’ll understand how to let your picture ‘breathe’ by leaving particular details out, yet still telling a believable story of this incredible old-world coastal town.

Workshop #2

THE STOCKS, KING STREET

Workshop 2 focuses heavily on drawing the extreme perspective in this scene and the wonderful detail and architecture that sweeps up and around this tight bend.

There's an abundance of information to sketch within this classic view of Robin Hood’s Bay, but it’s important that you learn what to leave out of your drawing so that you don’t clutter up your picture.

In this packed workshop, you’ll learn how to pick out, emphasise and exaggerate the things that are important, you’ll learn how to measure the angles within your sketch, and you’ll understand how to use subtle objects that add structure and frame your scene. You’ll also learn how to let your paper work for you, and how to add drama and character to your sketch with just 3 colours.

This is a busy scene, but Ian breaks it all down into a handful of stages and simple shapes so that you know the steps to follow whenever you’re confronted with a ‘complex’ view like this.

Workshop #3

THE SMUGGLERS PUB

In workshop 3, you’ll be working with Ian to draw the front elevation of the Smugglers pub while capturing the perspective of the two buildings and enticing steps alongside them.

Ian shows you how to distort and angle your buildings to add drama and excitement while differentiating and correctly scaling the buildings you’re drawing.

There is a lot of character and strong visual features within this scene. You’ll learn how to ‘balance’ your picture by understanding which key features you should leave out while learning how to link some of the more subtle details together.

In this workshop, we’ll also take a slight detour to let Ian share the art of lettering. Watch and learn as he shows you how to draw 3-dimensional writing, and when you should shorten words within signage for best effect.

Workshop #4

THE SLIPWAY

In workshop 4, we head down to the beach and look back up towards the slipway that leads you into this stunning scene.

This workshop focuses on how to manipulate the detail to strengthen your perspective. You’ll learn how to structure the irregular shapes, patterns, and direction of the cobbles as they sweep up the slipway, to create a strong sense of perspective. And you’ll learn how Ian uses subtle hatching techniques to further exaggerate the perspective within the scene.

You’ll discover how to mix 3 different colours on the page to create a range of tonal values that tell the story of this location: the moss, the eroded rocks, and the gaps between the cobbles. You’ll learn how to link your colours together while keeping your picture firmly balanced. And you’ll learn when to stop adding detail so that you don’t overdo your picture!

This is a fun and comprehensive workshop that doesn’t come without its challenges. From working around inconveniently parked cars to dealing with the hustle and bustle of a typical seaside town!

Workshop #5

OLD LIFEBOAT STATION

In workshop 5, you'll be sketching this scene of the old lifeboat house that is surrounded by boats, bollards and buildings peaking out, with lots of detail such as windows, chimneys, lobster nets and more.

The focus of this workshop is very much on how to place and correctly scale all of the different elements on your page. And it all begins with capturing the structure, scale and the strong sense of perspective of the lifeboat house, which frames the composition.

You will apply a lot of detail early on, exploring the scene closely while working deeper and deeper with your fine liners. You'll learn how to capture the textures that tell the right story while finding repeating patterns that link your picture together. Using your black and grey brush pens, you'll see how Ian adds character to his line work and exaggerates his patterns and perspective.

As you work through this scene you'll also be making decisions on which elements to leave out and which compositional devices to include that add character and structure to your page. As with all of the workshops in this course, you'll again be working with a limited palette of just 3 colours.

This is an exciting workshop where you'll get to watch extreme urban sketching and learn how Ian deals with the challenges of working in a very busy location!

Workshop #6

NEW ROAD HILL

Make no mistake, this iconic view of Robin Hood's Bay is a challenging scene which captures the extreme perspective of New Road and the jumble of rooftops and buildings as they scale and sweep off into the distance.

But in Workshop 6 Ian breaks everything down into lots of steps. You'll start by loosely sketching the structure and composition of the scene while ensuring the perspective and scaling of your buildings are kept crisp and sharp. Next, you'll follow Ian as he mixes a palette of 3 colours and applies them to create a sense of depth and space, and uses brush pens to introduce a range of contrasting tones.

