1) My interest in nature journaling was inspired by my study on climate change. In order to get a better understanding of the environment, I needed to get out of the city and engage wildlife through art. Art requires intense attention and observation. This skill is what I need right now. 2) In terms of approaches, I want to be simple. Begin observation and rough sketches, followed by description. Then I will let it evolve, as seen in the other journals. Journaling is not just an observation "out there," but also one that is "inside here," in one's own heart and mind. At one moment, I might feel free to sketch with a pencil and the next with watercolor. I think it is important to feel free with the medium, and at the same time, in tune with oneself.

I was so excited when I saw this course. I've been drawing all my life and love natural history (I work at the Field Museum in Chicago.) This part year I've also become interested in birding and have had a lot of fun making lists of all the species I can identify. I often work from photos or the taxidermy exhibits here at the museum, but I've started sketching outside more, especially on trips to the southwest and really love it. Still, when sketching outside I choose to draw landscapes or plants - because they're more static. What I really want to learn from this course is drawing animals, especially birds in the field. I want to hone my skills of observing and translating those observations to paper to bring more movement and life to my drawing. Even before watching the first video, I've been thinking about creating a journal for a year, to emphasize the passage of time and the changes of the seasons. I liked the idea of doing a page a month to represent that time passage. So far my sketchbooks have a few pages devoted to earlier trips I took this year to Arizona and Wyoming, but they don't capture the extent of the trips, mostly because I couldn't spend as much time as I'd like on the sketches. I'm hoping to learn to jot things down more quickly and focus less on a refined, complete drawing. I look forward to interacting with you all in this awesome class!

I remember nature journaling from my college days ( long time ago)- I still have my journal from a Biology Spring break class to the Galapagos - and recognized some of the sites and plants before the naturalist identified the locale. Fun.  When I retired, I began to do some informal sketches and notes of creatures and plants. I also applied for a program to become a Master Naturalist- that led to more classes, more outings, volunteer opportunities and the desire to keep a formal journal. I like the idea of each page having a date, time, location and weather- and using a sketch book- I've never done that- my journals were mostly writing with small sketches in the margins-  I like the idea of reversing that.  I preferred the painted entries over the sketches but the sketches were very helpful to show the process. my drawing and painting skills could certainly use some work. I think I will add the surrounding habitat-either by sketch or description and incorporate several of the ideas in the journals shown.

I have always loved nature and usually rely on my camera to record what I see. However, I want to become a better artist and and a better birder. I also need to learn to notice details more rather than relying on looking at my photos later. This seems like the perfect way to accomplish several goals: get outdoors more often, while improving my artistic abilities, birding skills, and observation skills. I am inspired by the journals in the video, from the versions with detailed notes to those who have much more drawing talent than I possess! I especially loved the beauty of the last journal in the video with the lush watercolors, and the quick bird sketches in the next-to-last video. (Can you tell birds will be a focus?) I like the idea of having a plan for how often I will journal since I won't be taking a special trip anytime soon. It will mostly be what I see at home - using my busy bird feeders as inspiration, but I hope this project will also encourage me to sneak out to a local nature area for a few hours of journaling (and photography!). I look forward to this class!

My husband knows of my desire to learn how to draw and paint. He received information on this course and encouraged me to join.  I am a beginner and hope to learn a lot

I was inspired to start nature journaling because I want to be able to record birds in my surroundings. I really want to attempt to get feather definition and proportions of birds corrects. Lily

1.  I’ve always liked to draw and paint.  I’ve taken up birding in the last few years.  It would be nice to combine my two hobbies.

I was inspired to begin nature journaling after I retired. I wanted to record what I saw and learned in nature. By drawing and writing about it, the information is more solidified in my mind. I'd like to try the zoom approach when I want to show a close up of something in my journal.  

I'm semi-retired now. Art and nature have been my passions for as long as I can remember. And I've been a daily journaler (off and on) for decades. I've used the journal as more of a meditation tool, and have wondered about incorporating drawings into it, getting a daily drawing practice going that bypasses my very vocal inner critic. I love the idea of including nature study with this. Maybe too much? We'll see!

I recently retired from a fast paced career and thought that this journaling class would be a great way to slow myself down and begin focusing on the smallest details in the natural world around me.  By drawing the plants, insects, birds and mammals in my immediate area, I anticipate learning about the different species that inhabit my surroundings and the ways they interrelate.  While I always wanted to learn to draw, I found my tendency towards self-criticism kept me from taking a class.  I am hoping that this on-line course will allow me to develop some skills and confidence so that I can at least be comfortable expressing myself in a private journal.  The sample journals are inspiring.  I expect that I will begin by trying to capture the form of what I see, like the study of the hummingbirds, then work on incorporating details and color.

