I have just completed the How to Paint Birds with Jan. I am hoping to learn more about drawing.

When I was a kid, drawing and being creative was a lot of fun. I'd like to tap into that feeling again as an adult.

I'm inspired by the wide variety of approaches and the range of skill levels featured in the eighteen minute "A Tour of Nature Journals" video. It is wonderful to listen to the six nature journalers describe their approaches, experiences, and evolving techniques.

A different and additional approach that I'll use is occasionally including an inspirational nature photo that I clip from magazines and newsletters.

1. My reduced mobility means I can't keep up with "normal" birding excursions so nature journaling seems an activity I may do without having to walk much.

2. I'd love to learn how to sketch and color my sketches.

3. Not really

I love to go birding. I’m new at it. What brings me joy is the close attention and concentration . I’m excited to learn nature journaling to enhance and expand these opportunities.

1) I go for a walk in the woods every day to go birding, but started noticing other things that i found really interesting, fungi, a pinecone, holes lefts in trees by woodpeckers. I wanted a way to document my new discoveries and have a way to create memories when i travel

 

2) I like the idea of having many small paintings. While I love the journal where she painted something every day, I am not sure I am there yet! I also liked the journal where she zoomed in on things, I am usually enamoured by the details in things like leaves, so this may be a good option for me

 

3) not yet!

I've been looking for a creative outlet since I retired.  My husband is an avid gardener, and I decided to sketch the garden and all of the native plants, insects and birds that the garden attracts.  I want to learn more about each plant and animal while also exercising my mind by learning details about each one.

I plan to make pages of my nature journaling that relate to areas of the garden.  I like the idea of boxing in areas with drawings and comments and showing multiple drawings on one page.  I also liked the journal that "magnified" certain things to show an overall picture and a more detailed close-up.

I have never sketched before (at least since elementary school) so this is a new outlet for learning.

1. I’m inspired to nature journal since moving from an urban apartment to a small house adjacent to woods. There’s so much to observe here throughout the year. I also love traveling and have at various times kept travel journals with sketches. I want to become more scientific with my nature observations and also continue the idea of journaling the places that I visit far and near.

2. I really loved seeing the variety of journalers presented. I was inspired by the journalers who write detailed observations alongside of their drawings. It seems like a great way to ensure that you remember what you experienced. The journaler Shayna Muller used a technique called “zooms” which was an enlarged drawing of a section. This seems like a fantastic way to illustrate the details if you’ve noticed something smaller than the proportion of your drawing/painting can accommodate.

3. I learned how to do some book binding techniques that I would like to incorporate. I might sometimes add pages for additional writing or sketches by “tipping in” or attaching pages. Or I might create pockets in my journal to hold leaves, scrap pages, or other flat samples.

1. I don't know why but have always loved botanical drawings and also love plants and birds. I did Liz's bird drawing course last week and I loved it so much and was really pleased with my results! Finding the nature journalling course just put these things together and I was excited to find it.

2. Art isn't my field at all, and I am more of a writer so really loved the combination of writing and drawing in the sample journals. I just want to make sure that I keep the focus on the process and not get hung up on how good things look. As my drawing journey has really only just begun, I'm not doing things very intuitively but hoping that will come!

3. I'm not sure if this counts but I really like collage too and feel like I might like to stick things into my journal too. Maybe pictures I find that link to what I've seen or things that I've collected on walks for example.

1. I'm new to birdwatching and have been wanting to start drawing again, so this course instantly hooked me.

2. I want to try a free format where I focus on drawing but also add a bit of text here and there. I don't think I want to have a rigid schedule or structure, so there isn't a lot of pressure I put on myself. Other than this, I like the idea of having dedicated journals for trips a lot.

Hello. Could the Cornell staff please fix the "Inspiration From Other Journals" section? The content is not appearing. Please see the attached screen capture image. THANK YOU.

 

1. I took Liz’s zoom course yesterday and really enjoyed it. I retired in June 2025 and on Day 1 I sketched a Blue Jay on my deck rails. When I looked back at it during the zoom, I realized that I had done a good job and intuitively had incorporated Liz’s teachings! This filled me with confidence and today I went into the Cornell website to see what else I could take. I love journaling, science, nature and art so the Nature Journal course is a perfect fit!

2. My approach to my journal will start without self-judgement. I love the writing around all the sketches.
3. I would like to gift my journals - eventually- to each of my 3 granddaughters- each one loves nature and art.

I draw wildlife in a very detailed, realistic style and am wanting to add a more fluid approach that tries to capture movement and change. Also. I spend a lot of time in my city's ravines and have begun to be curious about how patterns change from one year to the next.

I teach first and second graders and for years now have been having them keep a nature journal to do weekly drawings in and I draw right alongside them in my own journal. Sometimes the kids will choose something to draw and write about that catches their attention and sometimes we all choose a subject (like acorns) and make sketches on the same subject. Over the years, I have gone back and forth with materials for the kids to use - pencil sketch only, colored pencils or crayons, but I have never had them try watercolors. I wonder if that would be freeing or frustrating for them.

