I felt a little nervous, but enjoyed seeing if I could make the drawing look like the photo.  I notices all of the markings on the bird and the branch.  I noticed the way his feet wrapped around the branch, the sharpness of his beak and where his eye was in relation to his beak and within his head.

I’m the first to admit my artistic skills are rubbish. I’m more a bird watcher and photographer. I get too focused on the details and it took me awhile to get the basic outline and posture the way I wanted them. The beak, legs, and feet were the hardest and I still didn’t get them the way I’d hoped. Watercolor pens can’t make the color gradients I see so I’ll try to use watercolor paint which absolutely terrifies me for some reason. I actually enjoyed the drawing process am I’m not too unhappy with the outcome; better than I thought I could do. 

My drawing isn’t as good as the ones posted so far, but I’m still slightly impressed with myself. It's not a disaster and actually looks like a bird, maybe even a warbler. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. The hardest part was trying to get the eye and beak right, which I thought at first would be the easiest. I erased that part several times and am still not happy with it. After I finished and looked again at the photo, I was amazed at the details I saw, which I didn’t notice at first — the brown stripes on the chest, the very fine black lines along the wings, and the subtle color changes on the head. This was fun and I’m tempted to try to color it, but I will leave it alone for now while I feel OK about it.

image staying still was a big help and can get a photo that you may not have time to draw drawing is all new so all a challenge drawing you can emphasis the important markers

Drawing the photo took a lot less time and effort than all the time and effort I spent procrastinating about it! I really enjoyed the experience and found it calming, wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. Paid a lot of attention to trying to capture the small details. Looking forward to the next steps in this process!

1. Liked drawing from photo b/c bird didn't hop around! Could see details. 2. Everything! Yes. Hopping birds will be tricky!

I attempted this drawing using color which was harder than I tgiught. Proportion is better but not great.

Proportion is way off. I hope to get help with that. I really enjoy sketching and would love to get better at it. I pay much more attention to detail and shadows sketching than I do in in looking at a photo, especially in the feathering.

I haven’t tried to draw in at least 38 years. This was very satisfying, and I like how it drew my attention to the smallest details.

I really enjoyed drawing the Yellow Warbler. I just started sketching two months ago and I've learned the basic techniques of looking for shapes, etc. So, with this in mind, I drew 2 circles for the bird - one for the body and one for the head and then sketched from there. I drew the branch and leaves as well. I tried not to see anything as a challenge, just tried to draw what I saw. I certainly have a lot to improve on, however, all of this I'm doing for me so I'm not trying to be perfect. Just working on getting proportions and placement correct so it actually looks like a bird to me. I certainly wouldn't have noticed the branch the bird was sitting on, the lighting, etc. Wouldn't have noticed the positioning of the feet, things like that. I certainly would've just noticed the bright yellow of the bird, not the black in the wings or the rust in the body. And, scrolling through other's notes and drawings, I'm really impressed with the various methods and thought processes of others. 

I really enjoyed working on this drawing and am looking forward to the next lessons.  I used to draw and paint alot but have been away from it for too long.  I just used a #2 and a 6B pencil and made notes on color.  Drawing from the photo gave me a chance to really study the bird and it's posture on the branch.  I did not want to use color, just wanted to focus on the image and get the drawing structured well.

1. I just drew a simple sketch, for I only have a thick 6B pencil at the moment, and I am not confident of using colors to be honest. Drawing from the photo provides more time observing and drawing, no pressure on quick sketching or remembering the details. On the other hand, it captures more details than my eyes, which makes me hesitating on what to keep and what to leave. 2. From observing the photo, I pay more attention to the tiny details that give the bird its overall feel. For example, I realize the soft, blurry streak on its breast is made up by the fluff; and the folded flight feather are straight and solid, composing the clear stripes on the back. The exercise also make me realize that I need to find my ways to express those feelings, and find my strategies to decide on what details to keep and what not to. I think this actually inform me more about the birds, and help me with future nature journaling.

This was my first try. I will try another, but I was excited to get started. When I started, I realized that finding the spot to begin on the page was more difficult than I thought. The scale was off. Thank goodness for erasers. I liked the detail of the photograph; however, drawing the detail was a challenge. I'm looking forward to learning more.

Hard to know where to start and stop my pencil. I was really nervous and insecure about my drawing. I probably wouldn’t have noticed the lines on the bird breast. I think so but seemed a bit overwhelming. drawing was difficult but I’m sharing it. I didn’t use colors and just tried for the basic bird shape

This drawing is terrible LOL. I'm using some color as well. The drawing part wasn't so bad but I stuck to basic shapes rather than details. The ratio of the details is so hard. The changing hues of orange/yellow in the legs and the olive/black progression along the back are more clear when having to draw them. Also... the bill.. is it dark grey or black?? How do I clearly differentiate the upper and lower mandible with the light reflection?? .didn't even attempt the leaves or branches... .. discouraging for sure.

I really enjoyed my first drawing of this course! My color pencils don't do justice to the brilliant yellow of this lovely bird. This motivates me to learn using watercolors. I am glad there is a photo for me to look at, as it would be impossible for me to draw a bird that would not stand still for more than a few seconds. Drawing this bird helped me notice the details such as the stripes on her belly, instead of only seeing yellow warblers as lovely yellow birds. As I progress through this course, hopefully I will learn to take more meaningful notes.