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!

1. I felt fine about trying to capture what I saw.  I wondered if by getting the shapes as accurate as possible if I would be able to capture the facial expression (I didn't ).  It was easy to get started and try.  It was hard to get the proportions right.  I felt like I was trying to be faithful to the details, but didn't capture the Whole or the essence. 2. I don't think I would have noticed the different layers of feathers... the short ones over the longer ones.

This was a fun first assignment. The sketch itself didn't take long, and I tried to jot down the scene as quickly as possible to get in the habit of field sketching. Painting from the photo took longer because I had the luxury of taking my time. I tried to loosen up and paint shades of color and textures rather than focus on too much detail. This drawing helped me notice the subtle pallet of colors in the yellow warbler that go beyond yellow.

I liked drawing from the photo - the bird stayed still  I could study coloring & shape easier. His head & beak were challenging, also eye & beak placement. If I wasn’t asked to draw it, I may not have noticed the dark areas of the wing or position of legs.

1.  I’m comfortable drawing from a photo because I can really zoom in and focus on the small details. Seeing shadows and shading is easy in a photo, however getting the proportions correct is always my biggest challenge.  2.  The length of those toes! No way I would see those from afar outside. I was also able to see the great variation in feather colors that I may have just lumped into yellow and black if I were nature journaling. 

Well, I am blown away by the wonderful sketches and writing I'm observing in everyone's responses.  So nice to be part of a group who shares similar interest to me! I enjoyed drawing from the photo as the fact that the subject was still gave me a chance to focus on details and get the shape more or less correct.  It also was good to practice sketching in itself as it's been a while.  I'm excited to add some colour next.  I love playing with a fresh new paintbox! If I had only looked at the photograph, I think would would have noticed most elements but drawing made me pay closer attenttion to the shape of the lichens and moss, and details of the bird I wouldn't have really focused on, such as the placement of the eye and the details of the legs and feet.  The different types of feather details I would have just not noticed.  I hope to be able to upload some photos of my work if I can get phone and computer to work together!  In the meantime I'm so enjoying looking at everyone else's efforts.  Great to be in this course.              

I found it hard to get the proportions right even though it was a still photo, and the end result has some good aspects but less life like than I dream of being able to do. I noticed the feet much more than I might have as it was tricky to get them to curve around the branch