The Art of Sketching: Transform Your Doodles into Art
A course by Mattias Adolfsson , Illustrator
Use your sketchbook to find your own drawing style and share it with others
Finding your own creative drawing style is a process that can only be achieved through practice. When sketching becomes a constant habit, creativity unfolds naturally, opening up a multitude of possibilities that can be used in final illustrations.
Keeping a sketchbook has played an important role in Mattias’ creative process throughout his career as an illustrator. His long list of clients includes magazines like The New Yorker, The Hollywood Reporter, and New York Times, along with animation studios such as Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, and Disney.
In this course, Mattias Adolfsson shows you the process of transforming your doodles into art. He goes through the initial steps to start sketching and liberate the hand, to learn new creative methods starting with real objects, and to develop your imagination.
What will you learn in this online course?
16 lessons & 15 downloads
- 99% positive reviews (5.8K)
- 196,978 students
- 16 lessons (2h 31m)
- 15 additional resources (6 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, German, Spanish (Latam), French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · Italian · French · Polish · Dutch · Turkish
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
You will finish this course with a sketchbook filled with inspirational exercises and a final piece that will incorporate all that you have learned along the way.
The project for this course will be ongoing, as the main purpose of this course is to fill a sketchbook with doodles, ideas, and experiments to sharpen your creative process and solidify the habit of drawing.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone who wants to improve their illustration technique through the consistent use of a sketchbook. From novice to experienced illustrators, and all those in search of developing their creative drawing process.
Requirements and materials
No previous drawing experience is required, you will only need the desire to experiment with pencil and paper.
You will need a sketchbook, a pencil or ink pen, an eraser, a ruler and watercolors or markers.
Reviews
Mattias Adolfsson
A course by Mattias Adolfsson
Mattias Adolfsson has been working as a freelance illustrator for over eleven years. While working as a graphic designer in the computer games industry, he started sharing his work on social media, where he began his successful career in illustration.
His long list of clients includes Nickelodeon, Disney, Dreamworks, Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and other important animation studios. He has also illustrated for magazines including The New Yorker, The Hollywood Reporter, and The New York Times.
Mattias has created a variety of illustration work in areas like product design, for baby clothes brand Atelier Choux Paris, record sleeves, as well as an art commission for the largest hospital in Sweden.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Introduction
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Influences
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What we will do on the course
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U2
Materials as models
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Materials
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Your materials as models
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Freehand material
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U3
You are a real character
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Objects into characters
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Faces and emotions
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Body moving
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U4
Perspective
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Basic perspective
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Isometric Perspective 1
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Isometric Perspective 2
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Using isometric to draw a technical object
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U5
Putting your art out there
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Adding colour
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Social networks
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Taking part in the artistic community
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FP
Final project
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The Art of Sketching: Transform Your Doodles into Art
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Yes, this course is designed for beginners and covers foundational drawing techniques, sketchbook habits, and creative exercises to help you start drawing from both observation and imagination.
You’ll need a sketchbook, pencils, pens (like dip pens or brush pens), ink, a ruler, erasers, and optional materials such as watercolor paints. Portable art supplies are recommended for on-the-go sketching.
You’ll learn observational drawing, ink techniques, crosshatching, perspective drawing, character design, adding watercolor, and turning everyday objects and doodles into expressive art.
The course guides you through exercises to draw real-life objects and then transform them into imaginative characters or scenes, blending observation skills with creative thinking.
Yes, you’ll learn techniques for combining watercolor with ink drawings to add depth, expression, and color to your sketches.
Yes, the course teaches both one-point and isometric perspective techniques to help you construct environments, technical objects, and architectural scenes.
Absolutely. The course covers comic techniques, drawing expressive characters, clean line work, and storytelling with single images or comic panels.
I love this course so, so much! Mattias is such an amazing teacher; he explains everything so well, never actually losing sight of what's really important - which is that drawing should be an absolute blast. This course has definitely restored, and dare I say, saved my drawing practice altogether. Now I own all his courses, and hoping for more. Thank you, Mattias.
If you don't know where to start, I highly recommend starting with this course. It really makes you feel like, 'Hey, I can actually draw too!'.
Great class!
Gran, gran curso!!! Me aportó mucho en la realización de mis proyectos.
Had this course for a while now. Kept my distance for sometime before getting that excitement for drawing back again. The course is great, really easy to follow and helps you in expressing yourself in your drawings.