I have done a little nature journaling in the past and every time I look at those few pictures, it transports me back to that wonderful moment of awareness and the beauty I was lucky to be witnessing.  I am intimidated by that blank page sometimes, though, and wanted to see how this course helps with that issue.  I enjoyed seeing how each person in the video approached their journals differently with the desire to see and understand the natural world more deeply, which makes me feel freer to use my own expression in my journals.  I am intrigued by the concept of making a page a month to fill in all I see - January may be a bit empty, but it will make me look around more during each month!

I have always been inspired and intrigued by naturalists and their field records. I can pore over drawings, paintings, photographs, and writings for hours, as well as spend countless hours reading biographies, writings, and even children's books about famous naturalists and conservationists. My children and I would often sit outside when they were younger and observe nature, read books, make up stories about the creatures we saw, and make nature journals. I still have some of my children's early nature drawings. I definitely would like to keep a record of date, time, location and weather. I think it is important. I am inspired by the goal of a drawing a day but I think I may need to make it a page a week. That will be my new year's goal. I'm fascinated with a purely observational study but I'm also considering a more imaginative interpretation. Perhaps in a separate journal, perhaps mixed together. I often imagine a fanciful world of anthropomorphic animals and fairy creatures interacting. I am interested to try journaling these ideas. Perhaps it will inspire me. My art skills are somewhat lacking but I've made the resolution to be content with what I have and keep persevering. Who knows? Maybe I'll improve with practice.

1. I have been nature journaling for a long time without calling it that or really structuring what I was doing. I love to paint, draw, etc nature subjects and I love to find and collect things like shells, bones, rocks, etc. I was inspired to take this class to put some more structure or intentionality behind journaling so that could have more of an overall product to share with  others. 2. I really like the journals that have different views of the same thing on one page with notes, it's really interesting to look at visually. I also realized while looking at these journals that seemingly mundane observations are actually fun to read if you werent there - so I need to be more confident about sharing what is on my mind in the moment. 3. I like to draw/paint images from dreams as well when they involve animals, forests, rivers - nature subjects. For example, I had a dream once that I was a fox running through the forest - I could see my paws and whiskers! So, I like the physical reality of nature journaling and observation, but also journaling about our other experiences with nature that are felt and experienced differently too.

1. I have always enjoyed and appreciated the beauty of the natural world, but I have not drawn anything for many years. Now that my kids are older (12 and 15), I not only have a bit of time at the end of the day to draw, I also find that I am NEEDING more time spent on meditative observation. I am really looking forward to this class holding me accountable. I also want to show my kids that while technology is great, it is important to disconnect and use your senses to appreciate the real-life, not virtual, beauty around us. 2. I am going to be patient with myself and my growth through this course, but I would love to get to the point where I can share my work publicly with others. I absolutely love the final journal highlighted in the video! It would be fantastic to get there. But to start, I like D.J. McNeil's approach to use the journaling and sketching to make the best observations possible, even if I do not complete each sketch. My main goal is the act of careful observation.

I was inspired by a book about creating mixed media pages about nature and also by following someone on FB who does nature journaling. I love nature, hiking with my dog and photographing what we see, writing narratives to go along with the photos. I am striving to reduce stress and anxiety, and to be more mindful . I never seem to  make time for art. It seems to be a luxury.  So I think nature journaling would be something wonderful I could do that would bring more peace to my life as I reflect on the beauty of nature through art and writing. So, my approach would be to do a combination of art and reflective writing ,along with research. Seeing all of the styles of journaling was very inspirational.  I would use pencil, ink, watercolor crayons, and watercolor .

I teach teachers about how to make science and nature alive for their students K-12, and one of the methods I use is science and nature notebooks/ journals. I would like to be better about nature journaling myself, for my own benefit, but I'd also like to be better able to guide my teacher candidates in the process, including why doing it can help you learn. I love looking at the watercolors- I have sketches in mine but haven't taken that kind of time to create watercolors. I look forward to giving it a try! The monthly entries that Holly Faulkner talks about could work well for me, even if my drawings are not at that level.

I have kept note books with my bird and wildlife sightings with some pencil sketches and some watercolours for over 30 years but over the past 5 years my photography has taken over and I’m now keen to get back and start drawing and painting to illustrate my notes and improve on my very rusty skills! In answer to the second question, the drawings and paintings shown over a month were excellent and I love the concept of putting subjects in context with plants, trees, leaves flowers etc. I like the idea of having multiple sketches that show the subjects behaviour or stances, with some just pencil drawings and notes and others in watercolour. The sketches below are from notebooks 10 years ago!

