Hey y’all! I am so pleased to see all of your wonderful preliminary drawings and paintings posted here, I want to thank each of you for being so willing to share your work! Some of the folks posting their drawings here are not quite beginners, which is absolutely fantastic, but I want to say to the beginners - don’t be afraid! Every artist was once a complete beginner at some point, and this course is as much for the new artists as it is for those who already have experience. I hope more of you newcomers to art will share your work to inspire others that they are not alone! I would encourage you all to support each other in this process - sharing your artwork can often be very personal and I love to see y’all lifting one another up! Always remember to be gentle with yourselves and to focus on the process of learning and growing. Thank you all for being here, it fills me with joy to see all of the wonderful things you are creating for this course!

1. A little intimidated to draw after so long. The easiest part was getting the shape of the bird. The challenging part was to draw the bird in relationship to the twig, leaves, etc. 2. I noticed the soft light brown streaks on the belly and breast that I haven't noticed when birding.

I like the drawing, although I don't have any watercolors to make it pop, or look yellow. Sorry about the picture quality, I'm doing this on my computer and the camera is bad. I wouldn't have noticed the brownish stripes on the underbelly, but as I looked more at the bird, I started noticing details that I never would have before. I'm new to sketching and drawing, having started over the summer, and I tend to make my lines very faint, over time, they start to  be barely visible. I don't love the head either, it looks very lopsided and fat. I'm looking forward to learning more about watercolors because they look beautiful and I love paints.

Drawing from the photo was, in a way, easier than drawing from life, as I don’t seem to be able to capture movement. On the other hand, the photo is 2-d, and my drawing seems rather flat too. I hope to be able to bring my drawings and paintings to life through this class. One thing that is particularly challenging was trying to shape the branch and give it dimension, as well as texture. The bird is smooth and has fluid flowing lines. The bark on the branch is complex, as are the lichens growing on top of it. The texture is intriguing, but I can’t figure out how to capture it (yet!)

I'm excited about this class because I'm trying to find more play in my art. I put so much pressure on myself that I often don't even start. I'd also like to find patience and presence through this practice, a way to meditate almost. Something that gets me out of the rush-rush-rush mindset. I found doing it in watercolor challenging because watercolor is always challenging for me, even after 5 years. I could draw it better, likely, but I'm determined to find a style and flow with watercolor. Perhaps I'll play with mixing media, like watercolor with acrylic and charcoal instead of trying to be a purist.

Feelings- effort to be exact and uncertainty about proportion   Noticed the shape more

It’s been a while since I have drawn, and using a mechanical pencil feels weird, but I feel I can get the hang of it.  Photos can capture all (or most ) detail, where drawing a subject, you can choose an area for detail and suggest other things.  Photos are a moment frozen in time, and a drawing seems to give some sense of movement to me, although I don’t exactly know why.

1.  I draw from photos regularly, so I was comfortable with that.  The bird didn't fly away before I finished!  I struggle more with animals than with plants - perhaps they seem more important to me? 2.  I noticed that how various parts of the bird, eg. shape of head, differs from other bird species.  This is what I love about drawing:  it forces me to look more closely.  That said, looking back at what I have drawn, I think I could look more closely still! I am taking this course in the hopes of developing the habit of drawing / painting regularly / more frequently and learning some techniques to improve my drawing / watercolors.

1) I was full of trepidation because I haven't really tried to draw anything for over 30 years... but maybe the skill will come back. Most challenging for me was catching the angle of the bird's head. 2) I thinkI would have missed the color of the feet and the subtle gray shading on the back and ruff if I hadn't been analyzing the photo to draw it. In nature journaling, this could make a huge difference in species ID.

1. I felt rusty in my skills in communicating what I see to my hand. I thought about how to hold my hand, where to begin making a line, whether my stroke should move forward or backward. The bird’s beak was a challenge, as was where to begin my drawing on the page. I realized quickly that my drawing was too far to the left on the page, and because of this, I didn’t have room to fully explore its tail or place it in context with the setting behind it. My first instinct was to judge my process, but I quickly moved past that when I realized how that mindset was keeping me from enjoying what I was doing. When I relaxed and enjoyed the act of sketching, the more playful attitude allowed me to appreciate certain details. I also began to think of what it will be like to sketch the Yellow warbler in nature, and I will want to include information about where it is perched (what type of tree, shrub, plant) and what activity it seems to be involved in. 2. There were many details I noticed through drawing from the photo that I would have otherwise overlooked: a slight shadow along the bird’s brow, the curvature of the tip of its beak, the downy feathers on the underside of its belly, the gray feathers along its back and shoulders and the rusty streaks on its underside.  

I finally figured out how to post a picture of the correct size.  I enjoyed drawing from the picture, the feet and getting the right angle of the bird was challenging.  I wouldn’t have noticed the stripes on the stomach so much if I wasn’t drawing them.

1. How did you feel about drawing from the photo? What came easily and what was challenging? I like drawing from photos because it takes away from the challenge of a moving subject. The challenge of birds, for me, is their beaks. Each bird species beak is different and unique to their role in the natural world but I can never seem to get the shape perfect!! 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? The branches are so beautiful. If I wasn't asked to draw it, I probably never would have noticed the colors and details in the branches. It definitely would make a difference in nature journaling. Being able to catch a moment in time is so amazing, being able to notice these small details quickly and efficiently so we could capture them is super important... and really fun.

1. My biggest challenge in drawing from the photo was getting the proportions of the warbler correct.  Something to continue working on.  Coloring with the water colors was fairly easy, especially since this is really my first time working with watercolors in a serious way.   2. I needed to pay much more attention to the detail in the coloration of the feathers than I would have if I was not drawing from the photo.  This would make a difference if I was drawing a live bird that was standing still, which is not usually the case.  Drawing from real life subjects has to be much quicker and with less detail, before the bird flies away.