The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds Paperback – Illustrated, April 1, 2015

I purchased this book to see how the author approaches drawing birds, and I am finding it very inspirational and full of excellent details and tips for the beginner or experienced artist. I studied drawing and painting at a major art school and have spent hundreds of hours drawing from life, yet I have never given any serious artistic study to birds in spite of my fascination with birds and considerable knowledge of them. Perhaps I was "chicken" because birds do not hold still and pose for you and are usually only possible to draw in bits and pieces unless you are in a nature lab which has stuffed birds. They are useful too, but you can't capture the energy and spirit of living birds this way. With John Muir Law's book I can benefit from the knowledge that he has acquired from observing and drawing birds for many years.The author offers an outstanding analysis of the form, anatomy and movement of birds in colorful and clear drawings accompanied by concise but detailed explanation. Key drawing basics are covered in the book for beginning artists to get them into the drawing process without worrying about results. In fact, this book focuses on the process of drawing with birds as the specific subject. The importance of direct observation and field sketching is stressed in the book, and the author has included techniques for addressing the challenges of capturing these unpredictable subjects. As true with any subject, you will learn and understand more about birds by drawing them as you observe them even if you do not aspire to skilled work.The book is well organized, thoughtful, and really a lot of fun! Highly recommend for the bird watcher, naturalist, artist, or all of these in the same person.

Excellent book. It has lots of examples, as well as clear explanations and useful info about birds’ shapes, bodies, and the various ways they move. I compared it to other books from the library, the ones that only have drawings. Those might be OK as a simplistic guide, or for kids, but this book is so much better.

I would much rather look at someone's sketchbook than their finished drawings or paintings because it offers a glimpse of their process. ( Composition, gesture, construction, anatomy, technique, materials ... ) It is much easier to draw something if you know what your looking at. The author teaches you what to look for. From general things like posture and proportions and feather groupings down to individual feathers and patterns of markings and the small specific details to look for that separate one bird from another. From field sketch to rendered illustration, this book takes you through the process. There are chapters on color theory,color mixing,colored pencils and watercolor. What colors to choose for your palette and why. And then the author takes us through a couple of step by step mixed media drawings that show what can be done with a very simple but well thought out sketch kit and a plan of action. I am an over the road truck driver that takes a sketchbook a few fountain pens and a watercolor travel kit with me wherever I go. I don't usually stay in one place very long. Neither do birds. I've been to a lot of places, seen a lot of things. When I draw them, I remember them better and appreciate them more. Using a constructive approach to drawing where you build one step on top of another, step by step like the author lays out in this book - well you don't have to finish-you can see where it is going. Some of my favorite sketches are unfinished. A drawing should look like a drawing. It shows a dialogue between the observer and the observed. Much better than a photo. I have at least a hundred books on drawing and painting. Both general and specific. Even though this book is specifically about birds, the no nonsense, grab a pencil and follow along approach makes it one of my favorites. Many give an overview and touch on many subjects,techniques,and materials and show what can be done but skip many of the steps on how to do it. This is a "How-to" book. One of the best.

I just purchased this book and it arrived last week. Three years ago I started drawing birds. I purchased Drawing Birds with Colored Pencils by Kaaren Poole. This was a very good start for me with zero art training. Taught me the basics. I also purchased Colored Pencil Painting Bible by Alyona Nickelsen. This was also helpful. I have been experimenting with Odorless Paint Thinner, which really can give you some great results when using colored pencils. However, I have tried some of her lessons, and my fruits do not turn out looking exactly like hers. I am sure it is because of my skill level and the fact that I have never had any art training. This book has very easy instructions. I started with drawing the cardinal and the warbler. I had been drawing from pictures and photographs only. Using a compass to get my proportions. With Laws technique, 1) posture 2) proportions and 3) angles I was able to draw these birds without using a compass and they turned out decent. Not perfect, but decent. I am going to try to draw a bird a day like he suggests. Already, just into a few pages of this book, I have experienced some of the mistakes he refers to, like making a bird's eye too big can make it too cute. Fine is you are doing a cartoon looking bird for a card, but I want my birds to look realistic. I just feel like if this book is helping me, it could really help someone that has some skills. I appreciate the fact that he states in his introduction that you are not born with this skill of being an artist, but it takes work and practice. Really if you have a desire to do something and the passion to do it, I guess you can do just about anything. It gives me hope that one day my pictures may look as good as his, maybe? Also, looking forward to trying to draw birds as I am watching them. I didn't think I could do that, but now with this explanation, it may be possible for me. I am thrilled that my pictures are improving and they are beyond stick figure drawing. Looking forward to completing this book and I am sure it is something I am going to refer to over and over again. Highly recommend this book. I would love to take a class from him.