I love to doodle and sketch in travel journals we've kept over the years. Plus we spend a lot of time outdoors, and wanted to try nature journaling to develop a greater awareness of earth's gifts. I also want a better way to remember time spent outdoors, other than photos taken with an iPhone.

1. I'm an avid bird lister, but I'm keen to slow my pace down and take more in from the point of view of form and behaviour of birds but also other flora and fauna around them. I have always enjoyed sitting and just being 'in' nature and have dabbled a little in art in the past but always convince myself I'm too time poor. But there are plenty of things I can drop off to make the time for some journaling so I'm keen to give it a go. I've also found the books 'Looking at Birds: An antidote to field guides' by John Busby, and Edward Wilsons 'Birds of the Antarctic' enjoyable in the way they capture the essence of birds behaviour often in partial of loosely formed sketches. 2. I like the idea of having a daily or monthly routine. I think as a beginner it would be good to build some discipline. Generally though I liked the relaxedness of the approach. Try something and see if it works. Keep it (and iterate / improve if it does) but don't be put off and just try something different it it doesn't.

1. I do a lot of wildlife recording and usually have a camera (sometimes with a macro lens) and take a lot of photos of the various insects and plants. This is great but once they have been viewed on the computer screen invariably they are hardly looked at again. Also taking a photo and moving on meant not spending more time to study a  particular aspect of the insect or plant. I thought taking this course would help to slow down and pay  more attention to behaviours or the finer details of flowers/plants. 2. I like the idea of having the date, location and weather recorded for the each day or session. Will probably try a couple of the styles and gradually end up with my own particular style as this course and future journaling progresses. 3. Will still take photos as this would help remind me of the colours and shapes as may end up finishing the sketches at home, at least until my journaling skills improve. May also print out some of the photos and attach them into my journal.

What inspired me to begin nature journaling is that I love to draw I've always been good but I'm not the best at capturing scenery I'm more of a cartoon artist but I thought it would be good and fun the learn more and improve on my nature art. I really liked Shayna Muller's nature journal I think I might do something similar to her's.

Finding this course inspired the idea to nature journal.  I hike everyday and photos that I take are disappointing. They are what the camera sees but not what I see.  I've been sketching rabbits for two years now and it's only been through practice that I've developed a style.  I don't know where nature journaling will take me but just like sketching rabbits, I feel that if I just start, I will develop a style that satisfies me.

1. Initially, I signed up for this course because it's the only Cornell course left for me to take! But I used to write in a journal when I started going on retreat to a monastery in Kentucky thirty years ago. I only did it there and it was usually after spending hours outside sitting alone in the woods or by some small lake. I learned a lot about myself from those entries and I want to get back to that. I'm retired now and spend as much time as I can "out there with the birds" and need to start writing down some of the great thoughts I have. 2. I like the idea of using boxes to highlight thoughts and questions and even sketches.  I can't draw - my stick figures are even pathetic but a couple of the journalers did not look like they were Norman Rockwell's descendants so perhaps there is some hope for me as well! 3. I had an eye-opening moment this past summer on a vacation trip to Moscow (Viking River Cruise) where I noticed some behavior by local birds called Fieldfares that really made me think about people - humans in general. I'm going to try to gain insights from the birds I see and how they live by including bigger questions in my journal - questions that likely don't have answers just more questions.

I kept nature journals many years ago in college natural history classes and loved doing it. Now that I am retired from workaday life, I finally have some time to get back to it. I like drawing but don't have much experience with painting, so I think using watercolors is a simple way to start painting to enhance my nature journal. I will definitely include date/time/weather/location info to document the reference information of my journal entries. There was a great variety in the journals in the videos. I think as I progress i will learn what techniques are most suitable for me.