But the detail and perspective are the focus of this workshop. You'll discover how to tackle this complex layering effect and how to scale your buildings correctly so that they reduce and merge into the distant landscape. You'll discover how to emphasise elevation and you'll learn how to draw features and effects that add character while reinforcing the extreme perspective in steep sweeping scenes like this.

This final workshop is Ian Fennelly at his best, sharing tips, techniques and lots of humour throughout while inspiring and challenging you to push yourself and stretch your skills to that next level.

Click all 6 tabs above to discover what's included in each workshop.

Sketching courses Ian Fennelly

3 CORE FOCUSES

What makes Robin Hood's Bay different is the in-depth focus Ian has placed on developing your skills in some very specific areas of urban sketching:

Each Robin Hood's Bay workshop focuses heavily on drawing different types of perspective, from basic to extreme perspective:

You'll discover:

  • The pre-step method for making complex perspective easier to draw.
  • How to visualise the angles and perspective before you draw a single line.
  • The ‘2 pen’ technique for drawing advanced perspective.
  • How to use subtle direction to strengthen your perspective.
  • How to use hatching to exaggerate your perspective.
  • Which elements of a perspective-heavy scene you should draw first.
  • How to manipulate perspective to add drama to a scene.
  • How to draw sweeping downwards perspective.
  • How to draw steep inclines.
  • Much more!

After this course, you'll never fear drawing perspective or any 'complex' scene again!

In Robin Hood’s Bay, you’ll be working with a limited palette of just 3 watercolours for each sketch. The huge benefit to you is that it keeps things simple and results in a lovely balanced picture.

You'll learn:

  • How to pick 3 colours that give your picture warmth and balance.
  • How to mix and apply 3 colours to create dramatic effects.
  • How to use 3 colours to match the tones within your scene.
  • When you should mix colour on your page, instead of in your palette.
  • How to paint space.
  • How to give your paints a ‘voice’.
  • How to use limited colours in an intuitive, imaginative, and playful way.
  • How to create lighter and pastel tones that keep your sketches active.
  • How to bleed your colours into one another.
  • The non-watercolour brushes you should use when you're working quickly.
  • Much more.

Choosing the right colours to work with should never be an issue for you again after this course.

Picking the right spot to draw from is a vital part of urban sketching. In Robin Hood’s Bay, you'll be privy to Ian's unique thought process when it comes to picking the perfect spot.

You'll learn:

  • How to choose just the right position and angle to draw from.
  • The does and don’ts of location scouting.
  • The types of spots you should always avoid.
  • How to adapt to your environment.
  • How to work with factors that you can’t control.
  • The ‘frames’ you should look for when choosing where to sit.
  • How to ‘read’ the space you’re looking at.
  • The elements to avoid in a scene (amateurs often misjudge this).
  • The ‘insignificant’ structures you should look for when picking a spot.
  • And much more.
#1 Perspective

Each Robin Hood's Bay workshop focuses heavily on drawing different types of perspective, from basic to extreme perspective:

You'll discover:

  • The pre-step method for making complex perspective easier to draw.
  • How to visualise the angles and perspective before you draw a single line.
  • The ‘2 pen’ technique for drawing advanced perspective.
  • How to use subtle direction to strengthen your perspective.
  • How to use hatching to exaggerate your perspective.
  • Which elements of a perspective-heavy scene you should draw first.
  • How to manipulate perspective to add drama to a scene.
  • How to draw sweeping downwards perspective.
  • How to draw steep inclines.
  • Much more!

After this course, you'll never fear drawing perspective or any 'complex' scene again!

#1 Perspective

Each Robin Hood's Bay workshop focuses heavily on drawing different types of perspective, from basic to extreme perspective:

You'll discover:

  • The pre-step method for making complex perspective easier to draw.
  • How to visualise the angles and perspective before you draw a single line.
  • The ‘2 pen’ technique for drawing advanced perspective.
  • How to use subtle direction to strengthen your perspective.
  • How to use hatching to exaggerate your perspective.
  • Which elements of a perspective-heavy scene you should draw first.
  • How to manipulate perspective to add drama to a scene.
  • How to draw sweeping downwards perspective.
  • How to draw steep inclines.
  • Much more!

After this course, you'll never fear drawing perspective or any 'complex' scene again!

#2 Limited Palette

In Robin Hood’s Bay, you’ll be working with a limited palette of just 3 watercolours for each sketch. The huge benefit to you is that it keeps things simple and results in a lovely balanced picture.

