John Muir Laws's guide to drawing birds is itself winged, soaring between a devotion not only to art but also to the lives, forms, and postures of the birds themselves.
Here, artistic technique and the exquisite details of natural history intertwine, and drawing becomes the vehicle for seeing. As Laws writes, "To draw feathers, you must understand how feathers grow, overlap, and insert into the body. To create the body, you must have an understanding of the bird's skeletal structure. To pose this skeleton, you must be able to perceive the energy, intention, and life of the bird."
This how-to guide will perfect the technique of serious artists but also, perhaps more importantly, it will provide guidance for those who insist they can't draw. Leading the mind and hand through a series of detailed exercises, Laws delivers what he promises: that "drawing birds opens you to the beauty of the world." An Audubon Book.
More journaling titles by John Muir Laws:
- The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
- How to Teach Nature Journaling
- The Laws Sketchbook for Nature Journaling
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements
Foreword by David Allen Sibley
Bird Drawing Basics
- The Joy of Drawing Birds
- Draw a Bird in Six Steps
- Posture, the First Line
- Proportion
- Head Position
- Angles
- Everything Follows Shape
- Step by Step: Warbler
- Step by Step: Sparrow
Mastering Bird Anatomy
- Songbird Bills
- Cranial Kinesis
- Feather Groups vs. Markings
- Step by Step: Drawing Head Details
- Turning Heads
- Head Angles
- Body Feathers
- Suggesting Feathers
- Feathers of the Chest
- Chest Patterns
- Back Feathers
- Wings and the Automatic Linkage System
- Spread Your Wings
- Wing Tricks
- Wing Proportions
- Step by Step: Drawing Wings
- Technical Points
- Suggesting Wing Detail
- Tail Shape and Structure
- Moving and Foreshortening Tails
- The Thigh Bone's Connected to the ...
- How to Balance Your Birds
- Understanding Bird Feet
- Simplifying Bird Feet
- Leg Position and Angle
- Bird Leg Details
- Windows of the Soul
- Iridescence
Details and Tips for Common Birds
- Birds of Prey
- Raptor Anatomy
- Raptor Body Feathers
- Step by Step: Peregrine Watercolor
- Drawing Waterfowl
- The Angles of Heads and Tails
- Duck Details
- Duck Heads
- Waterfowl in Motion
- Step by Step: Ruddy Duck
- Working with Waders
- Wader Heads
- Step by Step: Shorebird Value Study
- Hummingbird Helper
Bird in Flight
- Build a Flight Frame
- Angled Flight Frames
- Another Angle on Wings
- Wing Tip Tips
- Make a Flight Model
- Sketching Small Birds in Flight
- Underwing Anatomy
- Step by Step: Raven in Flight
Field Sketching
- Go Outside and Draw
- Field Sketching Is Not Field Guide Art
- Working in the Field
- Field Sketching Zen
- Drawing Moving Birds
- Birds in Habitat
- Travel Sketching
- Documenting Rare Species
Materials and Techniques
- Keys to Better Drawing
- Observing Light and Shadow
- Planes and Texture
- Using Negative Space
- Combining Shapes
- How to Show Depth
- A Few of My Favorite Things
- Fast Sketching Combinations
- A Portable Watercolor Palette
- Paper Selection
- Painting on Toned Paper
- Color Theory Heresy
- Reinventing the Wheel
- Using Colored Pencils
- Step by Step: Colored Pencil Warbler
- Step by Step: Mixed-Media Stellar's Jay
- Watercolor Choices
- Watercolor Techniques
- Mixing Complementary Colors
- Step by Step: Mixed-Media European Starling
- Using Reference Material
Bibliography
List of Illustrations
About the Author
About the Author :
John Muir Laws is a naturalist, educator, and artist with degrees in conservation and resource studies, wildlife biology, and scientific illustration. His books include The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada, The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds, The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, and (with Emilie Lygren) How to Teach Nature Journaling, all published by Heyday. He is cofounder of the Wild Wonder Foundation, an organization encouraging nature connection through art and science. Visit his website at johnmuirlaws.com.
David Allen Sibley is an American naturalist. He is the author and illustrator of The Sibley Guide to Birds (and several other books about birds), as well as The Sibley Guide to Trees.
Review :
"Tips that only an expert could provide are included throughout. Bird-watchers will be pleasantly surprised to discover how helpful this book can be toward fully seeing and understanding the birds they spot." —Library Journal
"I have read through Jack Laws's Guide to Drawing Birds, and my only comment is that it is outstanding both from an artistic and ornithological perspective. I wish I had such a book when I first began to draw birds. Reading through the text and, more importantly, exploring his drawings and paintings, leads me through the visual journey that Jack took when he observed the subtle details of each bird. The book is well written, richly illustrated, and beautifully designed." —Robert Petty, Director of Field Support, Audubon
"At some point, I expect more than a few birders have tried (or at least considered) drawing their favorite bird. There is something quite natural about wanting to do this. If you are one of these birders, and even if you are not, take a look at the newly published Guide to Drawing Birds, and find out why I believe it is a must-have book for artist-birders. For that matter, I think it has value for anyone who simply wishes to improve their skills of observation. There is a lot to celebrate in the pages of this book, trust me. It is truly a birder's guide to drawing." —10,000 birds
"Best Bird Book Pick for the Holidays: perhaps the most visually stunning bird book of the year, an insanely beautiful and useful guide to not only drawing and painting but seeing birds." —The Birdchaser
"If you've ever even remotely considered drawing birds, you will find Guide to Drawing Birds eye opening, and then essential." —The Birder's Library
"This instruction book on drawings birds is everything I had wanted and so much more. It never gets boring and doesn't speak over the level of beginners like me." —Birding is Fun!
"Even those who may not consider themselves qualified to wield a pencil for anything more than writing a grocery list might well come to discover just how enjoyable and effective as a learning exercise sketching birds can be … The techniques he demonstrates can be applied in as rudimentary or as polished a form as one likes. Whether one's drawings are merely augmentations to field notes or developed into fine artistic renderings, the essentials skills needed to produce them are the same. Laws presents these skills in easy-to-understand chapters, including an entire section devoted to what is perhaps the most commonly misunderstood element in avian locomotion: flight." —BirdWatcher's Digest
"Naturalist John Muir Laws has produced more than a guide to the techniques of drawing. He has drawn on a lifetime of work in conservation and wildlife biology to connect drawing with the actual lives of the birds." —Examiner.com
"A beautiful new book … not simply for 'gifted artists' but for anyone who wants to heighten their appreciation of birds and nature." —Golden Gate Birder
"Tired of merely watching birds? Ever consider trying to draw them? There s a method to do so. John Muir Laws is very good at this and he's written a book that can help you get started, maybe even become good at it yourself." —National Geographic Society
"A good introduction for those wanting to learn how to draw birds." —The Guardian (UK)
"Guide to Drawing Birds is a fine recommendation for any involved in drawing, birds, or birdwatching and any crafts or arts collection will want it. It's devoted not to the art but to the natural history and postures of birds, blending techniques with keys to observing birds and capturing them using field sketches which then can be developed further off field. From using colored pencils to avoiding common problems in bird drawing, this is packed with step-by-step color illustrations throughout." —Midwest Book Review
"I would highly recommend this book to someone … who'd like to be less intimidated by the thought of drawing birds." —National Parks Traveller
"John Muir Laws has created a quintessential field guide for drawing birds that can be used by people of all skill levels, young and old. This book could cause a renaissance of the illustrated journals and sketchbooks of earlier times." —San Francisco Book Review
