1. When I was a boy I spent much of my time in tromping through fields, woods, and swamps. I guess I longed to take some of that nature back home with me. One lesson I learned as a boy is that by quietly sitting, I saw so much more. As a young adult I started carrying a notebook with me so I could write my thoughts and observations. During back country skiing and snowshoeing I began sketching animal tracks, eventually adding a leaf or small tree for scale and context. My sketching eventually evolved to become an integral part of my notebooks. I didn't use color, just a number 2 pencil. I was a free spirit in those days and eventually filled several notebooks. As my teaching and research career began taking up much more of my time, my notebooks began filling up with data – columns of numbers – without sketches, without commentaries. The notebooks seemed to have lost soul. My goal in this class is to open my notebook with a fresh mindset. 2. I've learned from all the journalers. I like the way Shayna let her sketches lead her thoughts and allowed her sketches to move out of the boxes. Jewel showed confidence in experimenting. William showed how shading can define a subject. Margaret showed drawing can lead to a more accurate understanding of a subject (her series of sketches reminded me of the Louis Agassiz quote "the best way to see is with a pencil"). BJ's shapes and impressions are good tools to help start a drawing. Holly's perseverance – drawing weekly – as well as her use of color impressed me. 3. No new journaling ideas. Although I've filled some notebooks, I'm still a beginner here. Thanks, Barry

I was inspired to enroll in this course, as I’ve always wanted to take the time to create a collage-style nature journal. This course came up while I was “taking” a free mixed media art summit.  I enjoyed the couple of lessons I listened to, but I realized this course is a better fit for my interests.  I love being out in nature and don’t get out as often as I’d like to.  I take nature photographs, but I’d like to explore this medium as a way to slow down and take in the details of plants and birds that I love. I enjoyed Jewel’s journal as she allowed herself to experiment as she developed her journaling skills. I like the idea of combining drawings or watercolors with text describing the setting or just musing on thoughts while journaling. And Margaret’s pencil drawings of the hummingbird and noticing the details of its flight and wings looks like a process I would like to try. I’m excited to get started and am waiting for my new supplies to arrive Friday!  Happy journaling everyone!

I began nature journalling when I started teaching almost thirty years ago.  I wanted to record my experiences of the natural world, not only with words, but visually, because my words sprang from my observations of beauty and fascination in the natural world. Still at it...Still trying to improve. Never an artist, but want to be better, and have gotten better, but still far from producing a page that truly reflects my experience. Looking forward to seeing that happen. I love the idea of connecting observation, and the drawing, with the thought, which is the writing. That is the heart of the journal for me. Then the journal conveys the story of the soul's connection to place. The journal, for me, should become the story of that connection, and many of the journalists shared their stories, both about process, but also, they shared so much more.   I write inspiring quotes in my journal too, as well as my reflections on them...Again, it is a visual and written record of the story that is inside me as the inside connects with the outside.  

I was inspired to start this course because I am dog sitting right now and have lots of free time by myself. I thought that it might be a good way to keep busy in a positive, mindful way. I've also been interested in plants recently, specifically ones native to my area, and I thought that this would be a good way to connect and learn more about them. I was surprised by the amount of variety in style and purpose of all these journals. I liked Margaret an D.J.'s focus on figure for moving animals, just using pencil to take a quick snapshot of their shape. I liked Jewel, William, and Liz's more painterly approach for landscapes and still objects, capturing all the color and texture of the scene. Similarly, I liked Shayna's macro zooms for getting more detail. Overall, I like that all of these journals document not only the ecology outside, but create experiences for the journalers, and document their evolving art and thoughts. I want to use my journal to take time to be mindful, spend more time outside (I'm in Washington state and vitamin D is precious here), learn some more about my local environment, and improve my art skills.

1. I was intrigued by this course because I often see beautiful bits of nature that I would like to remember and share with others. A camera just doesn't do the subject justice.  (How about an on-line course oin nature photography?) Using watercolors and sketching in the field -- actually sketching in general -- will be new skills. Maybe developing these new techniques will help capture the joy I find in these observations, and my excitement can be contagious. I wish everyone could slow down more often and grow their own sense of wonder (Rachel Carson had it right!)

I am incredibly inspired by everyone's stories!! I have never been a drawer/sketcher, and have wanted to try for many years, usually just watercolors during holidays with my children.  I love the idea of a record of nature when travelling, not just photo memories but things that take more time and effort.  Various groups in Michigan are working on bird habitat and the disappearance of species, and I really want to record our native species of flora and fauna before it is gone.

