Join John Muir Laws, the Brower Center, and Bay Nature Magazine for a workshop on how to draw Mushrooms, focusing on structure and foreshortening. Read More
Category: Drawing Plants and Flowers
Tips, tricks, and techniques to help you draw plants and flowers.
Nature Journaling in the Pantry
Enjoy this introduction to nature journaling with John Muir Laws and the Sonoma Land Trust. John presents basic techniques and tips to help you get in the right mindset to begin your nature journaling journey. Watch as he explores a sprouting onion from the pantry. Sometimes you find mystery and surprises in the familiar objects Read More
Stems, Leaf Arrangement, and Inflorescence
In this Part 5 of botanical illustration, we take a closer look at the way leaves and flowers emerge from the stem. Understanding the arrangement and inflorescence type can help us see patterns when we encounter both familiar and unfamiliar plants, and better draw what we see. Read More
NJC, Episode 23: Make your own Nature Collection
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
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