Nature Journaling and Field Sketching

I journaled on the sides of my bird lists for years and it grew to flowers, landscapes and notes. I like the idea of boxes to relieve the clutter. I think I saw a white tailed kite on a trip years ago and since I recently found one near my home I want to find that journal and see.  I would like to know about giving some depth/detail to my sketches. And I have NO idea what to do with water color. Looking forward to finding out. Hurray, that things don't have to be finished, and it's fine to not get it perfect, and it's ok to try try try. This will bring more delight to my expressions.

Whether I'm in my own garden or on vacation in a National Park, I spend more time than I should probably admit just watching and listening to what's going on around me. Like one of the nature journalists in the video, I find myself falling in love with certain plants, animals, fungi or lichens. Taking time to capture more -- in writing or in a sketch -- about the qualities of a particular barnacle, blossom or preening songbird that I've fallen in love with will help solidify that memory. Nature journaling will help me be more disciplined in recording what I see, when I see it and note what else is going on at that time. Though I love going through photos my husband and I have taken, it's not the same. I am inspired by all the nature journalists who shared their journaling methods in the video, and I'm eager to learn more and get started.

I decided to take up nature journaling as a tool to improve my observation skills and develop a form of visual note-taking, to improve my memory of what I observed. I'm a birdwatcher and birding has become my gateway drug to a broader interest in and observation of nature. I haven't had an art class since kindergarten, so I appreciated the very modest sketches some of the nature journalists shared and what can be learned from them. And I was awed by the great artistic skills of others. Nature has always been my solace, so I expect that there may be emotional responses or thoughts that arise while observing and sketching and I will record those too in my journal.

I enjoy being outside in nature (especially bird watching) and dabble with painting, but came to a greater appreciation of both throughout COVID. I am a teacher and  it has been such a stressful few months. Sitting in my backyard watching birds has literally been a sanctuary experience for me. I even began to turn my backyard into more of a habitat for birds and other critters. I love noticing the light at different times of the day and being aware of the cycle of things. It is truly calming. I feel like I sync with myself when I can notice other creatures going about their native and instinctual ways. Nature journaling feels like a natural way to extend my experience and look forward to working my way through this class.  The picture below is of a newly fledged eastern bluebird. We watched as all 4 fledged from the birdbox from a distance in our backyard last May.

We are turning our Irish farm into a private nature reserve. I want to be able to document the changes we’ve made through drawings and personal observations which I hope will complement the scientific studies we are doing. I already paint landscapes but so far I’m rather rubbish as drawing animals and doing detailed work that looks realistic. This course looks perfect for helping me develop new skills.

1. I recently moved to Alaska and.. the landscape is so beautiful and changes its impression with the weather. Also, lots of birds! 2. Framing the picture and having bullet points of details observed is an attractive approach

1. I enjoy journaling daily, sketching and being outdoors. This will refine my observations and experience in all areas. I am taking this course to better connect with nature and to look closer at the world around me. I hope to gain knowledge and improve my sketching skills in order to use my garden this summer as subject matter and canvas. 2. Like Shayna, I will use boxes to frame and highlight my drawings and detailed notes. 3. I like texture. Adding bits of actual samples to touch would be fun, although it would make the journal rather bulky. I may or may not do this.

As an artist, I have journaled on and off in the past.  As time went on I have stopped doing it and want to get back to doing it because I know it is a good habit to practice drawing and painting.   I love birds and have carved a few, and also have carved and painted their feathers.  For me it is important to get the colors right so that I can assimilate them on my carvings.  I love to create, and have fun doing it.

I hope to improve my drawing skills and enjoy all that Nature has to offer around me. I enjoy using pencil, pen and watercolor together and think this will be a wonderful experience.

I like the idea of starting with writing the date , time  and place where I am located for the journal experience. I feel a little conscious about my drawing ability but know that it is my journal and i do not have to share it unless I want to. I also realize that i can only improve my drawing by doing just that .....drawing. I am a true lover of Nature and an avid birder so I am looking forward to getting started with this project.

1. I love birds & I'm also an ecology and environmental science teacher. I want to teach my kiddos about phenology and I thought nature journaling would be a wonderful way to include inquiry and creativity to discussions on seasonal shifts. 2. I want to get better at gesture sketches to quickly capture what I'm seeing for animal behavior. I tend to spend lots of time working from photo references for the bird art I do now so this will be a skill to build on.

I am looking forward to this course to combine my two main interests of nature and art.   I want to improve my drawing skills and develop watercolour, which I have never had much success with!   Learning to sketch from life should help my observation practice as you see much more when taking time drawing and really paying attention than if you just take a quick photo.  I think I will learn to appreciate the beauty of  nature much more as I progress.   I would also like to use the journal for identification instead of relying on photos

We're a homeschool family. I'm doing nature journaling with two of my boys. I hope for my artist son to get more comfortable drawing/painting outside and for my bird-loving son to enrich his study of birds. As for myself, I have worked mostly in oils. I am looking forward to developing my skills in watercolors. They will be so much less complicated and more portable for painting in nature.

