Online Marker Sketching Course
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Architecture and Landscapes with Markers A Course with Alina Miller
- Draw 8 atmospheric landscapes, from a springtime street to a mountain scene
- learn to choose and blend colors within a limited palette — harmoniously and expressively
- create depth and a sense of space in your work through reflected light and color reflections
About the Course
This is a hands-on course in architectural sketching with alcohol markers, where architecture and the natural environment exist together — not separately.
You won't just be copying buildings — you'll learn to see and feel space: how light falls on facades, how houses interact with trees, the sky, mountains, and water, and how to capture the atmosphere of a place.
The course is built on the author's personal experience working with alcohol markers as her primary tool for creating quick, lively, and expressive sketches. This is a course about confidence, freedom, and understanding form — not about following steps to copy.
Who This Course Is For
For beginners who want to draw architecture and nature but are intimidated by perspective and complex shapes.
For those who already draw but want their work to feel more confident, alive, and full of atmosphere.
For fans of urban and natural landscapes, travel, and on-location sketching.
For alcohol marker enthusiasts who want to unlock the full potential of their markers at a deeper, more professional level.
Course Program
Lesson 1
Welcome
In this lesson we'll get acquainted and talk about what's waiting for you in the course.
Lesson 2
Working with Markers: Materials
In this lesson, you'll find out what materials we'll be using throughout the course.
Lesson 3
Marker Sketching: Techniques and Tips
We'll learn to use alcohol markers not just for filling in color, but for creating volume, texture, and lively color transitions. This lesson is for anyone who wants their sketches to look dimensional and dynamic — not flat.
What you'll learn:
- Consciously choose which tip to use depending on what you need
- Create smooth and rough color transitions while controlling their intensity
- Understand how shadows and volume are built on simple shapes — and apply that to complex compositions
- Combine background washes with graphic outlines to achieve lightness and depth at the same time
Lesson 4
"A Spring Street"
Duration: 1 hour 22 minutes
In this lesson, we'll create an atmospheric sketch of an enclosed urban courtyard. It's a compact but richly layered scene where architecture, greenery, wires, people, and different textures all meet in one space.
What you'll learn:
- Pull together a complex, detail-packed urban scene into a cohesive sketch without overwhelming it
- Intentionally leave white areas to bring air and lightness to the piece
- Work with wires and people as rhythmic compositional elements
- Distinguish and capture the textures of greenery, roof tiles, plaster, and brick
Lesson 5
"In the Village of Pera"
Duration: 1 hour 39 minutes
In this lesson, we'll create an atmospheric sketch of a building facade with a balcony and lush greenery. It's a subject that's perfect for practicing several different textures at once — and for learning how to find the balance between detail and lightness.
You'll learn not just to draw architecture, but to blend it naturally with its surroundings, creating a composition that feels whole and alive.
What you'll learn:
- Confidently build architectural elements (balcony, windows) with perspective in mind
- Work with different textures within a single scene while preserving each one's character
- Consciously simplify details to keep the sketch feeling light and effortless
- Draw foliage with volume and life — without rendering every single leaf
- Work with light and tone to make the facade expressive and cohesive
Lesson 6
"A Journey to the Mountains"
Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes
In this lesson, we'll create a cozy, atmospheric sketch of a single-story house with a porch, nestled naturally into a green mountain foothills landscape. You'll learn not just to draw a house, but to place it thoughtfully within its surroundings — creating a composition that feels whole and alive.
What you'll learn:
- Thoughtfully compose the subject and background to create a unified sense of space in the sketch
- Quickly and confidently capture different textures of nature and architecture using alcohol-based markers
- Use color contrast to create focus and mood in your work
- Draw a multi-layered landscape using simple, easy-to-follow techniques
- Work with light and tone to make the house look three-dimensional and full of life
Lesson 7
"The Lighthouse on Sisters Island"
Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes
In this lesson, we'll take on a more complex and layered challenge — creating an atmospheric sketch of a three-story stone lighthouse standing on an embankment between two shores. This isn't just a story about a building; it's about its dialogue with the surrounding space: the water, the sky, and the distant bank.
