Free online lessons

If you can’t get to my workshops, check out the free video lessons below.

This ‘Introduction to Nature Journaling‘ online workshop is split into a series of short video parts:

  1. Introduction
  2. Anyone can draw
  3. Learning to see
  4. Let’s draw! Contour drawing
  5. Let’s draw! Modified contour and speed drawings
  6. Let’s draw leaves!
  7. Nature journaling prompts
  8. ??? (I’m still making this and other parts up!)

Part One: Introduction

Includes what is nature journaling and why do it.

Part Two: Anyone can draw

This is a pep talk for anyone who thinks they can’t draw. Also explains how the brain can get in the way of good drawing. If you already enjoy drawing, and know you can do it, you might want to skip this part.

Part Three: Learning to see

Seeing is the most fundamental part of drawing.

Part Four: Let’s draw! Contour drawing

Skip to here if you want to start drawing right away. I describe what you need to get started, and then we create a contour drawing. What fun!

Part Five: Let’s draw! Modified contour and speed drawing

A few more warm-up exercises for drawing. Let’s do modified contour drawing – which is when you keep your pen or pencil on the page while you draw. We’ll also try to draw a nature object in 5 seconds, 10 seconds and 15 seconds. I’ll also explain why these are useful techniques for nature journaling

Part Six: Let’s draw leaves!

Grab some leaves and get drawing! This episode explores some different Australian leaf types and simple botanical terms to describe them.

Part Seven: Nature journaling prompts

In this video I show you how to use the four nature journaling prompts (I notice, I wonder, It reminds me of, It makes me feel) to spark all sorts of observations, questions, memories, ideas and feelings. These prompts can be applied to anything you find in nature, and are a great way to create a page.

Thanks to John Muir Laws for the first three prompts, and thank you to the Queensland Trust for Nature, Citizens for Refuge Ecology and the Queensland Government for supporting the production of this video.