I want to build a daily drawing practice to improve my drawing skills and I love birds and spend a lot of time outside, so nature journaling seems like a good way to combine these. Since I'm fascinated with bird behavior, I find the narrative aspect of writing about what I observe compelling and it seems like a good way to go beyond just focusing on the thing I'm drawing to include aspects of the whole experience of what I'm observing.

I live on a lake and have recently started birding. What better way to learn birds than to sketch them.

I retired a few years ago and set a goal for myself to learn how to sketch and paint. Before I could get "started" Covid-19 hit! We live in a condo community, and I love to be "with nature," so within our 20 ft X 30 ft patio, I have five feeders offering various goodies for the birds we have in the area.  I wanted to take my communing with nature a step beyond just watching to sketching and painting the variety of wildlife we see in our neighborhood.  I can't wait to go traveling within our city to see other species at other parks in the area when Covid-19 is more under control. I am a novice to sketching/drawing and painting and I want to learn as much as I can and practice as much as I can to improve my skills. I loved the unique nature of each of the journals...  I aspire to be more creative and free with my journal, but will include the stats to help me keep my work organized and make it easier to remember when I look back and think about a particular day.  I don't know if I can sketch every day, but that's how I want to start out! Sharon

I am so looking forward to this class and adding sketches to my vacation journals. I too prefer being outside than cooped up indoors.  I am a beginner for sketching and never have worked with watercolors. My mom and aunt were very good/great artists. Somehow I didn’t get under their wing to practice and learn their mediums. I wish I had.  I quilt and garden enjoy nature hikes and vacationing.  I think this class will help with the art and improve observation and being in the moment skills. As far as journal styles I want to combine the art with notes on my thoughts and allow space for me to record facts that I learned from what ever I am sketching. I plan to include the date and location and like the idea to include the weather of the day. And if possible include both common and scientific name of the drawing. Adding watercolor I hope will bring my things to life. What are my goals?  Use the techniques learned for my vacation journals. And all my vacations include nature experiences.  I would love to say I would sketch something daily, but I don’t think that is realistic so for now I want to keep up with class lessons and sketch at least one thing with each visit to this site. Do the homework. Last year we were to go to AUS and NZ but COVID  hit and that dream ended. So I want to be ready to nature and travel journal should this trip ever come.

I am a writer, photographer, watercolorist, bird enthusiast, gardener, and nature lover who is interested in nature journaling. This course seems to be a good place for me to start.

After a year of covid 19 secluded life I am always looking for some new activity that can be done alone , especially outdoors.  I received the e-mail describing a course about drawing birds.  As I read along, this course drew my attention as it included more about nature and would be perfect in spring when new buds are blossoming all around.  Although, at 83, I no longer climb mountains, backpack trails and make long canoe trips, I look forward to nature journaling at my slower pace. I hope to improve my sketching and observation skills while outdoors.

I ran across this course when I was looking up a bird and I thought it sounded like a great way to develop my sketching and drawing skills, as well as get into a journaling habit. I made this first yellow warbler drawing according to the instructions. I used what I had on hand, an HB pencil and some pastel pencils. I spent about 45 minutes on this. Based on the journals in the video, I hope to improve my drawing skills and achieve some realism in my work. I am interested to try watercolor, pen and ink, and pencil techniques to start out. I would like to make pleasing journal size watercolor mini-landscapes as Liz showed from her journal.

I want to take my birding to a new level and journaling seemed to be the obvious progression. I enjoyed all of the journalers and appreciated each style. I will definitely record the date, time, location and weather and combine sketching and written descriptions/notes. Sketching will help me pay more attention to detail and I can also write write down observations to ensure I capture the moment.

I love being out in nature hiking & experiencing all of the plants, animals & birds.  I have been increasingly  enjoying birding and recently took Liz's bird sketching class.  Now, I'm hooked!  I like the journals that combine the illustrations with verbiage - observations, feelings, questions.  I expect my style will evolve as I learn more and actually start working on my journal.

I used to draw when I was a child.  Now I am  71 years old.  When walking with others I have always been one of the first who would notice a bird, plant or animal, proclaim out loud, look there's a hawk, a chickadee, trillium etc. I took the class Drawn to Birds, loved it and felt like I wanted to learn more. It seems my drawing skills are not gone and are better than I thought they would be.  It was nice to see the different journaling styles and how talented everyone is. I like the idea of drawing what I see even if I may not know what it is and looking for identifying information later.

1. I love the seasons and want to learn more about the different species of plants, animals, and fungi that thrive in each season. I also have always wanted to document the memories of vacation travel in a more meaningful way than just clicking a photo. 2. I loved the ones with water color that brought the photos to life. The last field journal showing one one species in detail per day then switching to monthly collages was cool. I also loved the landscapes captured in the Galapagos by Jewel. I'd like to try combining the ideas of these two journalers. 3. One thing I might like to add would be to attach physical items such as pressed leaves or a fallen bird feather found that day to give the journals a 3-D presentation with physical links to the memories of that day.

I used to draw and paint as a kid and haven't done much at all since high school. I'm looking for a way to get back into art and looking at things more thoughtfully and appreciatively. I'm hoping that having a journaling practice like this will bring more mindfulness to my day and a greater appreciation to the natural world around me.