First day for me.  The beauty of it all is overwhelming. The colors and patterns of birds mesmerizing.  But all of this calls forth my detailing brain.  What I want to be able to do first is to capture the feelings as unadulterated as possible. Not sure how this is going to go, but that is what I will work toward first. Will report back omg how the journaling progresses.

During the beginning of the pandemic, while out of work, my only touchstone or routine was to visit the same wooded trail and river by my house each day. I took many, many pictures. While I love the instant gratification of photographing nature it often feels so rushed. My goal with nature journaling is to slow down and learn to pay more attention, while hopefully developing some drawing and painting skills. I enjoyed and benefited from seeing the variety of journals and processes in the videos. I love the look of using paint in a journal and also the idea of grouping nature observations by month. I also enjoyed how some of the journals featured the smallest details such as the close-up patterns noted on a leaf. I’m certain my journal will have lots of text, perhaps some poetry, and may even include some embroidery in its pages.

I love nature and being immersed in nature.  I would like a way to capture what i see in nature and how it makes me feel.  I tried photography but found that i do not enjoy seeing nature through a lens, as it takes away from just experiencing the sounds, sights and feel.  I think nature journaling would be the perfect way to capture what i see and feel while still being full immersed and present.  I was also thrilled to find out that you do not need to be an artist to nature journal. I think i resonated most with Jewel Alston’s presentation in that her journal was more of an experiment.  I feel like this will be me.  I am really leaning toward Liz’s style of sketches filled in with notes, etc. but i don’t really know what my style will be until I begin but I have a feeling it will be a bit messy, etc at the beginning.  But I am super excited to get started.

I’m inspired to begin nature journaling because I have too many hobbies that are treated as separate pieces and I see this as a way to consolidate them in a way that allows me to share my experiences. I was interested in the journals that combined the descriptions with sketches to showcase more or less a storyboard of their observations. I tend to scrapbook a lot with items that I find in my explorations. My goal is to combine my urban experiences with the natural environment that surrounds us. I’m excited to start this process and see how it evolves.

I'm inspired to begin nature journaling because I spend a lot of time looking at things up close; exploring color, texture, and pattern. However, I notice I struggle to communicate or translate what I saw later without photos and want to be able to absorb more by adding a new level of intentionality and interaction to the practice of observing and aiding my memory. I like the routine of adding date, time, location, count/number of items etc. also adding a color swatch on the side or below an image is fun and helpful. I tend to like very clear and detailed drawings that are well proportioned that still allow for multiple images or words to co-exist on a page and allow for a zoomed-in portion.

Being able to draw/paint what I see and writing down my thoughts will be much more personal for me than taking a photograph.  One day, a few years ago, I was so excited about a bird I saw in my backyard that I found a piece of paper and wrote down my feelings at that moment.  That experience has inspired me to continue this excitement with nature journaling. I would like to try the approach that Liz uses.

We have a lot of wildlife in our back yard.  I am an inspiring artist - learning to draw and paint and nature journaling is a great way to practice drawing and painting, and to capture images of the plants and animals where we live. I like the journals in the video.  One I'd like to try, eventually, after some practice is the one drawing a day, or one page a month.  It seems like a great way to record changes over a period of time.   It would be really fun to go back after a year to see the changes. I also like the landscape drawings & paintings.  Ultimately I'd like to do a travel journal when on holidays.  This will be great practice for me.

1. Plants and animals and natural landscapes fulfill a deep yearning for connections with what is outside my own petty concerns. I would like to see and experience natural wonders more clearly and keenly. (And hone my artistic skills in the process.) 2. I definitely will note date, time, weather, and location. I love the use of watercolor, and the mix of image and words. I like the loose use of frames, as well as both gestural/geometric and more detailed approaches. As a beginner, I am going to need to be comfortable "failing forward" a lot. I'm sure that I will do a lot of research after the fact to label and name features of my observed plants and animals. 3. As a poet, I image lines of poetry will become part of my observations. And I might also incorporate quotations by writers I admire when they occur to me as I read or as I am out in the field.

In 2017 I read a biography of Henry David Thoreau and realized that birding and journaling don't necessarily happen 'out there' but can happen right in our backyards. I've contributed regularly to a journal since then, but I've only recently tried to add visuals to my observations. I am excited about this course because I want to do a better job of capturing what I see; I like the quick sketches and color and boxes and accompanying descriptions of place and weather conditions, and I believe that is what will be most satisfying in the long run. Thank you for this opportunity!

Journaling helps me see and understand how things are connected. It takes me beyond a walk or a book and helps me slow down. It also gives me something to look back and reflect on.

I have made a stab at nature journaling in the past because drawing and writing have a way of focusing your attention on something you think is special. By recording that special animal, plant or scene, you have also embedded it in your memory. I really like a couple of the journals. I like the idea of sometimes, at least, of boxing in the drawings with writing and other things outside. I loved the way some of the journals used watercolors in their artwork. I've only tried colored pencils. I also liked the idea of drawing or observing one thing per day or session. In busy times using one large page a month totally made sense. I also liked the way that page captured the essence of that month in nature. I love birding and birdsong. I'd like to try to capture the feel of a song or call as a drawing too. Adding a simple sonogram might work.

1. I started journaling because I wanted to do more than just photograph everything, followed by disengaging in what I saw. I've found that when I draw something I become totally invested in it. Uh... by 'invested' I mean, the object, the situation, the details get glued into my memory and I can thereafter enjoy that bright spot, over and over again. 2. I love the 'drawing each day' journal. In the past I think I kind of wanted some special something-or-the-other to trigger my wanting to draw. I think it's better to just get out and draw, and that way special something-or-the-others pop up daily, rather than once in a bit. 3. Nope, no bright ideas as yet!