1. What inspired you to begin nature journaling? I love sketching and do not do it very regularly, the idea of a nature journal seems to put a few of my loves all together with more awareness on time as well. I work with kids and have them keep nature journals, or work on drawing different aspects of plants and trees thus I'd like to be able to better teach and serve the youth with this practice as well. 2. Now that you’ve heard from several other journalers about their processes, and had a peek at their journals, which ideas or approaches do you want to try? I really enjoyed the first woman as she had the boxes for writing and drawing and then transitioned to drawings coming out of the box. The mix of observations, questions, names and drawings really struck me as something I naturally do as well. As for timing, I think starting with one or two entries a week feels do-able, perhaps progressing to more as time goes on. I also think I might try in the winter months to draw plants/shells/pinecones/feathers I have indoors as well. 3. Do you have a different journaling idea, not mentioned here, that you’d like to share? I'd like to include the moon phase in the data entry, as well as a few gratitudes in writing, or perhaps drawing, and an overall feel to the day/moment. I enjoy communicating with the plants and animals as well thus recording any messages or teachings I receive would be nice to practice as well.

1. What inspired you to begin nature journaling? Becoming a Master Naturalist inspired me to begin nature journaling, but my best friend buying this course for me has rekindled the flame. 2. Now that you’ve heard from several other journalers about their processes, and had a peek at their journals, which ideas or approaches do you want to try? I would love to try the stylized layouts of the last journalist featured. I loved her use of color and layouts! 3. Do you have a different journaling idea, not mentioned here, that you’d like to share? I'd like to adopt two styles I learned from this video. I loved the monthly layout idea with a highlight of illustrations and then going into more detail like the first journaler with detailed information. I also loved her style of the partial boxes and how the images seemed to jump from the page. I think I'd also like to integrate more charts and tables in my journal. Also, in addition to the time of day, date, weather, and place I'd like to add moon phase to my box on the top of my page. Also, playing around with the boxes location (Top or bottom horizontal, left or right vertical, maybe even a small box for each corner and then moon phase in the middle of the top or bottom left or right).

1) My friend Debra inspired me to begin nature journaling! My husband enjoys birding and bird photography and I usually accompany him on his photography outings. He holds the camera and I'm there for support, though often times I'm there just observing either with my naked eye or with binoculars. I don't mind at all. This is especially fun during the summer as to me it's no different than a relaxing day at the beach. Upon a chance meeting of a lovely new friend Debra and her husband who were also birding at one of the spots we visited over the summer, I learned that Debra had recently begun nature journaling. She explained to me that she began journaling as a better way to remember and explore the birds she was seeing when out in the field. I was so inspired by her enthusiasm in getting back to sketching and drawing! I hadn't sketched in years but thought this would be an adventurous idea for me and she was so encouraging recommending this course! Thank you Debra for recommending this journaling course to me! 2) I really liked Shayna's approach to journal set up where she jotted down what she saw but also gave herself little 'magnifying glass zoom in' spaces where she could point to and draw the smaller intricate details in the object as well. I can see myself doing this to show the texture of the features on birds or the patterns in the leaves of a plant... even the markings on an insect. I loved the journalists' approach in always adding dates as I think this will finally be a way for me to remember what we saw when and where! 3) I don't have additional journaling ideas yet but I'm kind of a 'get the ideas once I put pen to paper' kind of person so I'm looking forward to what ideas seem to come up! :)

My journaling activity began in June when I started carrying a sketchbook in the field. Here in Waukegan the bird migration has tapered off by that time and birding is pretty slow. I had bought a set of watercolors a few years ago and found I needed to draw something from life rather than photos. Flowers are less challenging than birds. They are easy to find and generally sit still. By looking at other journals I can see things to do that will make my journal more useful and interesting. I loved the color swatches in one of the journals featured. I have been fascinated with watercolor pigments for a while. I plan on including swatches where appropriate. I have tried boxes on the page and it isn't working for me. My goal is to try to record more information than the illustration includes. My past journaling is weak in that area. My choice of mediums is varied and I require a smaller format book than is recommended here. I have a small (5 x 7.5) loose-leaf binder that fits into a generous pocket. I fill it with a selection of papers. This is time-consuming but it helps me to learn the different mediums. I am learning a lot about the importance of opacity and transparency of watercolors by using black watercolor paper. Probably not a choice for many paintings but fun and instructive to work with. Another paper that is interesting is toned gray or brown paper. Winter here is gray-everywhere. Sketching the gulls on gray paper helps the whites and blacks show. Inserting a photo in my journal is not out of the question, if it is pertinent to the record I am trying to make. I will add tracing paper in case I find a leaf or feather that I can make a rubbing from. Finally the most important suggestion is to jot down questions. This will give life to my observations I'm sure.

