I photograph birds and nature a lot and enjoy it. It's a quick way to capture a moment that quickly disappears! I then use the photo and take my time to draw in the details that I wouldn't have had time to with birds. Photos are also great in inclement weather when you can't spend a long time outside! Plants and trees are more easily sketched and watercoloured since they don't move much, other than a little breeze or the light changing. I really prefer the journaling as it is a more personal way to record your time with nature. Perhaps more "grounding" if you will.  

I find both photographing and drawing equally challenging.  I have spent many hours just watching a bird to see how it moves, what it does, how it looks at different angles, and waiting for the "shot" I want to take.  I really get offended when someone wants to use my photo for a painting without asking me.  I spend lots of time and money on camera equipment, finding the bird and taking the picture.  Often "artists" do not recognize that photography is also an art form.  I have spent hours in freezing temperatures and many hours in the car searching for birds such as snowy owls.  So, I don't think photos are quick and easy.  However, I also like drawing birds and wildlife from nature and my own photos.  It is equally as rewarding in different ways.  I am certainly not an expert at either, or I wouldn't still be taking courses such as this.

I liked drawing from the photo, because photos don’t move around like real birds do. I haven't actually tried sketching a bird in real time, though, and I can't wait to do that at some point! If I hadn't been asked to draw the photo, I probably wouldn't have noticed a lot of the smaller details like the moss on the branch or the positioning of the warbler's legs. I'm excited to do this again at the end of the course and see how my drawing has changed! :)

1. I like drawing from photos because I can take my time. The drawback is I can't alter the focus -- some parts of the photo is blurred and I can't see what's going on there. 2. I would not have noticed how colorful the tree branch is! Also I think I would've not been able to notice how the feathers and feather groups lay in relation to one another, and the proportions of the feet and legs  (birds rarely come close enough and stay long enough).

I felt the watercolour and the legs were the hardest. What I enjoyed was paying attention to to the details and really appreciating the bird. It really helped me make a connection to the bird, and if I were taking a photograph in the field, I wouldn't have noticed the positioning of the feet, the overall positioning of the bird, and the details on the wings.

I found drawing the legs and feet the most challenging. What I enjoy about drawing birds is having to pay attention to the details - the posture of the bird and the overall shape of the birds. I hope to master the feathers, bills, and feet!

I felt good while sketching the birds and I think it was a satisfying result. The easiest part in my opinion was that it was a picture so I didn't have to worry about it shifting positions. What was challenging was that I didn't know how much detail to put into it. One thing that I like about sketching is that I notice things I wouldn't have otherwise if I was just passing by it on a walk. One thing that I noticed while sketching, was the talons, I never noticed how intricately they wrapped around the tree branches. The way that they wrap around to me seems so flexible and something I wouldn't dream of doing with my hands. It's cool to see how adaptations allow animals to do such things. If you're are wondering why there are two, it's because me and my mom did them together. (me top, bottom mom)

I enjoy looking at my first drawing of this sweet little yellow warbler. It came easily and it was challenging. The distance between the beak and the eye and the claws/talons/feet were challenging. I never noticed the layers of feathers or the number of individual claws (for lack of the real term). Yes, it would make a difference with nature journaling.

I'm fairly comfortable drawing from a photo, and I enjoy having the time to look at details and try to render them—but feathers are a challenge! Drawing birds lets me discover all of the lovey details that I would miss otherwise.

Drawing from a photo is something that I do often as a studio artist, so I felt comfortable with it. I challenged myself a little by drawing the warbler without taking any measurements, and trying to eyeball the proportions this time. Hopefully this will be good practice for field sketching! Drawing the feather groups and overall shape came relatively easily since I've practiced before, but estimating proportions was a challenge. I find this especially tricky when deciding how to position the legs so the bird looks balanced. Without drawing this photo, I might've missed some of the wing details and subtle differences between olive and yellow tones. When nature journaling, I think noticing both details and the bigger picture is a great way to become a more attuned observer.

It has always amazed me how you immediately look with a lot more intensity and eye for details as soon as you set out to draw an image. For me that is one of the rewards of finding time to draw and watch.

In some ways, it’s easier to draw from a photo - birds don’t sit still!  It’s easier to get the details of coloring & such.  But it’s harder to get the sense of a three dimensional living bird from a photo.   I don’t think I would have noticed how many subtle shades of color there are in the Yellow Warbler if I hadn’t drawn it.  It would have registered as mostly yellow, with black details.

First I felt nervous, already thinking "What if it's not good enough?". Enough for what? I'm such a perfectionist! Then I just got to it. Liz had already said at one point that the eraser was my friend, whereas I had had an art teacher who always admonished "No erasers!" So I relaxed and used my eraser, which wasn't a lot. I compared eye to beak re: positioning the eye, paid lots of attention to proportion, and the different short and long wing feathers. I kind of enjoyed it!

I loved this exercise.  It was a challenge for me to allow the patience and time to draw.  I found myself rushing.  I used to draw when I was a kid and would spend hours at it.  It came easily for me to recognize details, but I didn't notice the two layers of wings/feathers initially.  A poor representation of the wing layers.  Nature journaling will reteach me patient observation. I'm looking forward to that :)

I really appreciated getting to see all the variations on the journal both in the first video and in these comments. Starting off felt a bit awkward, but I have already noticed elements (such as textural direction shifts in the wings) that I would not have noticed otherwise.

Honestly I felt extremely ANXIOUS just jumping straight in to drawing this bird! I think I did OK with the proportions, but it was challenging to add some of the shading in just black and white. I did find it interesting that I noticed a lot more detail (such as the very faint stripey bits around the bird's head, and it's weirdly long right toes) due to drawing the picture. If I weren't drawing it, I just would have seen a pretty yellow bird and moved on. 

Did not use the watercolors.  Not sure how, looking forward to learning how to use them.  When drawing you notice all the details.  Hope to learn how to better incorporate these details with much improved techniques.

I can´t wait to see the evolution at the end of the course :D

This is the first time I have tried to draw a bird. Well, beyond little black "V" marks. It took me an hour and lots of zooming in. The proportions are way off, this bird probably wouldn't fly! Aside from the difficulty of getting life into a drawing, which I hope to learn, I had NO IDEA how hard it is to represent leaves, branches, much less lichen! Wow. A big lesson! I'm very glad this was from a photo. As I took an hour, no way could it be done live. I'm going to shed tears but learn much from this course!

Well. That wasn't as awful as I expected it to be :) There is so much to see in this photo. There are so many different textures and colors in the branch alone, I can imagine getting lost in the exploration.

Drawing from a still subject is a bit easier, able to see more details and enjoy the process. I saw the fine details of the feathers, the feet and the beak.  I don’t think I could have seen it all from a bird on a feeder or limb, but look forward to that challenge.

Ines (7 years old): I felt great. I felt like a great artist.