• Toni
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      Getting the stance seemed really important. Loved the contrast between the dark eye and bill and the yellow of the feathers.  What a yellow! Very different from a goldfinch. It made me think of whether colored pencils can even approximate nature's hues.  What color would I choose to color this bird? And the rusty streaks on the breast! Swoon!
    • Jennifer
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      I am looking forward to improving my drawing skills by the end of this course! I did the sketch quickly as if I was watching a real bird who would move any second. I think that helped me get a gestalt that has some energy . Would like to get a few more well crafted details. I might not have noticed the shape of the bill if I had not drawn the picture. Since the bill is an id marker I think it would make a difference in a nature journal.
    • Tatiana
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      I really enjoyed this. The warbler is very cute in the picture.IMG_4412
    • Judy
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      Not much art experience here: I am relieved that my pencil sketch is at least identifiable as a bird.
    • Celia
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      Drawing from the photo doesn't seem as daunting as drawing moving nature.  I did notice more of the dark markings from the photo while painting it.
    • Jackie
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      I was happy to be drawing from an image that wasn't moving about, changing positions.  I sketched with a #2 pencil and did not add color.  Might not have noticed leg color and toes without sketching.  Had trouble with the slight tilt of the head.  Definitely flatter than it should be.  Transition from wing to back was challenging.
    • Julie
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      I liked the fact that the bird didn’t move so I could really study it in one position and with constant light. I also could zoom in when I was unsure of the details of what I was seeing. Ironically, that also made it harder in some respects because it played to my tendency to be overly detail-oriented which took my attention away from the general proportions. I wouldn’t have notice the shape of the bill and the surprisingly rounded, low hanging belly if I hadn’t drawn it.
    • Amy
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      I think drawing from a photo seems easy at first, but in regards to depth perception, my bird turned out much flatter. Still, the photo does show colors that might not have been noticed in nature, particularly if one is not familiar with the bird.
    • Paula
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      It felt nice, although strange. The legs came easily but the shape of the head and details in the wing not so much. Drawing makes me focus on shape but I definitely simplified it and made it flatter than it should be.
    • Maria
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      I loved the activity
    • Leauri
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      In the very short class I took with you earlier this year, you really liberated me from feeling like I need to draw perfectly.  I started by looking at bits and pieces of shapes and shadows and not thinking so much about a bird.  It was super relaxing because I wasn't constantly criticizing every pencil stroke, more just having fun and wondering if my drawing would fit on the page. :) Making it look three dimensional is hard for me. Really seeing the lines, the fluff, the feather contours came easily.  I would not have noticed how much dark smudgy coloring is on this little Warbler if I hadn't been drawing it.
    • Donna
      Participant
      Chirps: 9
      It was a bit challenging, but not overwhelming. I drew some ovals and circles, like D.J. had done. that helped. And then kept making a lot of adjustments, erasing, redrawing. Trying to get proportions and  angles of the bill, tail, legs, wings, with respect to each other. I just did pencil for now, but if I had painted in color, I think I'd recognize it. It was fun to try this. And just that one tip from D.J. helped me get started. As I drew, I kept noticing more about the bird, that I did not pick up on first glance, such as all the detail in the wings. With photos, I have mainly looked at those reddish streaks on the yellow breast. Also, shape of the bill, angle to the head, size of the eye. Doing this drawing, I realize that by doing the nature journaling, I will cultivate my observation skills and attention to detail. Even the stance of the bird, its posture, and I wonder, what is the habitat, what kind of tree is it sitting on? These are things I would try to draw and take notes on, to investigate later.
    • Sharyon
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      First Attempt 5.20.21 I answered the questions on the page.  I think there is a lot of room for growth here, but this first attempt made me happy and excited to see where I go as I progress through the course.  Seeing everyone else's work, really inspired me, as well!
    • Kate
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      I forgot to add an image to my comment. Here we go. {shudders}PXL_20210521_004736172
    • Kate
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      I only used my pencil for this because I'm a stick figure drawer with no watercolor experience. It was daunting to start. And my scale is way off. There's lots of lichen on the branch the warbler is on. Some of the leaves have been nibbled. And I've never noticed the reddish-brown 'stripes' on the warbler's belly before.
    • Zariel
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
      1. I felt pretty good about drawing the photo. I found it  pretty easy to draw the warbler. It was difficult to get the wings right. At first I used the water brush to paint the wings, but I couldn't get the lines thin enough so it turned into a black blob. Then I painted over the wings with yellow and restarted them. I decided to use a very thin paint brush to get fine lines.2. I would not have noticed the position of the feet or how the wings fold.This would make a difference in nature journaling because your drawing would be more realistic with the more detail you can add.
    • Zariel
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
      20210519_225709
    • Camille
      Participant
      Chirps: 5
      Yellow Warbler Drawing 1.  I draw from reference photos a lot, so this felt normal. Drawing the shape of the bird and the branch came easily. However, trying to get all the details in (especially the wing) and enough contrast using just a mechanical pencil was a little challenging. 2. If I wasn't asked to draw it, I would not have noticed the way the the light and shadows fall on the bird. I also paid a lot more attention to the warbler's feet and how the are clutching the branch in a surprisingly loose looking way.
      • Kayla
        Participant
        Chirps: 19
        This is absolutely gorgeous!
      • MARLIES
        Participant
        Chirps: 3
        You really captured how the warbler has turned its head toward the observer. I struggled with that.
    • David
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      1. The drawing is okay for a first time - nothing special. Proportions seem alright, shading is meh. 2. What did I notice in drawing? Details! I would otherwise 'see' the whole without necessarily noticing all the minutiae that actually make up the image. 3. I'm an archaeologist and we typically draw our artifacts and features, along with photographing them. Why? Because photographs provide us with an objective, 'scientific' image (more or less), while drawings pull the subjective human mind into the object. In drawing, we represent only those details that help us tell the story's picture - the characteristics that are most important to us. Yellow_Warbler_Pencil
    • Analilia
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      24C5251A-B977-4E85-AA76-27DAAF892745
    • Analilia
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      I had a good time doing it.  It took me a while because I’m traveling and I don’t always have access to Wi-Fi.  My friend Francis and I have been zooming and trying to do the lesson together.  I like drawing from photos because I can take my time getting the image on paper.  It’s also easier to capture details, that I may miss if I was drawing in plain air.               
    • Denise
      Participant
      Chirps: 3
      D54F0B8C-2393-42D5-B554-234C0DE5FAE8
    • Paula
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      93D5BA7E-7A65-4774-94EA-AAD415338DA3I liked being able to refer back to something that doesn’t move. While drawing I noticed the color variations in the Wabler, bark and leaves. I do believe this would make an excellent reference to an unfinished drawing
    • Frances
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      yellow warbler cropped The advantage of drawing from a photo was the subject never moved. One of the problems I had was trying to paint in the details on such a small image.
    • Jill
      Participant
      Chirps: 7
      I like drawing from a photo reference.  However, the challenge for me was seeing the fine details in the photo.  I had difficulty with the background.  I wondered if I should have did the background color first then paint over it?  Should I have used a different brush?  Did I use too much water?  I had a harder time manipulating the paint to cover the negative space as opposed to coloring in the subject.  I think I would have seen more details to add if I was nature journaling. unnamed