The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling by John Muir Laws is one of the most complete books I have used for combining drawing, observation, field notes, curiosity, and time outdoors. It goes well beyond teaching you how to make better-looking nature sketches. The larger lesson is how to notice more.
I was already familiar with John Muir Laws through The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds when I picked this book up. After working through it myself, I found this broader guide much closer to a complete field course in nature drawing and journaling.
It covers drawing techniques, field observation, watercolor, materials, journaling strategies, and projects designed to make you investigate what you see rather than simply record it.
See The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
My Quick Verdict
If someone wanted one book that combined the drawing side and observation side of nature journaling, this would be one of my strongest recommendations.
| What the book covers | My take |
|---|---|
| Nature observation | One of its greatest strengths |
| Drawing instruction | Broad, practical and approachable |
| Nature journaling | Integrated throughout the book |
| Field exercises | Excellent for developing curiosity |
| Supplies | Useful without making gear the focus |
| Beginners | Approachable, but substantial enough to grow into |
I especially like it for someone who wants their nature journal to become more than a collection of finished drawings. The book continually pushes you toward questions, observations, comparisons, diagrams, written notes, and visual investigation.
What Makes This Book Different
Plenty of drawing books teach you how to render an object more accurately.
What makes this book more interesting to me is that drawing is only part of the process.
The subject might be a bird, tree, pinecone, landscape, track, cloud, or animal behavior, but the larger question becomes: what can I discover by paying attention to it?
That changes the purpose of the page.
I am no longer trying only to produce a nice picture of the thing in front of me. I can draw it, label it, measure it, write questions beside it, compare it with something else, or record how it changes over time.
That approach is also central to how I think about nature journaling more generally.
The Book Starts With Seeing, Not Performing
One of the most useful ideas I took from John Muir Laws is that observation comes before making an impressive drawing.
That sounds obvious, but it is easy for me to sit down outdoors and immediately begin worrying about the page.
Is the bird positioned correctly? Does the tree look convincing? Is the watercolor working?
The book repeatedly redirects attention away from that performance mindset and back toward the subject itself.
What is happening? What changed? What do I notice that I did not notice thirty seconds ago?
That shift has made nature journaling more interesting to me because the quality of the outing no longer depends on whether I produce a particularly good drawing.
Projects to Focus Awareness Were a Highlight for Me
One of my favorite parts of the book is the collection of projects designed to focus your awareness.
These are not simply drawing assignments. They give you something specific to investigate.
I tried the “Mapping Movements” project, where you record movement through a landscape. That could mean following the path of an animal, but the basic idea can also make you aware of movement you would normally ignore.
I found that useful because it changed the question from “What should I draw?” to “What is happening here?”
A single field investigation can easily lead to several pages because observations generate more questions.
If you want additional starting points for that kind of practice, I keep a separate collection of nature journaling prompts.
The Drawing Instruction Is Broad Enough to Be Useful in the Field
The book also contains substantial drawing instruction.
What I appreciate is that the goal is not necessarily a highly polished studio rendering. The techniques need to function while you are actually outside looking at something.
The book deals with subjects such as birds, trees, plants, landscapes, and other natural forms using demonstrations that are clear enough to try rather than simply admire.
I found the sections on birds and trees particularly useful because both subjects can become overwhelming very quickly if I start chasing every feather, twig, or leaf.
The broader lesson is to identify the important structure first and let detail support it.
If animals are your main interest, my broader animal drawing guide goes further into that side of observational drawing.
I Like That Drawing and Writing Are Treated as Partners
A nature journal does not require me to communicate everything visually.
Sometimes a written note records information much faster than a drawing. Other times a diagram explains something that would be awkward to describe in a paragraph.
I like being able to move between:
- quick sketches
- labels
- questions
- measurements
- diagrams
- color notes
- behavior observations
- longer written thoughts
That mixture makes a field page useful even when none of the individual drawings feels finished.