At the end of a sketching session, we have a sharing circle so the kids can all look at each others drawings for the day. I encourage them to notice subjects and techniques their classmates try that they might be inspired to attempt themselves next time. It's a great record of growth over time as their observational drawings get better as the year progresses. They can see the difference in their first pictures compared to ones done later in the school year.

Our yard is so interesting as it changes through the seasons - there's always something new to see and think about. I want to capture its cycles, notice more, and learn as I create visible memories.

I wanted to capture the beauty if native plants serving as winter food for the birds of PNW. Sunny, cold afternoon.

1. This is my return to this class, in which I originally participated in four years ago(!). I'm back for a refresher course.

2. I love the idea of daily journaling, but knowing myself, I think I would do better to journal by the month. It is mid January 2026 so approaching this all as a monthly joy, I'm right on schedule.

I am a Naturalist who has been journaling for awhile now but wanted to develop my drawing skills and add more detail to my pictures.  I particularly like the writing style in one of the journals where the writing flowed with the drawing itself, sometimes flowing in the direction of the drawing and other times just above or below it, almost as if it was part of the image itself.  The details the color allowed was inspiring.  I have been using pencil sketching for the most part in my nature journal but would like to learn to use more color.

1. I have been a untrained nature journaler since the age of 5-6. I found myself getting into a bit of a art slump as I began to focus on a more fine art instead of fun art, and I wanted to take the time get a professional insight so I could go back to my roots.

2. I like more flowy way of journaling, along with "just capturing what you see, and not what you think is there". I saw on some of their pages that they wrote stuff on one side, and then drew on another, and I like that approach because it was less conforming to the art.

3. maybe a post work part of the piece, were you can add what kind of bird it was, or room to talk about the drawing itself.

1. I'm a product designer as a career but have wanted to get back to more creative projects in my day to day. I love birds, plants, animals, and all the beautiful details of the environment and want a way to connect more personally to them. I'd like to get better at drawing and painting as well.

 

2. Aspirationally I'd like my journal to look intentional and perfect, but realistically I think it will look more unfinished so it can become more of a daily practice and emphasize learning.

1. I'm interested in having a creative hobby and so thought I'd try this because I love nature too.

2. I liked seeing the sketching that was unfinished and not perfect - it helps this feel achievable. I liked the idea of a monthly page too and I definitely want to add some words so I remember as much as possible. Finally, keeping the notes about the date, location, weather, & time are a definite must for me.

1. I have liked the idea for a while of nature journaling, but didn't quite know how to go about it : ) When I saw an article about this class and watched the preview videos, I absolutely loved it! I am interested in Biology and I love art, and wanted to in a way combined the two : ) I am excited to learn new ways to capture the beauty of God's creation

2. Taking notes about what I am planing on drawing or water coloring would help know what I painted or if I wanted to identify it later. Also, I like the detail, but the focused detail on the "more important" things, but not too much detail every time. I also like that it is fine to have and unfinished work, because you still have that memory.

2. I like the idea of embracing a style that allows for unfinished sketches.  I've seen a lot of journals that look very professional and polished and although I think they are very asthetic, I dont want to have to take my journal home and finish a field sketch or preplan a specific layout to try to keep everything cohesive.  I want to be able to create in the moment and have lower expectations.  I would rather focus on the questions and observations instead of the specific style of the journal

1) Years ago I took a one-day class field sketching class with Massachusetts artist Barry Van Dusen, even though I'd never had real art instruction. Loved it. https://shop.massaudubon.org/finding-sanctuary-an-artisit-explores-the-nature-of-mass-audubon/

In the spring of 2025, moving into retirement, I finally had the opportunity to take an introductory drawing class at the museum school at a local State University.  After that, I took a one-day sketch booking class and joined a 30-day drawing challenge (drawing from prompts) at a local arts center.  After decades of law practice, drawing instead of writing was like discovering treasure everywhere I looked :) This summer, I drew what I saw on our small deck - birds at the feeder, wasps, our resident grey tree frog, flowers. I drew from memory and from reference photos (mine and some borrowed from my spouse who's a much better photographer) taken on hikes and walks. This fall, I took a more structured drawing fundamentals class at the arts center. In January 2026 I will begin an intermediate drawing class.

2) Daily or monthly journaling to follow the seasons; focusing on capturing bird shapes; drawing more than one image on a page; experimenting with pencil and pen and ink and adding color.

3) Picking out one or more wildflowers or trees that I know and drawing them through the year.

1) This class was a Christmas gift from my partner and that is what brought me here. I can say that I really had no idea that nature journaling was a thing. I knew that people go out and sketch nature and, in fact, this is something I'd done as a kid. But I'm 56 now and drawing is not an activity I've done in many years, at least not with any consistency or focus. So I'm inspired to begin this nature journaling process as an opportunity to spend more time in the moment, turn down the volume on outside noise and hopefully rediscover my artistic side.

2) All of the approaches I saw here looked liked great options. I think I will see what happens as I get started, but I like the idea of having drawings plus notes describing the situation.