A few years ago, I took a class led by Claire Walker Leslie, who has written several books on nature journaling. Maybe I'm a little intimidated because she is such an accomplished artist and her books are so captivating. I want to take a seasonal approach to nature journaling and since I live in the Northeast I can take advantage of observing the changing of the four seasons. I don't want to be too rigid in my design of my sketchbook. I understand that it will be a process of discovering my own style. That being said, I'm excited to use drawing and painting to capture the essence of what I'm observing. Here's to a great class! Doria

What inspired me to begin nature journaling? earlier this year I took a course to become a certified Nevada Naturalist. We had to keep a journal. I had already been practicing drawing from photos I’ve taken so the journal part of the naturalist course seemed easy, but then I thought I should try to draw while in the field. Yikes! It’s a challenge. I like all the different journals that have been presented here. I am not sure what style I will use, but a daily journal seems a bit tough. Maybe I’ll start with journaling One bird while I am out exploring the state and federal parks in my area while bird watching. It’s always nice to be able to stop and reflect on nature’s beauty.

I wanted to start nature journaling in order to further my understanding of the art of it. In other words, what are the actual colors I am observing, how is nature made up of shapes, what details might I see that I would not have seen before. I also wanted to use nature journaling to increase my identification skills of birds, and butterflies. After seeing others' journals, I would like to use some of their ideas. I will do many shape drawings, ovals, circles etc to begin my pages. I will not worry if a drawing is not complete and I will have fun with the whole process! i definitely want to try different mediums on my pages. I would like to see about using colored pencils vs water color and why not use collage style as well?

Hello everyone, my name is JiSeon and I have been fascinated with and  enjoying botanical illustrations for a long time.  That has led to my current interest in learning to nature journal.  I love being outdoors in nature and often see images and scenery that I want to capture, but taking a photo sometimes just doesn’t appeal to me, and that is what peaked my interest in learning to draw details as well as landscapes...colors really draw me into what I am seeing. I am a very beginner, and I really enjoyed looking at the various journals;  I don’t know what my style will be yet, but I am drawn to start with plant closeups using watercolors. Look forward to learning and sharing will all of you!

1. What inspired you to begin nature journaling? I have long been an artist that kept journals with doodles, art ideas, small sketches, but rarely a true record of my day or observations with my art. Most of my art is abstract, but I can draw realistically when I want to. Sketching quickly from nature is a gift that eludes me. I started plain air painting with talented friends and discovered that I am terrible at it! It is difficult for me to see the "big picture." I would usually wander around, take pics of birds with a telephoto lens and then go home and paint the birds I photographed, sometimes several on a canvas. Still, this was not as satisfying as what my friends were doing: making a record of a moment in time outdoors. I want to be able to sketch birds and items in nature outdoors while I am enjoying it. I visited Massachusetts last month and drew these leaves I collected from the lawn of the Norman Rockwell Museum later that evening. It is a special drawing to me that brings back that day I spent with my family and the beautiful lawn and bright orange leaves even if I didn't add that color to the sketch. This is not part of a current Nature Journal,though I probably will use a combination of pen with watercolor in my nature journal. I love nature, birds, animals of all kinds. I am excited to learn more about nature-journaling and learn from those who do it professionally and those just starting into it. I have a deep admiration for Scientific Botanical Artists! I have photographed our travels for years, nature journaling will help me savor the moments I think. 2. Now that you’ve heard from several other journalers about their processes, and had a peek at their journals, which ideas or approaches do you want to try? I like the idea of a consistent element or look to the page, although I think it doesn't have to be a "rule" or I could tire of it quickly. I know I will most likely add lots of written info to the page. 3. Do you have a different journaling idea, not mentioned here, that you’d like to share? I have done frotage (rubbings) of leaves in some of my old written travel journals. I have only just started this course so maybe you will mention that in lessons to come. Also, collage of found items using a repositionable glue stick might be a fun thing to add to my journal. Either paper or leaves or other small objects: feathers, seeds, etc. Thank you I am totally excited about learning this and sharing with others interested in this "Nature Journal Journey"

I started keeping a watercolor sketchbook in 2002 and have dabbled off and on with various journals. I liked seeing the various journals. I like the watercolor sketches and notes in each of them. I loved the idea of a drawing a day or filling a monthly page. I don't journal every day, but I like to record the date, time, weather and location and usually I draw birds. Here is a page from February of this year about some winter ducks.