1. I have been wanting to start a nature journal for the last few years, often making it one of my new years resolutions! My sister gave me this course for christmas and I'm excited for a structured way to learn more and begin a practice. 2. I like the ones that describe drawing first and then coming back and filling in the story, and more details. I also want to try watercolors, which is not something I've really used much at all.

1. "What inspired you to begin nature journaling?" Thumbing through books about nature journaling, viewing others' nature journals and an overwhelming feeling to "create" have all inpsired me to begin my own nature journaling. 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 have purchased the materials used by and recommended by Liz, and I would like to try the approach of talking a walk in the woods and simply drawing what inspires me. I'll try to start small, easy, and not be too hard on myself if I feel that I am not "accomplishing" what I think I should be accompishing. A leaf, a tree, an outline of a bird, colors of the sky - I might start with something like these. 3. "Do you have a different journaling idea, not mentioned here, that you'd like to share?" I'd also consider taking a photo of something that inspires me, and sketching that.

I'm recently retired, and in the process of purging old boxes came across both journals and sketch pads containing my thoughts and talent from 30-45 years ago.  So happy to revisit them, got me thinking, what if I'd continued to develop that talent for the past 30+ years.  Ahhh..... life takes us different places than we expect.  Very inspired to get back at it, have a few laughs at the first attempts with a pencil, then see where this takes me moving forward :).  I live in nature, so no lack of opportunity - very excited to see what's in my heart, head, and hands!

1. I used to draw the things that I loved when a child, mostly dogs, cats and horses. As an adult, I gardened, hiked, camped, backpacked, and occasionally sketched the things I saw. In my profession, I studied, wrote, and edited reports about the natural world. Now in retirement, I want to slow down, immerse myself, savor the experiences. I find that I have an urge to sketch a particularly lovely tree, a patch of mushrooms, the red tailed hawk that regularly visits the tree behind my house, to learn more about the things that I see and love. Take up birding, for example, and nature journaling. 2. I think I will let my style of nature journaling evolve organically, and not be too organized to start.

Gardening and hiking has inspired me to begin nature journaling. I didn't know it was 'a thing' until I saw this course advertised, but I always thought how nice it would be to record a moment, a sighting, maybe even a feeling, in nature. I take many photographs but I don't often go back and look through them. I'm hoping nature journaling will help me to stop, slow down, and notice more deeply the beauty of nature and when I'm done, I'll have original art and notes to help me remember it.

I decided to try out my field journal on a recent trip to Mexico.  Many of my sketches were not exactly natural history - more about people and places - but some were.  I just rewatched this introduction to the course and I realize that anything goes.  Clearly, I am still finding my style, but I would say that this course kind of gave me permission to sketch anything and just give it all a try.  Also, I have some very unfinished sketches, which normally I wouldn't like but, here, it's all part of the process.  Here are a couple of examples:

I purchased this course to aid in my nature interpretation on various outings. I'm excited to put to paper what I observe!

Nature is my spiritual sanctuary.  As a child, I had some artistic talent.  I have a science background.  In retirement after 3 careers, I would like to return to art.  I love watercolor and need more practice with journaling.  I will definitely document time, place and conditions so this will be a kind of research.  My illustrations will take major portions of pages.

I have always been a fan of journaling and scrapbooking. My husband gave me this course as a gift and I am eager to attempt adding sketches to my journals rather than photographs. I sketch on occasion but look forward to improving or more developing those skills through this course. I really liked the various layouts in the examples. I think I will try to incorporate several different techniques going forward. I definitely like the idea of including the date, time, place and weather.

Always loved the outdoors, got into birding and lucky enough to have traveled from ecuador to alaska. My mom was a very good artist, and I doubting my ability there went into photography. Limited there cause I never got the large lens telephoto, but was still fun and challenging. Each pic is a story, a tale trying to be told, Have some experience at interpretation and I think this might be another tool to help encourage others to gain a better love and understanding of this world.

I've recently started doing water colours and wanted to combine that with my love of the outdoors and birding. I'm excited to try and combine the journaling with learning about species differences. The boxes are a good way to turn a whole page into manageable bits when trying to fill it. Blank pages can seem so intimidating! I'd love to get better at identifying warblers so why not journal a different warbler each time you journal!

I'm excited to start nature journaling. I have kept sketchbooks off an on, but  I'm excited to start shifting my attention toward aspects of nature, and for the prompt to get outside more. Love the combination of notes and sketches, and the use of watercolor.

What inspired me?  I wanted to slow down. I love to hike, stargaze, camp, etc but I tend to set expectations that are too time-based...get to the next camp by XYZ, how many miles are we doing today?  I prefer to wander rather than hike, but I let the organization "me" take over. My goal for taking this course is to let the joy of observation take the driver's seat.

