I am a word nerd, so I looked up the Genus and Species for the yellow warbler, including the origin and meaning of the words to see if it helped me look more closely for the distinguishing features of this bird.  It did.  Setophaga is Greek for moth eating (and helps me think about the shape of the bill and how it enables the bird to eat).  Petechia is Italian for small purple or crimson spots (and those are the crimson streaks on the belly).  I am hoping this research will improve my memory of the binomial name and the common name. Although it was not part of this exercise, one of my goals is to learn to draw quickly so that I can capture fleeting creatures in my journal.  So, I set the timer on my iPad for 2:00 minutes and drew as quickly as I could.

• I loved doing this drawing.  I was unsure where to start so I began with the branches to kind of anchor my bird in all that space.  I was most concerned that I be able to capture his/her dear face which seems so attentive.  I was glad this was a photo as I have many birds out the window at my feeders that come and go so quickly that I feel daunted to imagine trying to sketch that!
• I did not get the more flat-backed posture of this bird in my drawing.
• I was too intimidated to try watercolors on this drawing.  Perhaps I will try another and attempt to get these cheery yellow colors included.
• I was nearly as interested in the lichens and textures of the branches but they seemed even trickier to draw.
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2. If I hadn't drawn the warbler, I wouldnt have noticed the talons.

Started with head and made it too big so that I was out of space for much of the greenery on the left. Still haven't got the beak right but, for a first try, I'm satisfied. Didn't try to get too detailed for this first attempt - just playing with getting some subtle shading with the pencil. I didn't capture it well but, had I not really looked at the photo, would not have noticed the detail of the upper foot.

The nice part of a photo is it doesn't move; its not dynamic like nature...and you don't have to deal with the external factors of weather or travel (travel always gets in the way...I rarely go out to draw...I am forced to draw what I see while I have time to see it...I need to re-frame that!) Seeing details came easily,  but recording them, and knowing HOW to record them, was hard. I would not have noticed the back wing, or the arrangement of leaves on the end of the branch, or the slight shading of the top of the head.

I think that both  photographs and sketching are important tools to study and learn from Nature. When a bird moves fast, taking photos is the only way to "capture" it and look for it later on a field guide. When it is posible to sketch it, you can make observations: what they eat, how they move, the right colors. But I am very slow at sketching. Today I look for this bird on the book "The Birds of Costa Rica" and I learned that this is a migrant adult male in my country.

I am so impressed with everyone's drawings and paintings on here! 1) Though still challenging, drawing from a photo is far easier for me than drawing a live subject -- something I very much want to get better at. I tend to be very hard on myself when I look at the result of any drawing. For instance, in this one, I think I got the head and the placement of the eye wrong, as well as the angle of the body. 2) The alignment of the feathers is something that particularly drew my attention.

Holly Mailloux My first attempt to post to Prof. Fuller's class and my answers to her questions.

Drawing from a photo is easier as your subject remains in the same position but the camera can also distort what you see.  Angles aren't as difficult for me as depicting those curves in space like the twig this warbler is perched on.  I think the fine lines of feathers that make up the wings are details I might have ignored if just looking at the picture instead of drawing it - the head, eyes and beak are the first things my eyes focus on.  The feather details might not be so important in a nature journal but then coloration is also important to the identity of the bird. Great submissions from the other students!  It's fun to see so many different interpretations.

I had a challenging time getting starting with constantly questioning where to begin. Drawing from a picture allows time to concentrate closely, erasing, redoing and observing. I probably would not have noticed the intricacies of the moss and lichen on the tree limbs. I would notice this with more detail and focus on the "small" but important things in nature.

