Nature journaling is a wonderful way to get even more richness from our birding experiences. Please join naturalist John Muir Laws and the Mesilla Valley Audubon Society as we imagine a trip to into the desert, record our discoveries, and probe mysteries in our notebooks. John will demonstrate habits of mind, drawing techniques, and journaling Read More
Tag: observation
New! Quick Start Guide to Nature Journaling: Free download
This handy zine includes everything you need to get started nature journaling! It covers the basics (a definition, using words/pictures/numbers, and I notice/I wonder/It reminds me of), plus info on tools, places to journal, and more. BONUS: Turn the zine inside out for seven inspiring nature journaling prompts. The QR code takes you to more 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
Learn to Draw Plants with John Muir Laws
Join me for a 2-hour live online class on Sunday, March 26, where I will share my best tips and tricks for drawing plants, which I have learned and refined through my 35+ years of teaching. Read More
Curiosity (video workshop)
“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Curiosity is not a trait you are born with. It is a skill that you can develop and refine with practice.It is more essential than any Read More
How to Teach Nature Journaling (Video Workshop)
[A]re you a school teacher who would like to lead nature journal activities in your classroom? Perhaps you are a home school parent who would like to extend and enrich your current journaling activities. Are you interested in starting (or are already leading) a nature journal club in your area? Or, you could be a Read More
A Curiosity Framework
While visiting Sunnybrae International Baccalaureate World School, I saw a set of questioning prompts on the wall of each classroom. These eight concepts are used throughout the International School system. I strive to be rigorous in my thinking and actively question of the world. I thought these were useful and wrote them down as they might provoke my own intentional Read More
Shape vs. Structure: Integrating two ways of drawing (video workshop)
Here is a video of one of the nature journal club workshops where we explore two ways of drawing: understanding the form and structure of your subject vs. looking at it as a collection of interlocking shapes. I use both of these approaches in any drawing. Read More
How to draw shorebirds: Step by Step
Shorebirds are great subjects to sketch. They will hang out and nap in plain sight, do not hide in vegetation and will return to the same postures again and again (feeding, resting, sleeping, etc.). Once you are familiar with the basic structure, you can adapt it to drawing any shorebird by modifying the beak shape Read More
Book Review: Looking at Birds
Looking at Birds: An Antidote to Field Guides is an outstanding guide to observing the world and bringing greater joy and curiosity to the study of birds. The author is John Busby, master bird artist whose fast bird sketches capture the aliveness and energy of a bird like no one I have ever seen. His Read More