I love the outdoors and am fortunate to live near the Wissahickon creek and gorge.  I am a regular hiker through the park and am becoming more involved in conservation of the watershed.  I realized that I am not as familiar with the native plants, trees, birds, geology and mosses  as I would like to be.  Taking pictures or trying to memorize a name is just not doing it for me.  When I heard Liz speak about the process of observing, drawing and asking oneself questions, I thought it was a brilliant, rich way to learn and to record a moment in time.  In addition,  recording my experiences and trips appeals to me as I often feel most open and connected while hiking or traveling.    I am also hoping to reconnect with my love of drawing and creativity that was left behind in my younger days.

This is my first nature journaling experience. I raise African Violets and other plants indoor, have extensive outside gardens, and I love to draw and paint, so combining my two passions seemed like a great idea. I look forward to capturing my flowers and plants as they move through the seasons, so some of my journal will be the same plants at different seasons. I like all the journals for a variety of reasons and will seek to find my own style as I move forward.  Since I am a retired English teacher, I imagine that I will include  the words of  H. D. Thoreau in my observations along the way.

My short time at journaling has mainly been philosophical, reflecting on my parent’s lives and my extension of them.  They instilled in me the love of anything outdoors. My extensive hiking adventures have been recorded with narrative and photos but no illustrations. In addition, I have recorded quotes from a wide range of books that have appealed to me. It is my intention to learn to capture what I see in nature with pen & pencil and maybe attach a certain quote that I  have found meaningful.

I've always kept a written journal, but haven't done any sketching since my teens. I have also always been an avid amateur naturalist (and a licensed collector for my university's natural history museum), but I hate using a camera because it makes me feel removed from what I am observing. Nature journaling seems like a way to blend both passions, and keep a visual record that will spark memories of the moment being observed, in a way that demands you to be a part of that moment. Maybe it is the difference between looking and seeing? One of the journals was so beautiful, and reminded me of a book I came across as a teenager (The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden). But I think I want to meld my written and sketched journals - adding birds at my feeder, what I see in my garden, the katydid on the window screen, mushrooms gathered on the most recent hike, etc. will add another dimension to how I process the events of the week. It will be a fun way to make sure I remember to slow down and look around me, and it won't matter much if there is not much skill to start with.

Comment on Question #2 - "...which ideas or approaches do you want to try?"  I loved the gorgeous use of color in some of the journals.  It was intoxicating--so I want to try that in my journal.  (I am new to journaling.)  I also noted that not trying to use up the entire page with drawing(s) or text was better.  Leaving clean white space allowed the drawings to really jump off the page.  I noted that some people used somewhat sloppy printing.  I think that after making a beautiful painting, the quality of the printing should be on par with the art work--but maybe that takes too much time...I'll soon find out! Comment on Question #3 - "...have a different idea that you like to share?"  I think it might be fun to try to incorporate 3-D pop up images occasionally.  It would be fun to try it.

It is amazingly coincidental that it was a trip to the Galapagos that inspired me to start painting and journaling!  One of the other passengers was an artist who sketched and painted quickly while the rest of us were clicking away with cameras.  While admiring her work and discussing her process, I came to realize that she was seeing things so much better than the rest of us were as she noticed textures, colors, shadows, etc.   I have since taken a few lessons and now travel with my Peerless paper watercolors and a sketchbook and the sketches bring back much richer memories than photos.  I am inspired by the videos to try more animals even if they don't want to pose for me!  I do love the ease of my Peerless paper watercolors and would encourage others to try them for the vibrant colors and portability!

1.) I have dabbled with sketching most of my life. Every summer I try to do something new and about seven years ago I decided I would try to keep a nature journal. It was about the same time that I also got reacquainted with the outdoors. I have spent most of my life sitting in offices staring out at neighboring buildings through windows. I decided to make a concerted effort to return to the outdoors as much as possible. When I was a child I would never go inside. At first I focused mainly on butterflies and a few messy landscapes. In time, however, I shifted my main focus over to birds. Even though I have pushed on for seven years, I am still not overly satisfied with my efforts. A large part of this is because I tend to take photographs when I am in the field rather than sketch. 2.) Holly Faulkner's style is probably most like my own. I tend to catalogue birds or animals I have seen rather than report about a specific outing that I have taken. I do like her style very much, but I would also like to try to tell the stories of trips into the forest the way the other journalers did. I would like to get more focused on creating reports from specific trips. Have done some of this, but oo often I will jot down species I run into in a small notebook to log them into eBird later on. I rely too much (probably) on photography to help me identify birds I see in the field.

I have never drawn a thing in my life aside from elementary school art classes and I've always dreamed of being some type of artist. Finding myself with a lot of extra time these days I wanted to try something new. Spending time every week participating in Feeder Watch, this sounded like a nice accompaniment. Art classes keep being put off but I am reminded of advice I once read in a silly newspaper advice column where an older student asked a question - I really want to become a doctor but med school will take 4 years and by then I will be 35. The response was something like "How much time will have passed in 4 years if you don't do it?" It stuck with me because time passes regardless of whether we follow our dreams.