You'll learn:

  • How to pick 3 colours that give your picture warmth and balance.
  • How to mix and apply 3 colours to create dramatic effects.
  • How to use 3 colours to match the tones within your scene.
  • When you should mix colour on your page, instead of in your palette.
  • How to paint space.
  • How to give your paints a ‘voice’.
  • How to use limited colours in an intuitive, imaginative, and playful way.
  • How to create lighter and pastel tones that keep your sketches active.
  • How to bleed your colours into one another.
  • The non-watercolour brushes you should use when you're working quickly.
  • Much more.

Choosing the right colours to work with should never be an issue for you again after this course.

#3 Location Hunting

Picking the right spot to draw from is a vital part of urban sketching. In Robin Hood’s Bay, you'll be privy to Ian's unique thought process when it comes to picking the perfect spot.

You'll learn:

  • How to choose just the right position and angle to draw from.
  • The does and don’ts of location scouting.
  • The types of spots you should always avoid.
  • How to adapt to your environment.
  • How to work with factors that you can’t control.
  • The ‘frames’ you should look for when choosing where to sit.
  • How to ‘read’ the space you’re looking at.
  • The elements to avoid in a scene (amateurs often misjudge this).
  • The ‘insignificant’ structures you should look for when picking a spot.
  • And much more.

Click all 3 tabs above to read the core focuses of this course.

The Location

There are few places on earth that can pack such a colourful history into such a small area, yet still succeed as a remarkably picturesque coastal village.

Robin Hood's Bay is a timeless place of narrow, cobbled lanes, crammed with delightful fishermen's cottages that sit above a labyrinth of secret passageways and tunnels that were once the haunt of pirates and smugglers.

But while it was once a bootleggers paradise, today it's an urban sketchers dream! And there's no one better to deliver these online workshops for you than Ian Fennelly.

Robin Hood's Bay Sketching Course
Ian Fennelly. Chester Cross Urban Sketch art

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Ian Fennelly has built an extraordinary reputation as one of the world’s finest urban sketchers and most sought-after teachers.

Ian's distinct style of on-location art, engaging teaching methods and all-round creativity has earned him a passionate global following.

In Robin Hood's Bay, Ian peels back the curtain and reveals his line-by-line methodology for sketching your own phenomenal urban art.

BONUS:

Urban Sketchers Feedback Gallery

Sign up for this course and you'll gain access to our private online feedback gallery.

This is where you can share your work and receive direct feedback from fellow sketchers who are all at different stages of development - from complete beginners to established artists.

There's no better way to learn and build your confidence and skills than to get positive, constructive feedback from supportive, like-minded sketchers!

GET STARTED TODAY!

Robin Hood's Bay is a magical sketching adventure that will captivate your heart while inspiring you to stretch your skills to greater heights.

In this one-of-a-kind course, Ian Fennelly has broken down his decades-learned sketching perspective methodology into easy-to-follow steps and delivered them through a series of six highly engaging and entertaining workshops.

With lifetime course access, you can work through each workshop in your own time and at your own pace. And you can pause, rewind and re-watch them as often as you like.

You’ll be captivated by Ian's latest adventure and thrilled with the results that you achieve with this sensational urban sketching course!

Here's What You'll Get Today:

6 Comprehensive Workshops 
Extra Resources (location hunting & downloads)
Urban Sketcher's Feedback Gallery
24/7 Lifetime Access
30-Day Money Back Guarantee

Only:

Here's What You'll Get Today:

6 Comprehensive Workshops 

Extra Resources

(location hunting & downloads)

Urban Sketcher's Feedback Gallery

24/7 Lifetime Access

30-Day Money Back Guarantee

Only:

Our Reviews

Take a look at what others have said about our urban sketching courses. All reviews here have been posted on TrustPilot or Google Reviews:

MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE

We've poured everything into making what we believe are the best and most comprehensive urban sketching courses available.
However, if after signing up for any of our courses you are unhappy for any reason (or no reason at all), just let us know within 30-days and we'll happily issue you with a full refund. No questions asked and no hoops to jump through.
Signing up to our courses is risk-free.

100% Satisfaction | Zero Risk | Guaranteed