1. I had a moment of...welp, here goes nothing! And then once I started I felt like I was immensely focused and completely immersed in the drawing. I could definitely feel my perfectionism trying to creep in but I think I kept enough of it at bay to just enjoy the process. I felt I did reasonably well with basic shapes and sketching out some perspective lines to help with angle and alignment, though I still feel I struggle a bit with proportions. It was really fun in a focused, meditation sort of way.  2. As I refined the sketch, I continued to see how the different layers of feathers were angled and the variation in color and streaking that I don't think I would have noticed or been able to describe if I had not been asked to draw the Warbler. This will help me notice finer details when I am birding and enhance my ability to describe what I am seeming more accurately.

I like drawing from a photo. It is so much easier to draw a still subject rather than a moving subject. I do feel I spent too much time on details, and trying to get the drawing perfect.  I hope to be more spontaneous, and draw/sketch more quickly/freely in the future. However, drawing from the photo gave me the opportunity to see more details on the bird.  I especially focused on the beautiful brown streaks on its breast, and its very fine wing feathers.  Such a wonderful little bird!

Wow! Everyone's images are impressive. I was super nervous to get started, but I am glad I did it. It's not perfect. Drawing it helped me appreciate just all the different types of feathers birds have and all the different shades of colors in those feathers.

The biggest challenge for me is using more than 1 kind of line to help distinguish elements and one thing that drawing makes me notice more are all the contrasts of lights and darks.

1. It was nice that the bird wasn't moving in the photo!  But, I had a hard time deciding where to start.  Should I start from the bottom up? Or get the outline first? The dark eye and beak caught my eye, too.  It was really hard to get the proportions right. 2. Yes! I probably wouldn't have noticed the brownish markings on its chest.  And now there really is no clearly defined wing, it just is sort of blended in with several distinct feather shapes and patterns.  It was already fun and enlightening to 'discover' the details of this beautiful little bird. P.S. I'm 12 years old, living in England.  My dad and I are taking this course together when we can.

This was the first drawing I’ve done in decades.  The main reasons I took this course was to revive my love of art and nature. Both are so therapeutic. Just putting pencil to paper was the most challenging for me; deciding where to start and ironically, when to stop. What I noticed most by drawing that I would not have otherwise were the sharp nails at the end of each nail. I want to do a drawing just of the warbler’s feet. Capture how delicately he grasps the branch, but is firmly locked in place until he releases his grip.

My drawing looks ok but it takes me about 10 min. to start. then I tried  to speed up. The drawing took me about 40 minutes.. , probably way too long. I didn't know how to paint the bird, so I hope to learn that in another class. I wouldnt' have noticed the feet, the number of  feathers , the type of tree/leaves that was the habitat. I dont know how to show you my work.  Maybe you /someone can you send me any suggestions on that?  I can take a picture on my phone, but how do I get that into my computer?  sorry to be so ignorant. Eileen McNally aka cherryred

Having the still photo made me want to spend a lot of time getting it perfect. I kept it quick to practice drawing quickly in the field. Excited to start practicing with color and being able to document more of the colors I see.

This was a great first assignment - because I didn't have to be perfect!  I've got a long way to go but I've made the first step and feel like I can really enjoy this!

Feet are hard!  And also getting over t he fact that my drawing wasn't going to be "good." I can get unreasonably frustrated when what I draw doesn't match what I imagine my drawing will be like. I loved the noticing.  The different zones of feathers, the way the branch bent and so on. Otherwise I might have just thought-pretty warbler--and moved on.

It helped drawing from a photo because the bird sat still, unlike most of them in real life! I was able to take my time to notice details. Because I was drawing, I really tried to pay attention to the details on the bird - eye placement was hard and I had to duo it twice, and it may not be right yet. I didn't take more than about 20 minutes or so on the drawing and didn't get into journaling on this assignment, but I hope to be more detailed in future assignments. I figured this was a warm up!

Drawing the photo was challenging for me.  I am NOT an artist.  None of it came easily for me.  But I think the biggest challenge is the patience to get all of the details in.  I would not have noticed the moss and lichen if I had not drawn this.  I am lacking details on the warbler, but I hope I can get better.  I am excited to learn how to journal and sketch!