I am a certified California naturalist and I keep a "digital" field journal on my blog (https://chubbywomanwalkabout.com/) with type-written text and photographs.  I'm taking this class because I'd like to get more hands-on with my observations, and learn to focus more on details rather than big-picture images.  I'm hoping that once I get more comfortable drawing in a journal, I can pass what I learn onto my naturalist students. Hard-bound art journals seem too confining and limiting to me, however, and they can also be bulky and heavy, so I've decided to start with small sheets of watercolor paper that I can carry with me in a pack with some watercolor pens, pencils and permanent markers. That may change as I continue on this journey, but it's where I'll start. I also really liked the verbalized notation in one of the videos that mentioned submitting images drawn in the field to iNaturalist.  I thinks that's an awesome idea  and a great way to inspire others and let them know that their nature journals are IMPORTANT to science and USEFUL to others. Here is what my current digital journal looks like:

I was inspired to take the nature journaling course as a primary teacher. I have bird feeders outside my classroom in New Hampshire. By taking the course I can refine my drawing and painting skills. Then I will feel confident to teach my students how to nature journal using watercolors. In the past the students have had nature journals but the drawing were rudimentary. To start my challenge is to draw the  birds at the feeders when they are moving.

I have been nature journaling for many years but have never really thought through the process of what makes a journal interesting and a good reflection of the day or hours spent outside. I'm looking forward to the techniques and discipline of staying the course.

I love to draw and paint but never quite made an actual nature journal. I think my intention is to draw and paint more often. I’m starting to become interested in birding and I saw this course and felt inspired. A recent trip to Belize where my friend and I birded also inspired me. I liked all the journals that were in the videos. I think my style will be some text describing the subject I’m illustrating. I loved how the one journal used interesting graphics for the month and date text.

1. Recreate the biomes and creatures in my sketchbook. 2. The water colors, having so much details in the drawing and observations/ 3. Patience

I love to be outside and observe nature. My desire to journal is to learn how to be more in the moment and to develop drawing skills. The  style of dating the page and location and started with shapes makes sense. I like the drawings with descriptions of what people are seeing and thinking about.

I love nature, especially birds.  I feel I have an artist in me and this would be the best way to discover my talent.  The process seems to be relaxing and low-key.  Journaling can be done anywhere.  I am analytical by nature, so I like the blocking technique with sketches and information about the sketch arranged on the page.  I'm sure over time I'll develop my own technique.

My goals in learning to do nature journals are two: to get back to the drawing skills I had when I was younger and/or improve them. 2. To acquire more accurate memories of my walks and hikes or just the times I sit at the window to watch traffic at my bird feeder.

I liked the thought of capturing my walks and journeys in a nature journal. I have recently been introduced to painting with water color and have always journaled, so I was excited to take this course to help guide me through this and motivate me as well. i loved all the journals and there uniqueness, I got several ideas for the start of my own.

I purchased this course because I find that having spend money on something obligates my follow-through.  I have many journals and sketchbooks from various periods in my life.  I'm not sure that I ever reached the 66 consecutive days mark.  According to the link in the Getting Started section to Gardner, Lally, and Wardle (2012), "missing the occasional opportunity to perform the behaviour did not seriously impair the habit formation process:  automaticity gain soon resumed after one missed performance."  Well -- for me, automaticity is elusive.  So... for this course my goal is TO DRAW/SKETCH, PAINT/ADD COLOR/ AND WRITE IN THIS JOURNAL EVERY DAY FOR 10 WEEKS IN ORDER TO FORM A HABIT.  I enjoyed the journaling highlights from the naturalist team.  I've done some journals similar to the one Liz shared of her trip to the Galapagos Islands.  The one item not mentioned that I will incorporate in this new journal is a photo of the subject of my entry.  When I paint en plein air, I almost always at least finish drawing and painting from photos, but I've never added a pic print to a journal.

I liked the progression of start with a drawing, think, write what I am thinking, draw some more, write what questions are arising - it's dynamic, evolving.  I also liked telling a story (hummingbird hovering, spider capturing, securing, and eating prey) and recording colors, sounds, impressions, light, habitat sketches.

I live in NYC and want to find ways to connect with the urban nature around me. Also one of my teenage sons is a big walker, and I'm hoping to connect with him through his explorations of our neighborhood. He's promised to share his favorite nature spots with me. :) I'm a novice to nature journaling and sketching in general, so I'm a little intimidated by the expertise I see, but I remind myself that we all have to start somewhere! I do wonder though, when doing watercolor and sketching, which comes first? The paint or the pen/pencil?

1) I have been a photographer for years..dabbled here and there with sketching. I loved the idea of capturing birds and nature through another media. 2) I definitely appreciated all of the journaling styles and I think what spoke to me was the style that not only is sketches but information about the subject of the sketch as well.

I've been an amateur nature photographer for decades, and really worked at developing my photographer eyes. With film photography, every shot was an investment, so time spent seeking the best angles, noticing the tiny details in the subject, the lighting, and the overall composition and exposures was a critical part of the practice. Digital photography allows me to take hundreds of shots and choose later the one that appeals to my eye. I want to recapture the sense of composing the image, so what better way than to create the composition by hand?

This course is both daunting and exciting at the same time. For me, nature journaling, I hope will help me develop my sketching skills and remind me to slow down. I'm not sure what my process or style will be.  I respect the different styles and journals we've been exposed to and I think I will just let my style and process evolve as I go. This is all very new to me hence the daunting part since I am a total beginner and have no drawing skills whatsoever. It will be fun, I think to see how I progress over time and it will be a nice record of just the neat and precious little things that I will see and experience over the days, seasons and year(s), if I manage to keep it up. I'm really looking forward to beginning this and seeing where this leads to.

I just love nature and recording the beauty I see around me. I particularly love how when you create and image and look at it even years later how you are brought back to the place and memories of that day.  The journals here were great to see.  Thanks for sharing them, I saw a number of things I really like and will try to adopt and incorporate into my own journal.  I like the boxes and how the images came outside of their respective boxes.  I liked the magnification of certain details.  I likes how one person did a drawing each day, how she spread it about on the pages, the variety of things that she drew and how she numbered each page.  Everyone did such a great job,   Thanks for the inspiration !