Being in the present, capturing the moment.  I have used the connection to nature through journaling as part of my daily meditation. Most days I am up early to welcome the new day with a cup of coffee, a great backyard window, and a front row seat with a view to nature at its best.  I had the opportunity to share connecting to nature with my students when I taught elementary school.  Journaling became a daily "assignment", that quickly became a "joyful habit."  Together we all shared just a few minutes capturing and observing interesting things we saw.  "Keep it simple" I would say.  Focus on what you see. Enjoy the experience, and enjoy the sense of place where you are at that moment. "  I like to think many of those students are still out there, connecting to nature and capturing their world in their journals.  I am always looking for ideas and suggestions from other journals.  Connecting to nature journaling will not only help us continue to learn more about the natural world we live in, but just maybe help us find  solutions to protect, and save, our earth.  Capturing and recording our thoughts and observations quickly, becomes a history, or record, of wildlife, plants, trees, insects, etc., of what could someday no longer exist.  I think nature journaling helps to "capture that moment".  It just might be the moment that changes and saves this world we live in.

I sketched in pencil, pen & ink for years. Then life got in the way ( school, work and raising a family). I found I drew less and less, until I wasn’t drawing at all. Now I’m retired, child is grown and out of the house. I signed up for the backyard feeder count that starts in November. Then an email arrived advertising this course. Perfect combo. Watching birds and field sketching. Now I can return to my two passions, nature and art. I like the the first field sketching journal. Documenting date,place,time and conditions and the thoughts you are having. I like the last one, but it seemed like finished art vs sketches and impressions. Beautiful work. I think I’ll try and keep a small sketchbook with me at all times. That way if I see something I can catch it. Nature’s all around us, better document it before it’s gone.

I became interested in field journaaling when I first saw this course listed, last year I started painting with watercolor and my favorite subject is birds and feathers. As a rather new birder I feel like this is a great way to get out into the field or even in my yard and capture what I see and having it in a journal form will make it a much more memorable keepsake thn just another waterrcolor that goes in the box with the other paintings.   I am abviously drawn to a combination of watercolor and journaling but loved seeing different styles, I feel like I will try out several styles and will narrow it down once I actually begin using the techniques and creating my own journal, but it will likely be a combination of several styles.

What inspired me to begin nature journaling? Three years ago, after learning about the current rate of extinction, I've felt a sense of urgency to pay attention, to really notice, birds in particular. And recently my interest in art has been rekindled. Drawing requires  attention, noticing the details. We are creating images that will someday remind us. I am drawn to the integration of scenery, plant details and animal sketches, along with the journaler's written notes. It gives a multi-faceted view of the experience. I like that each page can be different, with a few elements of continuity.

Two years ago I got my certificate as an Oregon Master Naturalist. I really enjoyed the course and field courses. I have wanted to start journaling but just didn't seem to have a good way to start. I also want to learn to use and feel more comfortable with watercolors, and when I saw this course I hoped to get a start with it. Very interesting to see others journals and how different there are, and how they changed over time. I don't imagine that I will be able to draw that well, but I'm willing to try. As an amateur photographer, artist and naturalist, I'm hoping to put all of this together somehow. Really, I need to learn to slow down and observe, and by drawing I'm hoping to achieve this. I don't have a different idea, but I loved the monthly journal. Very flowing, and a neat way to see the months and seasons change all on one page.

I am actually a photographer but got interested in drawing and sketching from my Grandma and Dad. I feel like i know several bird movemts/ Stills, landing onto a tree limb, feeding on a feeder, moving along the water, preening. But, doing it in action is a challenge. I feel like a combination of sketch and some water color to show some depth of the object. As  you progress, the colors might be something to ID and animal or plant. Same as a teachable moment. Not sure what the object might  be doing and then they do it and you learn from the observations and the sketch.

I really liked the first journaler - watching her start with constrained boxes to help her feel more “comfortable” with the empty page, then begin breaking away from her constraints and drawing outside of the boxes, but in the end, managing to bring the boxes back as a framing element because she just  liked the way they looked. Fascinating journey!

When I first saw the course in the online catalog, I thought it would really be great to get back into watercolor again and keep in practice. The challenge of using watercolor to sketch sounded interesting as well. Also learning drawing techniques would be a plus.  I've been an avid birder for a long time, and seeing the different birds at the feeder or should I say feeders gives me great pleasure in observing them. The white breasted nuthatch climbing up and down the arbor, the lesser goldfinches. I would love to draw, paint and record them.

1. I've kept a written journal for decades, but a few years ago realized that I like to draw when I'm traveling. The process of observing while drawing really creates memories. And now most of what I write in my journal are notes on how my garden is going or what's showing up in it: the hummingbird catching insects by the bean plants (yes, hummingbirds catch insects!) and the praying mantis grooming her forelegs with her mouth for all the world like a cat washing itself. I'd love to be able to add drawings to that, and gain more confidence in my drawing, and be able to capture more in sketches. 2. I liked the variety, commitment, and willingness to experiment in Holly's journals, as well as the way it gives a sense of what's fascinating her as she moves through time (and wow, I'd love to be able to draw that well). I also liked Margaret's just-go-for-it hummingbird drawings and the way she learned more as she drew. D.J.s command of geometry and Shayna's field guides also interested me. I don't know what style I'll end up at--and there'll probably be some variety--but I look forward to the chance to experiment.

