Drawing always makes me nervous, but I really do want to give it a try. Being a perfectionist is one of my character flaws and unfortunately, I tend to get so frustrated. With this course I am going to try to relax and not worry about the outcome and just do my best. Drawing definitely does make things more noticeable and helps exercise my memory. I'm looking forward to learning all I can and can't wait to see what my drawing looks like at the end of the course.      

1. Birds are animals I enjoy drawing, they are probably the animal I draw the most. It was neat to jump in and attempt to create a realistic image of a bird. It was challenging to get the idea of three dimensions in the sketch, most of my drawings are very liner and 2d. I  noticed how the birds feet gripped the branch, usually I just draw a few lines for the feet without much care to what they are actually doing, so it was good to slow down and pay closer attention. Slowing down allows me to notice the birds color, and try to perhaps pick up on any behavior (where is the bird looking, why is it looking that way, is it looking at something specific?)... I would try to pay more attention to head shape for future ones, as this one shows not as much delineation between head and body.

I liked drawing from the photo as I could take my time capturing as much detail as I could. I drew the large oval shapes of the bird first to make sure I had the proportions right and to make it a proper size to the paper.  I didn't notice the bird's shoulder or top-foreward part of it's wing until I was well into the drawing.  I think taking time to observe such details will benefit my journaling for sure!

1. It was challenging to figure out where to start and the proportions of the bird. I was using colored pencils, and the color came pretty naturally. However, there’s no detail in the feathers due to the nature of my coloring. 2. If I was just journaling without drawing, I don’t think I would’ve appreciated the subtle color difference in the warblers top and bottom beak or the way it’s wing feathers stack so perfectly.

It was a bit of a challenge.  I found myself having trouble slowing down to focus on the details.  Part of why I want to take this course is to be able to focus more on details. I had trouble drawing the head in particular and also getting it scale .

I enjoyed this exercise. Although it was scary to jump in with no instruction, it allowed me to think more about where I'm at right now, and how I'd like to approach the course. One of my goals is to improve my skills using Procreate on my iPad. This gave me the chance to try setting up what a page my nature journal might look like (taking inspiration from Jo Brown's "Secrets of a Devon Wood"). I can now keep this as a template, or try something new next time. Sketching the warbler gave me a chance to try new brushes. I got carried away trying to add color... Something that has been challenging for me is to let myself leave a piece incomplete. I had fun trying even more painting techniques and was happy with the progress, but decided to hide those layers for now and ultimately leave it as it is. In the past, I'd feel conflicted about this, but today it feels like the best choice. Looking forward to returning to this warbler friend at the end of the course!

1. I felt a little lost at first. 2. What came easy was just letting the pen flow as I saw the picture. The challenging part was letting go of the need to draw it perfectly. 3. I wouldn’t have noticed all the different colors of the branch and how the bird had faded areas of bright yellow and dark yellow. Yes, nature journaling would make a difference because you are asked to pay attention to the detail of an object.

It felt easier to draw from a photo rather than a bird such as a Yellow Warbler flitting around, not sitting still generally for me to get all the details right. I didn't draw all of the twig that the bird was sitting on. I would not have noticed the yellow/brown of the back of the head and leading into the wings.  That was harder to capture in my drawing btw.  I am not sure how much of a difference it would make in a field drawing but I will notice as I do one.

I often draw birds from photos, so that came easily. The challenge was to keep going once the bird was complete! Once I finish sketching a bird, I usually consider myself done - but having just outlined a bit of a goal about completeness on a page, I went ahead and sketched the branch with a few leaves and even the lichen - and better yet, made some descriptive notes about color and texture. I'm excited to see how my yellow warbler might be different at the end of my journal!

1. It was very relaxing drawing the photo. I found that it was easy for me to try to get shading into the image but it was difficult to get the initial shape right. 2. I definitely noticed small details from the photo, specifically coloring such as the branch being grey instead of a brown. I think this would make a difference when nature journaling if I have time to observe the subject as I draw, but I am worried about how long it took me and how that translates into nature drawing.

I am more likely to notice details when drawing that I would probably miss when just glancing at a photo. Like how the warbler's feet clutch the branch, and how the leaves have bites taken out of them. It's helpful to draw from a photo, though, because the subject is still. And a photo gives an accurate idea of color.

Drawing the warbler confirmed my lack of skills to draw what I see.  Starting with a blank page I found it challenging to know where to begin.  In the center with the bird and work out or sketch an outline of the whole photo and fill in?  Scale and proportions are essential but not sure to how draw that on paper.  Nothing came easily to me except for enjoying the yellow warbler but disappointed at how I misrepresented it.  There is definitely room to grow here!

This was a fun exercise. I think I will need to focus on getting more accurate proportions/shapes to start before I add details.  I didn't attempt any color yet but thought about using some colored pencils to suggest color notes.  The advantage to drawing from a photo is that there is plenty of time to do the drawing.

I always think my bird drawings look like the bird is smiling. I think that's odd and really not very accurate but still I like following the lines of the little bird. I noticed the streaking more as I took the time to look at him closely.

I felt that it was a little hard to make the picture as realistic as the real photo. I think the shape of the bird was a little challenging and drying the features inside the bird was extremely challenging. I might not have noticed how many streaks there were in the bird. Yes, it does make a difference when your journal it because you have to get all the details.

I used colored pencils as I’m doing this in my office. It ended up looking flat. I can spend more time on layering feather groups

I couldn’t quite get the eye the way I wanted it until I zoomed in a noticed this little ring of skin around the bird’s eyeball! Totally shifted how it looked to me by attempting to add that detail in my drawing. Feathers were difficult for me to capture… would be interesting to draw single feathers to get a sense of their structure.

I felt comfortable with sketching the basic shapes and outlines of the bird and branches. It was a challenge getting textures and fine details.