I was inspired by students at Ambleside schools who begin keeping a nature journal in Kindergarten and continue with roughly once a week entries through the eighth grade.  They use a dry brush watercolor technique to record images of both flora and fauna and each entry includes date and weather data. It’s fascinating to see the progression of both observational, color mixing, and brush stroke skills developed over time. Not only are these entries artful but they also catalogue a growing wealth of knowledge about the natural world.  I want to grow in those same ways. I am also inspired by the journalers in the video and am looking forward to utilizing Shayna’s zoom feature as well as Margaret’s artful date style.

What inspired me?  I have spent a number of years turning my large backyard into a park-like setting - trees, shrubs, some flowers, a vegetable garden, and a variety of seating areas from which to enjoy my work.  A variety of animals pass through my yard - birds, insects, fox, raccoon, skunk - even though I am in the middle of a large metropolitan area.  Now I have time to really explore what's there!  My partner is an artist and has inspired me to try drawing - something I have been afraid of doing.  I have put my fears aside and I'm ready to really explore what's in my own backyard. What do I want to try?  What I learned from everyone is that their nature journal is their resource - yes, they might share it with others, but really it is there for their own use.  For me that is very freeing - I am not going to worry about the quality of my drawings or my writing, my journal is a place for me to explore and learn, I can't make mistakes.  I want to try pencil, ink and watercolor drawings; quick gesture drawings and more refined ones; writing factual information as well as stories, thoughts, questions.  I want to follow-up my journal work, by looking up more information on the plants and animals that I see.

I enjoy being outside and noticing what kind of day it will be every morning. I love the change of seasons as one blends into the next here in Pennsylvania. It's almost a relief to have new scenery. I love to write and observe nature. I am a very tentative artist and first have to overcome my fear of failure and lack of confidence that my drawings will not reflect what I observe. I am excited to have some new art supplies and a  journal to begin my learning. Thank you in advance, Liz, for taking us through this process step by step. Chris

I took a Travel Journaling class a couple years ago & really enjoyed it...but gee, it's easy for me to get over committed with other things that all involve my left brain and sometimes I wonder if I have a right brain left!  This class will encourage me to plan time to observe, make notes, and sketch.  We planted a butterfly garden with Florida native plants and my husband built an incredible pergola with a solar shade.  Now that it's finally cooling off a bit, I want to sit under the pergola and draw plants, insects & butterflies. One journaler observed basic bird shapes & pointed out the circles & ovals in the birds.  Another person included swatches of color on the side of the page.  Several noted that it doesn't need to be perfect!  I also liked the speaker who used her field guide for a more in depth study of her natural world including ferns.  That's a great way to continue learning.

Hi! 1. So I’ve always like to draw, took art in high school but didn’t do much with it while I was raising kids. So, about the past twenty years or so I’ve been dabbling in watercolor, my favorite medium. Growing up on a farm, I’ve always been a nature lover, with a particular interest in birds. Makes sense to put the two together, and here I am. Could have used this course several months ago as I got back a few weeks ago from a wilderness trip to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. I did pack in a journal with some carefully selected ink/ watercolor pens, but as most of my time was spent paddling, I didn’t get to sketch /paint a whole lot. So I took notes and pictures and left space to add some drawings later. 2. I particularly love the last journaler. How I’d love to do a sketch every day! But my main issue is discipline. I have lots of paintings in my head that are still there. Part of the problem is that I am detail oriented and so I am really fussy about what I do. So my main hope with this course (and I was trying for this in the BW) is to learn to let go of that and be able to simplify things. I can always add detail later if I want, yes? I think doing a month of sketches on one page is a great idea. I am thinking that I will get a block of Arches watercolor paper and try for the same thing. I was also thinking it could be taken a step further and placed in a frame, changing it every month. You could also follow the same subject through the seasons, a certain tree, your garden, the options are only limited by what is around you. I’m really excited! Now if I can do and not just think.. 3. I know some will find this weird or disgusting, but after finding a dead bird I had thought it would be interesting to document the decay in a photo a day - which could be done as a drawing instead, if one had the discipline to do so. There are other less gruesome subjects that could be followed daily though, a mushroom or a flower for instance. Happy journaling!