What you'll learn:
- Create complex compositions with reflections, understanding the logic of simplification
- Convey the texture of rough materials (stone) using quick, expressive techniques
- Guide the viewer's eye by placing accents thoughtfully and working with multiple planes (foreground, middle ground, background)
- Fill the sketch with atmosphere and mood through the surroundings and details
Lesson 8
"The Little Red House in the Village"
Duration: 1 hour
In this lesson, we'll create a confident, three-dimensional sketch with alcohol markers — skipping the stage of complex drafting.
What you'll learn:
- Draw faster and with more confidence, because you'll know what matters and what you can leave out
- Create "living" sketches with the right sense of volume and atmosphere
- Understand the logic of light and form — a skill that will level up all your future work in any medium
Lesson 9
Personal Experience and Experiments with Materials
In this lesson, I'll share my personal experience working with materials and talk about the experiments that opened up new creative possibilities for me. I'll show you how my approach to tools and techniques has evolved over time.
Lesson 10
"The Stallhof"
Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes
In this lesson, we'll create an atmospheric sketch of a square in Dresden — a classic European scene where architecture takes center stage. There are lots of details here: columns, a dome, perspective foreshortening — but the key is not to get lost in the details and to keep the work feeling whole and light.
What you'll learn:
- Confidently construct complex architectural objects in perspective
- Work with repeating elements (columns) while maintaining compositional balance
- Convey the volume of the dome using soft light and shadow
- Add variety to the façade with color without relying on harsh contrasts
- Stay calm when markers have technical "glitches" and turn them into an artistic technique
Lesson 11
"Cley Windmill"
Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes
We'll create an atmospheric landscape with a windmill, a river, and trees. This lesson is for those who want not just to draw a pretty picture, but to understand how to convey depth, volume, and texture within a single scene.
What you'll learn:
- Convey depth and layered planes in a scene with no obvious perspective
- Intentionally use light and color to create volume and guide the viewer's eye
- Work with complex textures (roof, wall, grass) within a single scene without overloading it
- Know when marker work is enough and when to add details with a fineliner — and vice versa
Lesson 12
"The Winter Hut"
Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes
We'll create a winter fairy tale — a vivid northern lights display over a cozy little wooden house. This lesson is for anyone who wants not just to draw a beautiful picture, but to understand the logic of building a nighttime scene.
What you'll learn:
- Create complex, multi-layered works with alcohol markers
- Clearly understand and compose a nighttime landscape
- Confidently depict glowing effects and work with contrast
- Use vertical hatching to convey atmospheric phenomena
- Draw a convincing winter house, adding details that bring the work to life
Lesson 13
Conclusion
In this lesson, we'll wrap up the course, revisit all the key highlights, and see how much your skills have grown.