I live in a predominantly oak and maple woods in Wisconsin. Last summer I was laid up, waiting for a hip replacement, and spent more time on the deck and gazing out the windows into the trees, and watching the natural progression of the blooming of the prairie flowers.   Dozens of hummingbirds and bees and spiders and caterpillars visited in the summer to keep me company, and now in the winter, birds visit the feeders surrounding the house, giving continual entertainment. This course was a present from my husband and will be a great joy!

I'm looking for a way to look at the natural world differently, being more engaged rather than just moving through it when on a walk or hike. Also, I've volunteered to be part of a phenology project at a local nature preserve and thought nature journaling might help me in my observations and recordings of those observations. I may start with DJ O'Neill's journaling, which seems to be capture what you see as quickly as you can. I'm sure my approach will evolve as I get started, as another of the journalers mentioned.

I've always enjoyed capturing aspects of nature, both through (ethically) collecting and photography. I also really enjoyed drawing as a kid, but kind of fell out of it over the years. I wanted to find a new way to capture nature, develop a new hobby, and reignite my love of drawing all at once. I really liked the idea of doing a daily sketching journal, complete with notes on what I find/see

I really enjoy making art but often need guidance because I tend to make the experience more complicated than it is. I like the idea of a nature journal because the stakes are low and it seems more about the process than the product. I prefer to have a laid back journal that will just morph with time. I will include a date and place.

I've kept a conventional journal off and on for most of my life and I love being out in nature. Several months ago, I did a water color draw along Belted King Fisher with Liz. The first take came out decent and got me interested in doing more with water color. The idea of a nature journal seemed like a good next step. As to the type of journal, I have no idea. I like the idea of having the date, time, weather and place as well as having both pictures and descriptions of what's going on at the time so I can remember. I'm a teacher, so there's not generally a lot of free time during the school year, but I would like to try to add something to the journal about once a month. I feel like it would be a way to be more observant, to learn a new skill - getting better at drawing and using water colors, and just to relax and enjoy nature even more.

I want to try nature journaling as a way to expand my love for nature.  I often take pictures of my garden, but actually drawing and painting what I see will give me a deeper appreciation of the subjects.  I liked Holly's journal style the best, a feast for the eyes.

I love the idea of capturing a moment from your perspective alongside words of emotion, thought, and wonder. I'm certainly no artist but I absolutely love experiences which make me feel closer to nature. I loved Shayna's approach to journaling where there were equal distribution of text and drawings. For me, this feels less intimidating and more accessible as someone who doesn't feel overly confident in drawing/painting (yet?).

I am so inspired by nature and how it flows with the elements of weather and time. For example, I live by a lake and the birds are up by 5 am and fly to their destinations for the day. And by the evening, they are back by 6 pm perched on their branches ready for sleep and to repeat the process again tomorrow. How amazing is are they? The same applies to the flowers are of the field. They grow, give their bloom and fragrance for the insects and birds and then they withered by next season.  Nature follows the cycle of life effortlessly.  This is what caused me to want to draw them and analyzed them. I like drawing them first in graphite pencil and then I use gouache medium to apply color.  I will submit a color image when I work on this project.

Nature journaling combines many of the activities I enjoy most -- birding, being in nature, walking, and drawing.  But it was the intense sense of engagement that caused me to fall in love. I am comfortable drawing from a photo, but prefer the experience of nature journaling in person because of the profound connection I feel to a place and object when I am directly observing. I was happy with the drawing, but didn't know how to differentiate the colors when it came to watercolors.

1. I was drawn to nature sketching and journaling because I think it is so beautiful to be able to capture the world around you in bright colors and cool facts. I hope to be able to draw and paint in my field journal and capture what I am seeing. 2. I really love the way Shayna had their journal laid out. I loved the vibrant paintings along with the factual words that hugged the picture. I hope that I will be able to do this even though I do not have much artistic ability.

1. I am an avid birder, but am teaching a course on Flora and Fauna on the Bible and the World Around Us, encouraging participants to get out and observe.  Partly for my mental health, and partly to learn more about the fascinating world around me, I thought nature journaling would be a good idea.  2. I love the month of sketches on one spread!

I am hoping that by journaling what I see in nature will help me to slow down and really observe behavior and characteristics of fauna and flora adding to my knowledge as a master naturalist.  I never thought I could draw so this should be an interesting journey for me, and I hope I don't get too discouraged.  I love to take photographs while I'm out hiking and also capture what I'm seeing with words, so I see nature journaling as a natural extension/progression of those activities.