This course was given to me as a gift. I have never been able to draw but I love watching nature and think think will be a great help with my gardening journal.

I have always loved art and nature, even when I was a little kid I brought a little notebook with me to parks and tried to draw the animals and plants that I saw. I have been working to improve my art skills and at the same time be able to better illustrate what I see in nature, especially plants and animals. In my journal I would like to include the date, time of day, species, and location. I want to fill the page with images and also write some notes.

I’ve always enjoyed dabbling with sketches but have never felt very adept. I love the goal suggested in the materials of “practicing drawing without self-judgement.” That’s a good one for me. Also the freedom to use lots of attempts to capture details—I don’t have to get it “right” all in one go. I’m in a new area (arrived right before the pandemic shut everything down) and surrounded on all sides by astounding natural beauty. Time to express gratitude through art. Here’s my first attempt! We spotted this little guy before I began the course, and I was inspired to give it a go mostly from memory. Thanks, Bird Academy, for the invitation to step in!

I'm finding sketching plants very calming during the pandemic, taking my mind off everything that's going on in the world. I started with indoor plants then as the weather warmed and plants starting sprouting outside, I moved outdoors. I haven't been doing much writing, other than identifying the subject and date the sketch was done. No color either yet, so I'm looking forward to making them a part of my nature journal. I have never done any formal art lessons so I'm excited about this journey!

About 6 years ago, I started birding.  I retired 3 years ago and took some courses on colored pencil drawing.  All of my art work is based on photographs I have taken.  I have discovered I am very detail oriented and a perfectionist, so have not done nature journaling as the art is done in the field.  I want to learn to be more free flowing in my art and not such a perfectionist.  Of the samples I looked at the one I like the best was the picture on one page and the writing on adjacent page.  I also noticed that the art and pictures were not "perfect" but allowed the person to remember events and recall places and feelings.  Sounds like a good goal for me!

I love artistic stuff and nature journaling is a way for me to practice drawing from the source instead of using reference images. I love nature but I hardly ever get out to enjoy it, hopefully with this new venture I will get out more. I think I'll try a combination of the various different journaling approaches. I definitely like Shayna's process of starting with the drawing first. I think I'll make my drawing larger though, cover more of the page with less written stuff. I'm not sure what I want to do with the written portion. I like the idea of including descriptive and informative details for close ups and journals focused on animals and a more poetic approach for landscapes.

1.  I often see birds visiting in my yard and always take many photos in an effort to ID who is visiting.  After having taken the Drawn to Birds in the fall of 2020 an interest was sparked in me to learn to draw some of the birds that I observe.  I also like to observe insects and perennial plants in my small city yard.  I thought that attempting to record in a nature journal would be a very interesting project to capture memories of nature encounters in my own yard. 2. I definitely want to record the date, time, and weather as I believe this will help bring back the memory of when a sketch was made when I decide to go back to revisit my journal days, weeks, months or years later.  I loved Shayna Muller's "zoom" technique to show a close-up of an area.  I'll keep this in mind.

1)  As I noticed birds in my backyard, a new Zoom friend could explain and identify it for me, the sounds, colors, habitat, and where she sees the bird on her walks, right nearby where I live.  I have had questions before, but now I knew someone who could describe lots of details to peak my interest.  My mom had the 'birding' interest, I remember her small handbook with tabs she made for easy reference, and the book described the phonetic sound.  Now that I'm retired, I'm way too busy, but I have found I can sit still with this hobby, and relax, enjoy, contemplate, and  after taking a couple drawing classes, I have widened my interest and expanded my creative juices.  New to drawing at age 73, and loving it!! 2)  I like Liz's format, a complete scene, small, with text.  A large scene but with details.  A lot on one page. 3)  I am blown away by the types of journaling expressed.  The journalers and artists have such an enriched mental style, to allow their thoughts to flow, and write about them, keeping that moment alive, by journaling.    

I have always been interested in the natural world.  For years I have kept a written journal about what I have seen on walks and trips.  Due to work and family responsibilities, the input was very limited.  Now that I am retired I would like to expand that input and include drawings and hopefully eventually water colors.  I hope this will improve my observational skills. I was impressed by all the journals presented.    I especially liked the drawings of the spider consuming the bee and all that the drawer learned from observing it.  I also liked the hummingbird drawings and how the presenter was trying to show all the different body movements in her drawings.   I was impressed by how much talent all the presenters had.

I have an interest in birds and in art. This seems to be a great way to combine the two and get me back in the habit of drawing and painting--and observing. I like the idea of making this a regular practice without being a mandatory chore. Make it fun. I will probably experiment with various mediums. try to do quick sketches and some more detailed renderings.

I really like Shayne's box style and her developing the break-out of the box design; small drawings, lots of notes, magnifications.  Margaret's was admirable in her ability to improve her pencil drawings as she observed the hummingbird behavior over time.  And DJ's focus on form was intriguing.  I hope to incorporate these facets into my journal ... and eventually some color.   My aim is to add depth to my joy of observing nature every day in my own neighborhood and later, when able, in my travels.  Here we go.....!

1. I'm not sure when or where I first came across John Muir Laws book, I believe I was doing some research on the Arts + Sciences and I sort of got stuck on it. But never really dived in until much recently, when I changed jobs and had more time to spend in nature. I was learning about all sorts of flora and fauna and wanted to learn more about the practice.     2. I really loved all the journals, I'm most drawn to the flexibility in how to set up your journal and how folks made it work for them instead of giving up the practice altogether. I sort of haphazardly draw things, and so I'm hoping to put some planning and routine observations into practice.