1) I really enjoyed drawing from the photo, but I felt nervous about sharing it. As with others in the class, I am a bit of a perfectionist and drawing has never been my strength. As a child I decided I wasn't very good at it and gave up on it by the time I was in middle school. I still enjoyed it, but I thought I would never get any better. I never took art classes and never gave it much thought. Now I am a homeschooling mom and I would like for my children to learn to draw and to nature journal. I have started attempting to teach myself to paint and draw better, but I still have to make sure I am not hyper-critical of my work. So the hardest part is not judging myself. 2) I feel that there is so much I miss when I take a photo over painting. I don't think I would have noticed how far the wing goes back, the transition of coloring from the shoulder to the wing tip, etc if I had taken a picture and moved on. I have also found that drawing and painting cause me to pay more attention to body shape, which is also helpful for identifying birds. For me the ultimate difference is that painting makes me slow down and take in the moment more. I find keeping a nature journal both helps me to remember where I have been and helps make the memory more vibrant in the first place.

1. I think I paid too much attention to detail which my drawing look kinda choppy and sloppy. It was definitely was a challenge for me. 2. I would probably missed the details of the feathers of the bird. I never realized there was so many layers. I think it would make a difference because a bird in nature is hard to get an up-close look at and they are likely to move around.

I'm feeling so proud of this first drawing. Although I know a real bird will never hold this still it was awesome to get lost in the details. Bravo to those of you who went for it with the color and watercolors!

2.  I know for me, when I have seen this bird "it's all yellow".  Doing the sketch it allowed me to really look for details.  Seeing the browns and black in the feathers, noting the truly black eye, and observing the shape, size and color of the bill are all details that, for me, may have gone unnoticed even if I had taken a photo but not completed a sketch! A great aid to honing observational skills.

1. From my previous drawing experience, I was aware of and looking for the dark and light areas of the bird. What was more difficult was trying to get the proportions correct — the head is too big, the legs too short, and I did not leave enough room for the tail. I tend to draw large. 2. Drawing from the picture helped me see the different kinds of feathers on the warbler, e.g, long, distinct feathers on the wings and tail and shorter fluffier, feathers on the bird’s neck and belly, though I didn’t draw them as well as I wanted. If nature journaling, it would probably be harder to see th see details on a moving bird at a distance.

This photo made me think of the bird topography drawings in field guides, there they are, the different coverts and feathers, the scapulars and alula and all that bird landscape. It is a treat to draw from such a clear photo as in life these little guys will never sit still long enough for you to count the visible primaries.  It is challenging to try to record so much detail - in life it will be much more of an impression of a bright yellow flit among the leaves and maybe the male on territory singing. It is great though to see the feather tracts so clearly and this would be a good reference for bird topography. And the little feet with their long claws gripping the branch are neat to see. TT

1.   From Betsy:  While drawing from the photo, I liked first setting the boundary/border for the drawing & then studying the relationships between the bird, the twigs, leaves, etc.  I loved how the bird's legs formed an unexpected angle & how the eye looked so bright, with that one little sparkle.   It felt really great again to put a plain #2 Ticonderoga in my hand & sketch away.  Just getting started came really easily, as did the desire to sketch quickly.  What was difficult was realizing that I'm a lot like this bird, always on the move, always looking for the next thing...not for survival's sake, like the warbler, but as my pattern of thinking & responding, my impatience.  It was good to focus on the graceful bird, somewhat at rest, but...always on the move, always looking out, and always beautiful.  Thank you! Because I can feel my brain operating differently when I draw, and that is so nice to notice, I was able to figure out how to "insert the image" into this e-mail & then to respond in this way.  This is no small feat for me, so thank you for your deference, as I am sure this technology is easy stuff for many of you.  It's not for me!  I would imagine for many of us, though of course I don't really know, maybe especially for the artist who enrolled in this course as a birthday present, we have a chance to think about how we "see;" we have a chance to focus on ourselves as we focus on what we have always loved to do -- to draw.  Ah, self-knowledge.  Thank you! 2.  I really noticed the shading & "implied" feathering & how the beak "sat." The veining on the leaves & the twists & textures in the twigs added to the action.   The warbler's perch, his strong sure grip, though it lasts mere split seconds, ensures the bird's survival, as does, conversely, the letting go of the grip.  This bird has a rounder head than I would have imagined.  And what a sunny color.  Look at how streamlined & aerodynamic  he is.  Like a sunbolt.  Amazing!

1. I felt that it was tricky getting the birds slight twist of the head okay.  I am not a watercolorist, so I used marker to give an impression of the feathers and markings.  It is a start. 2. I think you definitely notice more of the subtleties in the birds positioning and markings when you are trying to draw it.  When I am out in the field photographing I try to get a clear, interesting shot within the birds environment at the moment.  It might take a few photos to get enough data to make a good ID. I guess in nature journaling you have to decide if you want to make an impression and collect some data of your time in nature or if you are interesting in being more realistic.

1. How did you feel about drawing from the photo? What came easily and what was challenging? I think I was able to key in on some of the major shapes present in the bird's form, like the perfect arc from tail to leg, and the arch of the head and forehead. Letting the wing feathers define the side and rump was challenging because there's an outline, but then internal details and lines that define that outline. Which should I do first? Not sure why I compressed everything vertically. 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? Definitely how the wing feathers are laying along the flank and make fine little ledges on the rump and back. Also you can really see how the flattened bill wraps around the side of the head and points to the eye. The details of the toes wrapping around the branch also stood out to me.

I agree with Barbara, it took me a while to take pencil in hand but I found the entire exercise rewarding. The more I looked and drew, the more I saw. Interesting!

Okay, I want to learn to draw. I purchased all the supplies listed for the course. I decided to do the first lesson of the course because I did not want to vacuum and iron today. Got to this point and balked. I did the vacuuming and the ironing while thinking about the task ask of me: draw this bird. So, I put on my big girl pants and ended up drawing the bird. I sure hope that we learn a few tricks about drawing here, I need them.

I'm grateful for a bird that is sitting still. My lived experience with warblers is that they don't do that anywhere near long enough for me to sketch! I never noticed how many toes they have. I'm happy with my sketch (though it took me some time to muster the courage to try it).

1. Drawing from  a photo is both easier as the bird is still, but was more restricted as it doesn't always give the details I was looking for. 2. How the feet were wrapped around the twig was of interest to me. The photo allow me to pause and look more closely. Yes, I believe the detail makes a difference when nature journaling.

Drawing from a photo is a confidence builder, it allows me time to observe and note the details of what I am seeing.  What I noticed in the act of drawing is being aware of proportions and that is a discipline I tend to ignore...

1. A photo is easier than trying to draw a warbler from life but it was still quite challenging. I struggled with the wings and head. 2. The greyish yellow nape of neck. When I see in the wild all I notice is yellow, the big dark eyes and chestnut streaked chest.

I don't mind working from a photo. Spotting warblers is bad enough, asking them to sit and pose is funny. I know there are things that you can miss from working from a photo, however, so some of the things I would be interested in from the perspective of looking at a bird are lost when working with a photo. The way the feather collect on the back for example can be represented with light/dark but I'd like to understand how they actually work mechanically- you can't observe that with a snapshot. I notice the drip the bird has on the branch and would like to understand that a little better- again it's not really observable from the photo.

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.