Drawing Nature (books to help you get started!)
Drawing is a nice hobby to take up, and less complicated than painting watercolours, as you only need some recycled art paper and eco-friendly drawing pencils
Drawing Birds is a beautiful book, to teach you how to draw birds of all kinds – from hummingbirds to albatrosses, ducks to wild parrots!
Discover the art of field sketching
Discover the Art of Field Sketching is a book by a woman who has taught children and adults to draw single items in nature to large mountain vistas. She has been leading workshops in remote Alaska for over a decade, and now her course is available as a book.
Start with the basics of pen, pencil and watercolour, then learn to sketch a night sky, backyard bird or a squirrel in the park. The book includes 30 easy lessons, and inspiring examples of finished work. And also looks at the benefits of slowing down to sketch the natural world.
The green sketching handbook
The Green Sketching Handbook offers inspiration from not just an artist, but a climate scientist, asking you to let go of worries, and lose yourself in nature.
Combining quick and easy exercise and research on the benefits of nature, Dr Ali will show you how to embrace your wobbly lines, and learn about your relationship with the natural world, to bring comfort and joy.
Keeping a nature journal is far more interesting than keeping a diary, when you wallow on about your own life and woes. It inspires you to look in your own backyard, garden or park or by the beach, to be amazed at the creatures we share England with, and even further afield.
Let’s Draw Nature (a fun book for children)
KindKids: Let’s Draw Nature is a lovely book of 100 drawing lessons for creative children, which also helps them to foster a love for the natural world. And includes tips on how children can use their creative gifts, to make the world a kinder place.
The easy step-by-step lessons, teach children to draw everything from leaves to butterflies, and from owls to whales. All with fun facts along the way to inspire and educate.
The book offers tips for children to be more eco-friendly (from using both sides of the paper to save trees) to planting trees (read our post on pet-friendly gardens).
Mandy Ford is a licensed illustrator, lettering artist, graphic designer and teacher, who is passionate about using her creative gifts to make others feel cared for and loved. She lives in Indiana, USA, where she runs on hope and coffee (sometimes in reverse order).
Lisa Glanz (your best Procreate drawing teacher!)
Lisa Glanz is a wonderfully talented artist from South Africa. Her Clip Art is sold on Etsy. As well as lots of mini tutorials you can download to do the same, using ProCreate or Adobe Illustrator if you prefer to draw digitally, for pleasure or work. She also lots of useful info for fellow artists.