Course instructor
Alina Miller
Artist, sketcher
- I've been drawing since 2004: 20 years with watercolor, 10 years with alcohol markers
- Master's degree from the School of Engineering at RUDN University; professional retraining in pedagogy and art therapy
- Teaching since 2018: I've run more than 30 marathons, taught 1,000+ students, and created hundreds of lessons
- Since 2021, I've been running the online architectural sketching club "Sketch Simply"
- Finecolour brand ambassador in Russia
- I study art materials at the source — right at the manufacturers — so I can recommend only quality tools
- Participant in workshops and projects in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kraków, and Lisbon
Alina Miller's Artwork
Course materials
Markers
Finecolour (alternatives: Copic, Sketchmarker, Touch, Marvy — it's easy to find similar colors with any of them)
Yellows
- Y389 (light yellow)
- Y4 (dark yellow)
Reds / Pinks
- R404 (red)
- R142 (burgundy)
- R140 (dark red)
- V331 (pink-lilac)
- RV139 (deep crimson)
Greens
- YG13 (light green)
- YG37 (dark green)
- YG446 (grass green)
- YG313 (light green)
- YG7 (olive)
- G227 (light green)
Beige / Brown
- E415 (beige)
- E247 (beige)
- E20 (burnt sienna)
- E171 (brown)
- E133 (dark brown)
- E410 (brown)
Blue / Navy
- B239 (blue)
- B240 (blue)
- B241 (blue)
- B308 (blue)
Cool Grays
- CG268 (cool gray)
- CG269 (cool gray)
- CG270 (cool gray)
- CG271 (cool gray)
- CG272 (cool gray)
Warm Grays and Toners
- WG468 (warm gray)
- TG254 (toner gray)
- TG256 (toner gray)
- NG281 (neutral gray, almost black)
Blue-Grays / Gray-Blues
- BG86 (gray-blue)
- BG104 (blue-green)
- BG106 (blue-gray)
- BG107 (blue-gray)
Pinkish Grays
- PG39 (pink-gray)
Additional
- 003 Uni Pin fineliner (or similar)
- Posca white acrylic marker (or white gel pen)
- Paper from 160 g/m²
- You can use a ready-made sketchbook or Color Copy photo paper for printers
Color swatch:
Choose your plan
I DRAW IT MYSELF
- 8 atmospheric landscapes: from a spring street to a mountain panorama
- 13 lessons: theory + practice + artistic tips
- Machine translated subtitles: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Polish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Chinese, Indonesian.
- "Course Unfreeze" — the option to start your studies whenever it's convenient for you
- Access to artwork analysis sessions for other participants
- Lifetime access to all course materials
- Review of your work and answers to your questions in the comments for 60 days from the moment you start the course
- A personal one-hour online consultation with the course expert
- +$20 in bonus dollars! Can be used toward your purchase on the next marathon. Expires after 3 months
WITH SUPPORT
- 8 atmospheric landscapes: from a spring street to a mountain panorama
- 13 lessons: theory, practice, and artistic tips
- Machine translated subtitles: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Polish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Chinese, Indonesian.
- "Course Unfreeze" — the option to start your studies whenever it's convenient for you
- Access to artwork analysis sessions for other participants
- Lifetime access to all course materials
- Review of your work and answers to your questions in the comments for 60 days from the moment you start the course
- A personal one-hour online consultation with the course expert
- +$20 in bonus dollars! Can be used toward your purchase on the next marathon. Expires after 3 months
VIP
- 8 atmospheric landscapes: from a spring street to a mountain panorama
- 13 lessons: theory, practice, and artistic tips
- Machine translated subtitles: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Polish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Chinese, Indonesian.
- "Course Unfreeze" — the option to start your studies whenever it's convenient for you
- Access to artwork analysis sessions for other participants
- Lifetime access to all course materials
- Review of your work and answers to your questions in the comments for 60 days from the moment you start the course
- A personal one-hour online consultation with the course expert
- +$20 in bonus dollars! Can be used toward your purchase on the next marathon. Expires after 3 months
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Anyone can learn to draw! It's simply a skill that develops with practice. Our course is structured from simple to complex so that anyone can complete it, even with zero experience. As you work through the course artworks step by step, you'll build confidence and learn to draw.
At the end of the lesson, you'll upload a photo of your work. Your instructor will be able to leave a text comment, a graphic comment (notes drawn directly on your artwork), or an audio comment.
At the bottom of the final lesson there will be a comments section where you can ask any questions about the course.
If you're on a plan without feedback, it all depends on your own personal pace as you work through the lessons.
On plans with feedback, we actively work through the lessons over two months from the moment you "unfreeze" the course.
Overall, I recommend taking the course at a relaxed pace. Enjoy the process as much as you can.
Yes, this course will be great for both beginners and those who already have some experience.
It's never too late to learn to draw. In our school, 30% of students are over 50 — and they draw with joy, develop their skills, nurture their creative thinking, and feel younger in heart and mind!