The Supply Advice Helped Me Simplify My Field Kit
I have found it easy to overthink nature-journaling supplies.
There are endless choices of sketchbooks, pencils, pens, watercolors, brushes, palettes, and bags. At some point, thinking about equipment becomes a substitute for going outside and using it.
I appreciated that Laws explains why certain supplies are useful in the field instead of simply presenting a long shopping list.
His discussion of portable watercolor setups helped me put together a smaller kit that could stay ready for spontaneous outings.
If you want to see how I organize that equipment, I have a separate guide to my nature journaling bag.
The Physical Book Works Well Beside a Sketchbook
This is also a book I like using rather than merely reading.
It is substantial, the material is clearly organized, and the illustrations make it easy to stop at one idea and try it yourself.
I do not feel that I need to memorize an earlier chapter before opening to a section that interests me.
That makes it useful as a reference after the initial read-through. I can return to a specific animal, drawing problem, watercolor technique, or field exercise when I actually need it.
What I Think Could Be Better
I have very few major criticisms, but the book cannot cover every kind of field-sketching problem equally deeply.
One area where I wanted more was extremely fast-moving subjects.
A squirrel moving through a tree or a bird suddenly taking flight creates a different problem from drawing a plant, pinecone, or landscape that remains relatively stable.
I would have liked even more material devoted specifically to capturing those brief gestures before the subject disappears.
That limitation does not change my overall recommendation. It simply means that someone primarily interested in birds or other moving animals may eventually want a more specialized companion book.
For birds specifically, I would look at The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds as the narrower companion.
Who I Recommend This Book For
I think The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling is particularly useful for:
- people starting a nature journal
- artists who want to become more observant outdoors
- nature journalers who want more drawing instruction
- artists who want drawing to become part of natural-history observation
- birders and naturalists who want to record what they notice visually
- teachers looking for observation-based field activities
- experienced artists who want a structured reason to slow down and investigate nature
I also think it has enough depth to avoid becoming a book you immediately outgrow.
Is It Good for Beginners?
Yes, although I would describe it as beginner-friendly rather than beginner-only.
You do not need to arrive knowing how to make polished nature drawings. The observational exercises give you something useful to do even if your drawing skills are still developing.
At the same time, there is enough information about drawing, watercolor, observation, field methods, and natural subjects that I can continue referring to it after the basic ideas are familiar.
If you are completely new to the broader practice, I would use it alongside my nature journaling guide, which explains how I approach starting a journal more generally.
How It Compares With Other Nature Journaling Books I Use
| Book | Where I think it fits best |
|---|---|
| The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling | Comprehensive drawing, observation and field-journaling reference |
| A Field Guide to Nature Journaling | Accessible field-journaling practice and getting started |
| The Laws Sketchbook for Nature Journaling | Portable guided practice in a sketchbook format |
| The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds | More specialized bird-drawing instruction |
I do not see those books as interchangeable.
This is the broad John Muir Laws reference I would choose when I want nature drawing, journaling, observation, supplies, and field projects brought together in one place.
You can compare more titles in my nature journaling books guide.
How the Book Changed the Way I Nature Journal
The most useful change for me was not a particular drawing technique.
It was becoming less concerned with making “good art” every time I opened the journal.
I began thinking more like someone investigating a place.
A strange shape could become a question. A movement could become a diagram. A bird could be recorded through several quick gestures instead of one polished drawing. Something I did not understand could simply be written down and investigated later.
That makes the journal feel much more alive to me.
Is The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling Worth It?
For me, yes.
I like the book because it connects drawing with something larger than improving drawing skill.
It gives me ways to use a sketchbook to look harder, ask better questions, and record things I might otherwise walk past without noticing.
The drawing tutorials are useful, the field projects give the practice direction, and the supply advice helps keep the process practical.
If you want a nature-journaling book that can stay useful as your drawing and observation skills develop, this is one I would keep on the shelf rather than read once and forget.