Course Details
Imagine a place straight out of a storybook – enchanting English villages where time slows down.
Stone cottages with rustic windows, weathered drainpipes, and thatched roofs with crooked chimneys that line narrow cobbled streets. These streets, guarded by ancient stone walls, lead you to hidden corners, cozy tearooms, and centuries-old churches – all nestled in peaceful surroundings.
In the 5 Villages Sketching Course, Ian Fennelly teaches you how to capture all of this serene beauty through the art of urban sketching.
Together with Ian, you’ll discover his unique techniques and coveted style for bringing every detail to life: the cobbled streets, rustic wooden windows, weathered stone sills, and the quaintly crooked chimneys that are bursting with history, tradition, and timeless charm that is waiting to be captured in your sketchbook.
5 Sketching Workshops
50 lessons and follow-along exercises make up 5 professionally filmed online workshops. Each lesson has been carefully designed to develop your sketching, painting and observational skills while building your confidence as you work through the course.
Click each of the tabs below to find out what’s included in this comprehensive course:
In this first of 5 exciting workshops, you will watch, learn and follow-along with Ian as he demonstrates how to draw and paint this classic (and famous!) thatched roof barn. However, as with all 5 Workshops, the ‘challenge’ is making sure the barn fits within the context of the village scene.
In this workshop, you will learn how to bring in the buildings to the side, the surrounding trees and greenery, the signage and all the detail. Ian breaks everything down into lots and lots of simple steps for you to follow along with.
It’s a really fun and fascinating first workshop that you’re going to love.
Your second online workshop is very much about drawing the main street that runs through the tiny village of Great Budworth.
You will discover how to achieve that amazing sense of perspective that draws you in and how to capture all of the amazing timber framed buildings that run alongside it, in great detail.
This is a very complex and visually rich scene with lots of houses, a lot of character, black and white timber structures, things growing in the foreground, and plenty of sandstone and cobbles.
But, Ian lays everything out in super simple steps – from sketching out the outline, then the medium shapes, then the colour before going in with the detail. You’re going to thoroughly enjoy this creative learning journey around a beautiful, classic English village.
Your third online workshop is very much a landscape masterclass, filmed from the top of a hill before the rolling English countryside.
In this workshop, Ian teaches you how to create that sense of space and depth as everything sweeps away from you.
Ian breaks this landscape scene down into lots and lots of steps, referencing the hedgerows, the trees, the fencing and the buildings.
But, what’s different about this workshop is that he uses a very specific set of colours, which are different for a landscape than you would normally use for a regular urban sketching scene. You will discover why he does this and how he does it in Workshop 3!
For your fourth workshop, we travel with Ian to a tiny little village full of sandstone cottages with a gorgeous church at the end.
You will learn how to draw and integrate the church, the sandstone cottage and all the stonework and the structures around it to ensure that the church fits within the context of the village.
The detail in this workshop is the focus because of the beautiful brickwork and sandstone. You’ll learn how they work together and how to tell the fascinating stories of their history through your artwork.
You’ll also be privy to an unexpected hurdle that Ian had to overcome at the very start of this workshop. You’ll see firsthand how he overcame this issue, and why challenges like this bring so much love and appreciation for this craft of urban sketching!
This workshop is all about telling the story of this stunning little village, with its pub and the cottage in the centre, with its black and white beams.
The focal point will be the cottage. You will watch, learn and follow-along and see how Ian uses the pub and the building to ‘frame’ the cottage in the middle and tell lots of stories with this scene.
Ian breaks this scene down into lots of small steps, sketching out the big shapes with the brush pens, going in with the fine liners, applying the colours before using the brush pens to calm it all down and make it more 3-dimensional.
Finally, he goes in with the detail to really tell the story while explaining the how and why of everything he is doing as he goes along.
About Your Instructor
Ian Fennelly has built an extraordinary reputation as one of the world’s finest urban sketchers and most sought-after teachers. His distinct style of on-location art, engaging teaching methods and all-round creativity has earned him a passionate global following.
Watch, learn and be entertained as Ian encounters challenges such as the hilarious ‘wheelie bin’ episode to the inconveniently parked horsebox! And all while creating and teaching you, in amazing step-by-step detail, how to draw and paint 6 beautiful pieces of urban artwork.
Free Bonuses
Quick Sketching Workshop
( Value)
In this exclusive bonus workshop Ian walks you through his 3-step sketching process for producing stunning black and white drawings.
Watch, learn and follow-along as he breaks down his process to produce this beautiful picture of a black and white timbered framed classic English cottage:
Urban Sketchers Feedback Gallery
( Value)
Buy this course and you’ll also gain access to our thriving online feedback gallery. This is a safe and private place where urban sketchers of all abilities can share their work without judgement – while getting positive, constructive feedback from supportive, like-minded sketchers who are all rooting for you! There’s no better place to learn, overcome challenges and build your confidence and skills than the Urban Sketch Feedback Gallery.
Verified Reviews
Student Results
Ready To Join Ian's Enchanting Sketching adventure?
This course is your invitation to immerse yourself in a world bursting with history, tradition, and a charm that waits to be captured in your sketchbook. And with a world-class artist and teacher at your side in Ian Fennelly to guide you, inspire you, entertain you, and share his most valuable teachings – urban sketching doesn’t get much better than this.
The 5 Villages Sketching Course is an enchanting and entertaining sketching journey that will captivate your imagination, ignite your senses, and take your skills to ever greater heights.
Hit the buy button below and join Ian on this wonderful urban sketching adventure today.
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Instant Lifetime Access-
The 5 Villages Sketching Course (5 Online Workshops)
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BONUS 1: Quick Sketching Workshop ( Value)
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BONUS 2: Free Access to our Urban Sketchers Feedback Gallery ( Value)
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24/7 Lifetime Access (it never expires)
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30-Day Money Back Guarantee
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. This is over-the-shoulder learning with Ian Fennelly.
Ian is an experienced and engaging teacher and has broken each workshop down into easy-to-follow stages. Within each of those stages, he takes you through each step in the process while explaining everything he is doing, slowly and methodically.
You have the flexibility to slow down, pause, or speed up each tutorial to match your learning pace. Some students also prefer to watch the videos first and then watch them again and sketch along. The choice is yours!
Plus, with lifetime access, you can revisit the course as many times as you like.
Yes, you’ll receive lifetime access to the course along with all accompanying downloads and resources. It never expires, allowing you to learn at your own pace, on your schedule, and any device.