Nature Journaling and Field Sketching

II I appreciated that it was a photo and not a moving bird.  My drawing took a lot longer than that bird would have sat there.

Pas facile! La forme de l'oiseau a été dure à saisir et la texture des plumes me donne du fil à retordre.  Je n'aurais pas noté toute la richesse des couleurs du plumage, seulement le jaune et les rayures rouges. Peut-être que j'aurais dû faire une esquisse au plomb plutôt que d'y aller d'emblée avec les feutres de couleur.

I felt that i wanted to get the essence of the birds spirit. His / her eye appears to be looking at the viewer and the bird appears relaxed on the branch. It was pretty easy to outline the birds silhouette first and then fill in the details. I think what can be challenging is drawing the tiny details of the feathers, branches, etc.  I think I would have just noticed the bird, not the leaves and branches on the rear side of the bird.  This lesson has made me more aware of drawing and including the birds, animal environment so that I can get a better understanding of it's surrounding.

#2: The birds head is turned slightly toward the viewer, which I wouldn't have thought of while photographer, but had to  focus on this for drawing, and found it very difficult to achieve.

I felt challenged to capture the texture of the feathers and the branches. As I sketched I noticed more detail on the wings and feathers; much more so than just glancing at a photo. The concentration helped calm me down and provided a sense of peace.

By drawing from the photo I can capture details of the bird and the surrounding objects. I can take as much time as I want. Capturing the shape was easy, but difficult to express colours in black and white. I wasn’t focused much in the background when I was sketching but if you’re nature journaling you’ll see all kinds of other things around it, and I may be able to associate my journal with surrounding noises, smells and weather of the place.

Drawing from a photo allows me to more accurately draw what I'm seeing.  In nature, the subject is gone almost as soon as I have spotted it.  The photo made the drawing very relaxing.  I felt like I was seeing the bird and the branch she was resting on.  While a photograph always has the details, it is not nearly as personal. The drawing is my perception (and drawing skill) of what I am seeing and what is important in that moment.   I hope drawing in nature will improve my attention to the important details.

Drawing from the photo was easier than drawing from nature because you can have all the time you need, specially if you are drawing something that moves like a bird.    To draw the shapes was easy and difficult to make the shades and lights.   When you look at a photo first of all you get the central object like the bird, then when you start drawing there are details that show when you are looking for them, like the texture of the branches.  I think that when natural journaling you instinctively search for all of this textures, shades, colors and details.

it was easier drawing from the photo because I got to study the subject. depicting the feathers on the bird and depicting the details on the branches was difficult. there were lots of things I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't have to draw it - the shading aroud the bird's head, the dappling on the branches, the depth of field between the leaves on the right and the leaves on the left resulting in different sized leaves. Yes, this would make a difference  in nature journaling.

Drawing from the photo required 100% of my concentration! I might not have noticed the branch variations  -  the lichen and moss (?), if I did not do this assignment. What I am loving about this experience is that looking closely at nature creates an opportunity to learn, wonder and ask questions.

I felt pretty good, especially this bird was not moving! Most challenging was laying down the contour but with a light line (and using a light blue pencil) this gave assurance. I notice the legs (tibiotarsi) are actually tapered and not straight lines as I have often assumed. Yes, it makes a much more likely rendition.

The biggest challenge for me is the new medium, Water Color. I am a colored pencil artist by heart and I have complete control over every stroke, while water color seems to have a bit of a mind of its own. The graphite sketch looked accurate and to the point until I added water colors to the bird and boom, ruined. But that is exactly why I am taking this course. Sketching from a photograph is easy since you have all the time in the world to get every detail correct. Doing sketches from the living is a whole other story and I am hoping this course will help me with that. To me the biggest advantage painting/drawing over a photograph is I learn all the details. How the feathers are aligned and shaped for example. Trying to capture it on paper helps me also memorize the subject, in this case the Yellow Warbler, better. Seeing a photo of the bird is not the same as drawing the bird. Studying and copying helps me the most when it comes to remembering. It’s the same when trying to remember text. If I just read it and try to memorize it I have a harder time recalling the text versus when I write the text down. It helps me memorize better. It was easy to capture the pose and shape of the bird. The wing feathers were a challenge to capture. Also I noticed while drawing this bird, that the beak wasn’t just one dark color (aside from the light reflection I mean). I would have not noticed that would I have not tried to draw the bird.

Drawing from photos have always come easier to me than drawing from real life subjects. However, some of the more organic shapes like the lichen and leaves are often more difficult to draw. Adding color to my drawings is also often more stressful and makes me feel like I may ruin what I just created in pencil. However, some of the finer details like the different lichens and other details of the branches would not have come to my attention otherwise, as well as some details in the birds plumage like the extent of black coloration in the wings.

1. Observing and drawing animals was always easy enough. However, I always disliked drawing shapes first. My drawings usually work a good deal better if I start of drawing the shape of the bird or animal on the whole, rather then using geometric shapes. 2. I study things closely most of the time, but its easy for a little detail to skip someone's attention if it is obvious enough. This is because your trying to discover the tiniest details, instead of the most obvious ones.

I felt I was able to draw the bird better than I thought could. I have never drawn a bird before unless it was a stick drawing. So this was fun. It did take time though and I was tempted to add the water colors but I have no idea how to use the colors or the pens. I noticed several details on the warbler that I wouldn’t have and same goes for the twigs and branches and leaves. I also felt tremendous calm and peace as I sketched… I felt that I was in meditation mode, my thoughts quieted.. that was cool…

I think drawing in nature will be challenging because the subject will move. I could take time to  examine colors and proportions with a photo. I need to be more patient. I didn't draw the branch because I felt hurried with thinks I needed to do that day.

Drawing always makes me nervous, but I really do want to give it a try. Being a perfectionist is one of my character flaws and unfortunately, I tend to get so frustrated. With this course I am going to try to relax and not worry about the outcome and just do my best. Drawing definitely does make things more noticeable and helps exercise my memory. I'm looking forward to learning all I can and can't wait to see what my drawing looks like at the end of the course.      

1. Birds are animals I enjoy drawing, they are probably the animal I draw the most. It was neat to jump in and attempt to create a realistic image of a bird. It was challenging to get the idea of three dimensions in the sketch, most of my drawings are very liner and 2d. I  noticed how the birds feet gripped the branch, usually I just draw a few lines for the feet without much care to what they are actually doing, so it was good to slow down and pay closer attention. Slowing down allows me to notice the birds color, and try to perhaps pick up on any behavior (where is the bird looking, why is it looking that way, is it looking at something specific?)... I would try to pay more attention to head shape for future ones, as this one shows not as much delineation between head and body.

I liked drawing from the photo as I could take my time capturing as much detail as I could. I drew the large oval shapes of the bird first to make sure I had the proportions right and to make it a proper size to the paper.  I didn't notice the bird's shoulder or top-foreward part of it's wing until I was well into the drawing.  I think taking time to observe such details will benefit my journaling for sure!

1. It was challenging to figure out where to start and the proportions of the bird. I was using colored pencils, and the color came pretty naturally. However, there’s no detail in the feathers due to the nature of my coloring. 2. If I was just journaling without drawing, I don’t think I would’ve appreciated the subtle color difference in the warblers top and bottom beak or the way it’s wing feathers stack so perfectly.

It was a bit of a challenge.  I found myself having trouble slowing down to focus on the details.  Part of why I want to take this course is to be able to focus more on details. I had trouble drawing the head in particular and also getting it scale .