Drawing Birds and Winged Insects at the California Botanic Garden

The best way to learn how to draw birds and insects is by watching them in their natural habitats. Observing their movements and behaviors can teach you so much about their structure and form. Some birds and insects move quickly and constantly, making them tricky to capture in a sketch, but with patience and practice, you start to notice patterns in how they move. The more time you spend looking closely, the more details you pick up—like the way a bird’s feet grip a branch, how feathers overlap, or how an insect’s antennae twitch as it explores its surroundings.