Good morning – we are coming towards the end of another week already, but we still have a couple of days left! Today we are going to be inspired. by some of the creatures we find in our gardens. There is so much wonder out there in our back yards, we just have to pay attention. 🙂
Note – I have dotted a few of my own paintings through this post, as my own professional practice is nearly always influenced by the wildlife right outside my window!
For this morning, we are going to do a little drawing workshop, with the help of Love to Draw Things
How to Draw Bugs, Bees, Birds and Butterflies
I have come to love Love to Draw Things during Art Camp! I love Ali’s style – it is perfectly light hearted, simple and effective for children and grown ups! So, here are some guides that I have picked for today’s topic, and hop over to her site to see if there’s anything else you want to draw!
I bet you could draw a whole page of different critters? Or how about using the flower drawing guides to start drawing a garden full of buzzing wildlife?!
Observational Drawing
One of the things my kids loved during our summer term of home education was nature sketching, or observational drawing… we would find something from the garden to draw (either from life or from a photo we had taken), and we’d all spend time studying it and drawing it. There is no right or wrong way to do this, but it’s a great exercise in “learning” to draw, and in connecting with nature. I’d really recommend spending a few minutes having a go.
If you enjoy doing this, invest in some good sketching pencils, some decent paper, and consider making a nature journal when you can keep adding your drawings and notes about the wildlife you find.
Here is a piece that Jake worked on for a few weeks…
Lunchtime Viewing!
A few years ago, I took part in an online course in Creative Family Living by the wonderful Amy Bowers of Mama Scout. In that course she shared this video, Snail Circus, and it has stuck with me ever since. It is absolutely about finding wonder in nature and using our imaginations!
