John Muir Laws demonstrates how to paint clouds using gouache, watercolor, and toned paper. (Class session from 20 April 2023) How to make your own gouache palette: https://youtu.be/Y6xWMHpTRoE?si=VPiX55tB8dOuFrVF Read More
Category: Watercolor
Techniques and materials to help you paint with watercolor.
A Bird a Day with Anne Chadwick (Dec. 18, 2025)
What would happen if you drew one bird each day for a year? Join John Muir Laws in conversation with nature journaler and conservation leader Anne Chadwick as she wraps up a full year of drawing a bird a day. Why set a goal like this? Lessons learned? Progress made? How can this help build Read More
Wild Wonder 2021 Supplementary: Insect Texture (Aug. 3, 2021)
In this follow-up to John Muir Laws’s 2021 Wild Wonder workshop about painting shiny insects, let’s look a bit closer and get into texture! Class session from 3 August 2021. Read More
Ask Jack: Grab Bag of Tricks! (May 18, 2021)
In this “Ask Jack” session, John Muir Laws goes over various tips and tricks, including how to sight with binoculars, creating a foggy landscape, using a smudging tool, and iridescence. (Class from 18 May 2021) Read More
Stripey Woodpeckers (Feb. 15, 2024)
These lovely birds can be a challenge to draw. Join me as I draw a Nuttall’s Woodpecker! You asked- let’s do it! (Session on 15 Feb. 2024) Read More
Drawing Black and White (Nov. 2, 2023)
How do we draw and paint things that are black and white? Let’s explore techniques with watercolor and pencil. (Class session 2 Nov. 2023) Read More
Background as Context
Learn fast and fun ways to incorporate habitat elements into an animal sketch. How can you combine several sketches to explore the context of an observation and show relationships between individuals? Let’s move from a drawing of a deer floating in the white void to a rich story. (Nov 2022) Read More
Light and Shadows
Painting shadows with lively colors or on light blue objects is challenging. Let John Muir Laws show you his tricks. (Sept 2022) Read More
New Favorite Color: Cobalt Teal Blue (Aug. 23, 2022)
John Muir Laws shares his new favorite color! See how cobalt teal blue watercolor can make your blue morpho butterflies and Ecuadorian hummingbirds sparkle! (August 2022) Read More
Swan Song (Apr. 6, 2023)
Joined by our special guests the Harbach family, who posed this week’s question about swans, John Muir Laws teaches how to “carve” your drawings of swans, a skill you can apply to many sketches. (April 2023) Read More