Have you ever made a collection of natural objects? Why not put one in your journal? Making a collection of similar found objects is a great way to focus your observations and to prime your brain for new discoveries! Read More
Category: Drawing Plants and Flowers
Tips, tricks, and techniques to help you draw plants and flowers.
How to draw an Iris
Learn how to construct a drawing of an iris, observing structure, negative shapes, and curling petals. The Nature Journal Workshop with John Muir Laws. Read More
Drawing Curling Petals and Leaves
John Muir Laws describes how to see and draw the structure and geometry of curling leaves and petals. Read More
Drawing Cone-shaped Flowers
Learn the geometry of cone-shaped flowers to help you understand and draw their structure. In this workshop, we look at foreshortening cone-shaped flowers to draw them from any angle! Read More
Foreshortening Disk-shaped Flowers
Learn how the shapes and negative shapes between petals change as flowers are rotated and foreshortened. These are fundamental ideas concepts to help you draw botanical illustrations. Read More
Lily Dissection
Before you draw a flower, it helps to understand the structure within it. Join John Muir Laws as he picks apart a lily and diagrams the parts. Follow along with your own lily and downloadable worksheet. Read More
Flower Symmetry and Foreshortening
Many species of flowers have a simple disk shape with 3,4,5,6 or many petals. Learn how to plot the spacing of the petals for each of these types had how to draw the flower from above or from an angle. When you draw the flower from an angle the petals become foreshortened in surprising ways. Read More
Drawing and Painting Water Drops
Learn how to draw and paint water drops using graphite, colored pencil, or watercolor and mixed media. Fast and fun effects for rainy days! Read More
How to draw leaves (video)
Learn cool tricks to help you draw a single leaf. This workshop includes getting the basic shape, edge serrations, leaf venation, and curling edges. Read More
Drawing Deciduous Trees (video)
Learn how to draw deciduous trees with or without their leaves. How do you suggest those tiny little branches after the leaves fall? How do you connect branches to trunks? How do you suggest masses of leaves and convey leaf texture with a few quick strokes? Read More