John Muir Laws takes us inside his nature journals and demonstrates one of his best practices: post-hawk compositions – or rather, “what to do after the hawk has flown away.” As a powerful means for information review and refresh (bonus concept: the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve), working on your pages post-hawk will help you organize what Read More
Blog
The Backyard Hawk
Journaler-photographer Val Dunn discovered a Red-tailed Hawk in her backyard. Val’s hawk ate a critter, stretched, preened, and posed, while she took photos. Photographs of nature give us a special opportunity to learn more about the structure and anatomy of our subjects. John Muir Laws shows us how to draw and take lessons from Val’s Read More
NJEF: Nature Journaling and Thinking
Join a discussion with researcher Lindi Shepard on what her studies tell us about the impact of nature journaling on the way we think. Lindi Shepard is a classroom teacher-turned educational researcher whose work focuses on teacher education, the development of scientific reasoning skills, inquiry learning, and environmental education. She supports teachers around the country Read More
Assembling a Composite with David Lukas
Join John Muir Laws and naturalist David Lukas for a glimpse at the fascinating structure and function of composite flowers found in the sunflower family. These are the most common flowers in the world so learning how to understand and draw these classic flower shapes will be a valuable addition to your naturalist sketchbook. David Read More
How to Draw Butterflies in Dynamic Positions
In this “Ask Jack” workshop, John Muir Laws teaches how to draw butterflies in different position while retaining their liveliness. (Plus learn how to tell a live butterfly from a dead butterfly in field guide illustrations!). August 2021. Read More
NJEF: The Amani Orphanage Experience
In February 2023, John Muir Laws and Billie Jo Reid co-led a nature journaling trip to Tanzania, which included a visit to the Amani Children’s Home. Join the Nature Journal Educators Forum as we hear from them and other participants about their time in Tanzania, learning and ideas they’ve brought home with them, and how Read More
Answering Questions
In this companion class to “Asking Questions”, John Muir Laws explores what to do with questions once you’ve got them, including ways of grouping questions into 3 different categories that inform how you search for answers… (October 2022) Read More
Class: Learn to Draw Water with John Muir Laws
MAY 20, 2023, 10am-12pm Pacific Time. ONLINE Join award-winning artist, author, educator, and scientist John Muir Laws, aka Jack, for this fun, engaging, and empowering class on capturing water in your nature journal—from mountain streams to still lakes to wild waterfalls. In this 2-hour live online class, you will learn how to draw landscapes with Read More
How to draw the Great Blue Heron
SFBBO monitors herons throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as part of thier Colonial Waterbird Program. Here I join their team to show how to draw the Great Blue Heron! I also explore the anatomy and structure of the birds. Read More
Asking Questions
In this glimpse into “Year of the Question”, John Muir Laws explores how to ask more questions and generate more curiosity in your nature journal, including asking different kinds of questions. Read More