Hi Artists- Glad to have discovered this course and this community.  I’m inspired (into ACTION) by the musings and dabbling of others, the celebration of PROCESS and the absolutely true adage that there is no wrong way to delve into something that beckons involvement.  I signed up for this course, also bought an incredible book someone recommended (“The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling”) AND it all is happening during “Inktober2019” (check it out!) so it’s going to be a very draw-y month for me. I really enjoyed listening to the artists in the videos who shared their journals and thought process, and also all these comments from the community. NO shortage of inspiration, affirmation and very comforting to have the connection(s). THANKS! - Tom in Wauwatosa, WI

We are homeschoolers, and my son’s homeschooling last year incorporated nature journaling. I really enjoyed doing that with him, and as a birder, I decided I wanted to do more of it— but as someone who has never felt naturally artistic, it remained feeling a little intimidating to me. I also do a lot of nature photography, and I like the idea of trying a method of documenting my ramblings that involves a slower pace and allows for integrating the images and my thoughts together more in the moment. I definitely like integrating the images and the text. I don’t know how proficient I’ll become at the drawing aspect of this, but at the very least I hope to be able to focus on getting down important field marks, background environment, or zoomed in details in different drawings. My biggest challenge will be choosing ONE thing to focus on at a time. I see watercolors mentioned a lot, and I’d love to give them a try. I have a lot of different media at my disposal, and hopefully over time I’ll discover which are the most practical for me to carry in my field back and get my observations down in my journal!

I am new to nature journaling; I have journaled daily most of my adult life.  I am looking forward to the observation of the natural world and working to capture that on paper.  I love the combination of words and drawings on one page along with spaces for facts and questions - the idea that it doesn't have to be complete at one time appeals to me which is a bit counter to my perfectionist tendencies.  I see the course as an opportunity to be free, to experiment and allow the process to unfold.  I also want to work on my drawing and painting abilities.

I wanted a way to slow down and interact more thoughtfully with the natural world around me.  I want to try being less concerned with capturing an entire "picture" and more focussed on seeing the shapes, and details that will help with identification, but also with using the process as a way to more thoroughly understand what I'm seeing.  I'm inspired by other's journals to try adding in verbal description and thoughts to my visual journals.

Over the past nine years, I have become disabled and have limited mobility.  My career was in IT, and I still spend many hours a day on computer-related volunteer activities.  To balance that, I have always done photography and, more recently, painting on my iPad in the ProCreate app.  When I saw this course advertised, I decided to take it in order to add another artistic endeavor to my repertoire, one that doesn't require that I walk great distances.  I found that photography greatly enhanced my observation skills and feel that creating a nature journal will bring those skills to another level.

I am very excited to begin the journal at the cottage this weekend (Thanksgiving in Canada) and already looking at my garden a little differently. I do spend time in the city as well and I am thinking that I might start a separate Urban Journal. Best to everybody.

I like the idea of learning about nature through sketching and writing together. The process requires you to slow down in order to think about and observe your surroundings. I expect to use a combination of the approaches.

Sketching and drawing is something I have not done in many years.  Life got very busy and things that I used to do and enjoy, I did not  have time to do.  I have always enjoyed watching birds, particularly shore birds.  I am using this course to help me get back to one of the things that I enjoy. I have done journals on the job before and realize the importance of doing them.  I want to start a journal so I can do my sketching and record the details so they can be used later for my drawings.

I have kept a written weather/nature notebook for years. Last year I started a homemade bird book from my photographs but found myself wanting to make more notes about their behaviour throughout the year, like chickadees making a nest in a dead apple tree in my yard. I tried small drawings but was frustrated by my lack of skill. I have learned some ideas from each of the journals shown. I like the zoom idea, trying different movements of the birds and simple use of colour. I am also learning a lot from the comments of my new classmates, thanks!

What inspired me to begin nature journaling? An inner inclination to capture those things that capture me in written and illustrated form. The desire to improve my observation skills in every area of my life, but especially as a means to celebrate and enjoy the intricacies and marvels of creation. Observation requires a person to slow down, and slowing down is a spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally healthy activity. And, finally, it makes my husband happy. He introduced me to this course.

There is such a calming, healing, rejuvenating force experienced in being in nature and I know it is a place I want to incorporate into my daily life more.  My goals with nature journaling include spending extended amounts of time in a natural setting recording my experience in illustration and words to include not only description of what I observe, but also questions I have about what I've noticed, and how I feel/what I'm thinking. In addition, I want to improve my drawing skills as well as my use of watercolor. I like the technique of looking at the bigger picture, yet including a zoomed in version of something that is attractive/interesting to the eye. I am far more comfortable with words than drawing and see myself really putting time into the art component of my entries.

I've been wanting to start nature journaling for quite a while, but so far have spent more time looking at other's journals rather than making my own.  This class popped up in an email and decided to join in and build a practice of my own.  I love art and love the outdoors, so it's a perfect mix for me. I'm looking forward to trying a variety of styles and techniques to develop my own style!

I was inspired to take this nature journaling class because I wanted to get back outside and notice the little things in nature. I used to do outdoor education, and I wanted to get back outside and learn more about the organisms in my community.