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.

This exercise was a good pre-assessment. It wasn't easy for me. It doesn't feel authentic to draw from a 2-dimensional photo. But yes, I did notice details of the bird that I wouldn't have if I wasn't trying to draw it. What I noticed were all the little stripes in the bird's plumage. On the breast there were all these light brown streaks. On top there were black streaks, and one area looked a bit greenish. Before, all I noticed was bright yellow. It's still yellow, but not crayon-box pure yellow. I wouldn't see this detail in the field, so it was helpful to draw from the photo.

1. How did you feel about drawing from the photo? What came easily and what was challenging? I felt great drawing from the photo. When I draw, I prefer photographs or still images to draw from because I can take my time and really study and take in detail. The head shape, beak placement and some detailing was a bit challenging, but I found the rest to be easier. The branches and leaves came the most easily. I also found that I was very nervous to add color! I'm not good with watercolors and was worried I'd ruin the sketch. 2. Was there anything in the photo that you might not have noticed if you weren’t asked to draw it? Would this make a difference when nature journaling? I don't think I would have noticed the 3 individual toes curled on one of the warblers feet. this would make a big difference  when nature journaling because it gives you more data to take note of.

I was really nervous to begin and once I started I became lost in it. I spend most of my free time photographing all nature and so drawing from a still picture was much easier than in the field.

As I began drawing from the photo, I greatly appreciated that this wonderful little bird was not moving.  It gave me a chance to look carefully at the detail (the varied colors – usually I would just note “a yellow bird” –but now I noted the brown streaks on its breast.  Also the different kinds of feathers overlapping. And the details of the twig and the moss/lichen).  The actual drawing was a challenge….it has been a while since I have done any drawing – figuring out proportions and angles, but the more I sketched, the more I enjoyed it!  In fact it was a very relaxing exercise.  As I progress, I hope to experiment more with color. The advantage of drawing over photographing is that you spend more time actually looking at the detail of the subject.  Having just completed a digital photography course I understand the detail of getting the correct light, aperture speed, focus, etc.  Although you focus on the subject in terms of composition, you do not zero in on the detail.   I think in nature journaling I may find it difficult to draw the detail since the subject may be moving, but instead I may spend more time observing the behavior of the bird, or the environment – in fact a combination of photos and drawing on the spot may be a nice compromise.  The advantage of journaling is observing the interactions of the animals and the plants in their environment and then recording those observations.   Jan 12 2021