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
Category: Drawing Birds
Tricks, tips, and techniques to help you draw birds.
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds
John Muir Laws demonstrates rendering a hummingbird, with special attention paid to the gorget. Read More
Drawing the Birds of Argentina
Join John Muir Laws and special guest Gael Calvis as we learn about and draw some of the amazing birds of Gael’s home country: the Rufous Hornoro (national bird of Argentina), Swainson’s Hawk (a migrant between the United States and Argentina, and the Many-colored Rush-tyrant (a crazy beautiful bird). (August 2022) Read More
Puffins and Page Layouts
In this “Ask Jack” session (May 2022), John Muir Laws explores how to incorporate page layout elements into your nature journal to make your information more accessible. We draw some puffins along the way. Link Hashi shared featuring John Muir Laws and Kristin Meuser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmZwaxmDiNw Read More
Drawing the Macaw’s Head and Face
This workshop (Aug. 2021) features special guests Shannon Foby and her Red-and-Green Macaw Tiki for live sketching. This will be a lot of fun! The shape and structure of the Macaw’s face is a great subject to study. In the first half of the workshop we examine anatomy and tricks for three-dimensional visualization; in the Read More
Drawing Great Blue Herons
Let’s take a close look at the structure of the heron’s head and neck. Understanding the anatomy will help you draw what you see. This demonstration will include graphite, watercolor, and gouache. (Dec. 2021) Read More
Drawing Owls
In this “Ask Jack”, John Muir Laws teaches how to draw those expert hiders of nature – the owls. Read More
Camouflage in Birds
In this “Ask Jack”, John Muir Laws demonstrates how to draw and then hide owls using the colors and patterns of their camouflaging environments. Read More
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
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