In this session of “Ask Jack” (April 2021), John Muir Laws shows us tips and tricks for drawing bare trees against landscapes and using Tombow markers, ballpoint pen, and more to render waterfalls across our pages. Read More
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Mountain Meadows and Nightingales
(Ask Jack session, March 2022) Thank you to all the nature journalers who contributed their illustrations to Point Blue Conservation Science’s Mountain Meadows Project! In this session, view the presentation as compiled by John Muir Laws; following this, we will learn how to draw a nightingale, Ukraine’s national bird. Read More
The Cold Canyon Fire Journals
Join Robin Lee Carlson and John Muir Laws in a discussion of nature journaling in the aftermath of a wildfire. When the nature reserve at Cold Canyon went up in flames—a casualty of California’s raging fire seasons—Robin Lee Carlson embarked on a five-year journey to learn the legacy of the burn. What she saw challenged Read More
NJC, Episode 38: Fast Sketching Tips
Learn fast, fun, easy, low-cost, techniques that can improve your field sketches and nature journaling. Here are a handful of techniques that you can experiment with. If you like one of these approaches, add the new materials to your nature journaling kit. How can you use a brush with water-soluble pens, a pencil blender, or Read More
Repacking Your Journal Kit
Join John Muir Laws for a practical demonstration in rebalancing your nature journaling toolkit. Do you periodically check your kit to make sure you’re using everything inside of it? Do you switch out materials you don’t use often and try new ones? Watch how John Muir Laws does it as he prepares for his trip Read More
The Starter’s Club
Have you wanted to dive into Nature Journaling but have had a hard time getting started? You need a team and support group! Join Annette Kockelmann and John Muir Laws for the inaugural meeting of the Starter’s Club. Please note that due to the ongoing war in the Ukraine, Annette has temporarily placed the Starter’s Read More
Drawing Bird Postures, Proportions, and Angles
Learn to draw birds with the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory and acclaimed artist, author, educator, and scientist John Muir Laws! In celebration of SFBBO’s 40th anniversary, we’re learning to draw 3 species SFBBO scientists have worked with extensively over the years: the Snowy Plover, Least Tern, and White-crowned Sparrow. In addition to learning about Read More
Gesture Sketching Birds
John Muir Laws demonstrates how to make quick sketches and studies of birds – useful field skills for when the birds won’t stop moving! Read More
Drawing Iridescent Birds
In this “Ask Jack” session, John Muir Laws deep-dives into rendering iridescence on birds, including hummingbirds, ducks, and cormorants. Read More
Sketching Raptors on Toned Paper
John Muir Laws demonstrates how to draw raptors on toned paper using a 2B mechanical pencil, a white pencil for highlights, and the tone of the paper itself as a value. Read More