The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › Nature Journaling and Field Sketching › The Power of Comparison
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Bird AcademyBird Academy1. Have you tried a comparison study? Tell us about it, and upload an image of your journal page if you choose to. What did you learn from this very focused journaling experience? 2. How do you think you might balance drawing, writing, and recording numerical data in your journal?You must be enrolled in the course to reply to this topic.
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Challenging doing this course in the winter. There’s still snow covering lawn/driveway from three weeks ago. Temporarily warming up to mid-50s, and rain predicted. Would much prefer to physically be outdoors but at least a month and a half away. Did some sketches of houseplants yesterday; today did up-close sketches of purchased tulips/hyacinths. Individual hyacinth blossoms seem to have varied # of petals; when packed in overall cluster not noticeable. Tulips grow taller and leggier every day creating the prettiest formations.
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I spent a day in the spring just looking at and drawing all things purple. I didn't realize how many different flowers are purple and how many shades of purple.
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I made notes of the birds who visited our backyard today. I decided to compare their beaks, sketching from my photos. I was focused on beaks but ended up finding the feather patterns around the eyes really interesting as well.
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I used indoor plants as it was cold in MA. I enjoyed comparing the two plants and noticed details that I had not seen even though these plants have been in ours house for at least one year.
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1. I did a comparison of hop and thicket creeper. They climb side by side in my garden. The leaves' five-lobe shape and the edge's outline resemble each other. I haven't noticed, that hops climb with the help of short, downward hairs on the stem. It feels sticky and you can't slide your fingers into the opposite hair. 2. I need a bigger, much bigger, sketchbook!
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Two herbs in the same pot. I never realized that the part of the lavender plant that’s inside sachets is the bud, harvested before it flowers. I love lavender; it reminds me of my grandmother, who also loved it. I like basil for a different reason: the taste! I never noticed before that the basil flower is like a little orchid. Both lavender and basil are in the mint family, it turns out.
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I really enjoyed this exercise. I chose two flowers in my flower bed. The one is petunia and I have no idea what the other is. Both flowers are similar color, but so many differences. The flower on the left is small and has feathery leaves, much more delicate than the petunia. It is on long slender stems and long narrow leaves as compared to the petunia which is a much larger flower with a strong line of color running in the center of each petal. Also the petunia has clusters of large round shaped leaves. This course is helping me to look closer at everything, not just when I am sketching and I love it.
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I did a comparison drawing of two flowers in my yard, allium and meadow phlox. I discovered they are similar in that each flower is comprised of many small flowers. However, a close inspection revealed a number of differences between the individual flowers of each plant beyond the obvious color difference: the number of petals, the shape of the petals, the shape of the flower, the length of the stamen, the existence of small leaves under the flower. Taking the time to look closely and draw what I see is almost meditative!
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Comparison between Gulf Fritillary Butterfly and Mourning Cloak. I cheated by using my camera to capture the image so I could get good detail. However, in defense of myself, I found it very enlightening.
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Autumn Joy and Rudbeckia Comparison
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I enjoyed this exercise, as it challenged me to really look at both plants and see the similarities/differences. I wasn't used to paying such focused attention to details such as buds, petals, stems, leaves/veins, overall shape, etc. but as I did I noticed more than I would have just perusing them in my yard. I thought of questions such as: did the broad leaves of both plants catch more water/sunlight than smaller ones would have? Do bees ever come to flowers such as cyclamen and geraniums? What is the affect on propagation of a bulb v.s. a root plant? Do the shapes of these flowers enhance their survival, assuming a receptive environment? I hadn't been aware of these before.
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I ended up painting it, too. I saw details I never would have noticed, otherwise!
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Tulsi plant and Ixora. Both are small and new to my garden. I definitely need a large hat. Got very glarey out there. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many questions I asked myself. And I carried a ruler.
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Crazy sequence. Working through my Bird Academy class after a travel break. Since I picked some beloved daffodils this morning, I decided to compare two similar ones. What are the part names? I wondered. Looked them up. Found images on the Daffodil Society pages. There's a daffodil society? I looked around the page. There is a National Daffodil Show? Where? 35 minutes from where I live? When? Next week! Now it is on my calendar. I just love daffodils!
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I compared a spruce tree to a larch tree in my front yard. The weather is still cold so I did most inside, and went outside to sketch the branches. I discovered many details I had never noticed before about each of the tree. This summer, will observe the leaves growth and fall to answer all the questions generated by the comparative study. Thank you. This exercise opens our eyes. Elaborating the comparative study in my sketchbook gives an outstanding sketch page.
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I compared a sedge and a grass. I noticed how much wider the blades were on the sedge and they seemed sharper. The grass was softer, willowy. The sedge seemed to be encapsulated at the bottom where the blades and stem emerged. The grass seemed to emerge form the root.
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I live in the center of Bangkok. We do have a beautiful park in the middle of the city. It is where I took these pictures 3 days ago. It is hot right now so I did my observations from these pictures. I am not that good with proportions yet
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