As an observer and lover of the outdoors and a devoted but amateur birder, I have been keeping a very undisciplined and haphazard  journal for several years.  I am constantly dropping pictures and thoughts into my journal bag, hoping to add and expand these inspirations into my journal at a later date.  But more often than not, I don't get to it!  So starting today, thanks to this class, I am hoping to record in a more dedicated manner!  (fingers crossed!). Besides recording observances and thoughts, including poetry and fitting quotes, I also try to acknowledge an E.D.I. - Exquisite Daily Image - into my journal - an idea inspired by a friend/teacher from a few years back.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to manage a journal like Holly F each day; I love her design for the date each day.  But it was even too much for her.  I am hoping to work harder on my own sketches and do less copying from my field guides.  Each of your journalists worried less about perfection and more about the learning experience.  That was a great inspiration.

I’ve been doing nature journaling for some time now, so when I saw this class, I had to sign up.  I am always looking for new ideas and techniques.  I am impressed with working on site, and even if it’s not a complete picture, it still shows the concept. I do a lot of sketches from photos that I take so I would like to work on drawing in nature.  I really like the field notes and the monthly sketches and I really liked the enlarged bits of a plant.

I was inspired to start nature Journaling after receiving the California Field Atlas by Obi Kaufman.  i found his lose watercolor style to be so beautiful yet detailed enough to get a real sense of the subject. i painted with Acrylics in college, but watercolors were never my style. I decided to give them a try as a way to illustrate my love for nature. I wanted something beyond a quick iphone photo which is easily forgotten, once it get's lost in the mix.

1. This course offering came along at just the right time.  After clearing away some prior commitments, I had set a goal of engaging in creative play, painting and observation.  The place where I live is inspiring me to get to know it better and instead of photographing, I want to devote the time to observe, to sketch and paint the natural world. 2. If only I could get comfortable doing quick sketches of birds!  Or any animal on the move... the various examples in several of the journals encouraged me. 3.  I'm not sure, but it might work better for me to begin with a smaller format journal.  I'd started with a little 4" X 6" because it's easy to carry and, since I think I'm very slow at painting and observing, the 7" x 10" feels daunting.  On the other hand, I liked the way  some of the journalers simply used the space for several observations and either framing them, or simply creating a moving, rhythmic series of sketches.  I'm going to think about this a little more!  It was pouring rain today, but I have plenty of natural objects in my house to sketch and paint.

I live in western Massachusetts surrounded by forest. I am a birder and photographer who is always tromping about in both urban and rural locations.  I wanted to document my tromping other than in just photos to make myself observe a little closer and meld a bit more with nature.  I drew a great deal when I was younger, but have lost touch with that side of myself.  I want to record my life in more than just text and a nature journal seems like just the ticket.  I liked all of the entries in the video and might take inspiration from a number of them  I think walking and sketching small things that peak my interest will be the method for me.  I’d like to do a day of good journaling each week.  Don’t want to overcommit.  I also will probably go back and add species and other info after the fact.  The thought of learning to add color to my journals is intriguing to me.

I think I have a lot of art in me. My challenge has been, how to bring this art into the world. Photos and sketching and drawing, a bit of watercolor perhaps and writing, journaling and essays. I love nature and photographs, and try to capture the essence or the heart of each moment, whether it is photo I take or a photo I see. Like some of the other course participants mentioned, so far I have only been able to bring this art out sporadically, and with a certain hesitancy. Now, I too, am retired and the time has arrived. All nature inspires me.  I need to begin, to take action. I needed the push to make it happen. Then, I saw this course offering. This is it, I said, the time has arrived. Seeing the variety  is encouraging. I appreciate that writing is an integral approach to the journaling process. Observing the mixture of media from such a diverse group, makes the approach seem attainable, whatever the skills we demonstrate when we come to the table. I like the idea of setting a goal to nature journal every day, even a little bit for ten weeks. To create the habit. Not sure if I will accomplish this, but worth a try. Adding simple specific touches, date, time, weather, our own spirit of the time... invaluable. One additional push...This summer, our human and animal family includes the addition of a paint mare, Sadie, who is in foal for next spring.  As the weather cools this autumn (we live in South Carolina), I hope to take my small portable chair into the paddock and observe, draw sketch, write and paint, even a little bit. So, when baby foal arrives in the spring, I will be prepared to welcome the new addition to our story, in art.     I am interested if anyone is including collage.. a leaf, a feather, grasses, fur or cloth, for example ?