It does make me notice more details as in smoothness and stiffness of leaves, which can't be determined in a drawing or you wouldn't notice when looking at one plant at a time.  If a detail is hard to draw then more writing is required.  Dimensions would help if you can't draw each item to scale because of a size difference.

Great project. Really delved into the nitty gritty of anatomy and saw so many things I never noticed before.  I find I am too verbal!  I write too much even though I try to draw in detail,  I need to find a balance.

I was working indoors today (mobility issues) and realized that, despite seeing these house plants daily, there was so much I never really noticed prior to this study! I had never really paid attention to the tiny details, or asked questions about the plants beyond "do they need water," and, "is this good light for them?" I definitely wonder how to balance drawing and recording numerical data- I think the subject matter might aid that, though. Or maybe the questions that arise.

Decided to do a backyard bird feeder comparison of a Dark eyed junko and Black-capped Chickadee.  Two birds that are common at my feeder.  Taking the time to draw each bird helped to bring out differences that I hadn't noticed before.  Feeding strategy, size and even their beak color and structure are a little different.  

This is a very useful strategy for comparing similar species, in particular.  I didn't have the opportunity to see two similar species on the same day, but I would like to now practice this exercise with photos of Scaups and Ring Necked Ducks or American Wigeons and Green Winged Teals for example.  As for balancing drawing, writing, and recording data--I think its about taking the time and creating a habit around the practice.  Sometimes it's easier to draw than to write or collect information, and the other takes more effort.  When I'm rushed or feeling unmotivated, I can rely on a routine.  3,2,1

The weather kept me in.  I drew 2 similar house plants.  I noticed both plants had purple undersides on their leaves.  One had striped, almost heart shaped leaves and the other had long slim leaves that had copious leaf shaped marks.

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The weather kept me indoors so I observed 2 of my house plants.  It was fun to discover the different aspects of these plants I see and care for daily. And a lovely spider dropped by for a visit.  I am trying to play with light and shadow to do more justice to the subjects.

First day this week without rain, so walked up the hill behind my house to a granite plateau that has a moss and lichen bed surrounded by hardwood trees, mostly maple. I sat where I had a good close view of at least two distinct mosses and one lichen, some clumped solo, some patches where two or all three were together. The lichen was identifiable as coral lichen, a pale grey green, very soft in the moist ground but seen elsewhere in Ontario on the Canadian Shield of Georgian Bay. The other two are mosses. When I returned home, I tried to identify from one book I have and found the moss id language a little overwhelming but I believe the one that looked like a lime-green feathery mini flat tree-like form is called a plume moss and the third, either a hair cap moss or a juniper moss. I suspect the former as there are no juniper bushes here. It has swirls of spiky close to bottle green leaves and a bit of a root system. The other two were very shallowly connected to the ground with no discernible roots when a sprig or two were easily removed from the clump. On the way home, I also noticed two other kinds of moss and will sketch them soon. I wonder if these three are indigenous to Ontario only? Or to the Canadian Shield?  I wondered why the lichen and plume moss had such shallow roots that mean that they come off the ground in clumps. Is this a survival mechanism, allowing the patch to be kicked up and resettled on a different shallow bed of humus and rock? [looking forward to learning how to use watercolours, especially when it comes to shading and fine details]

It was lots of fun. We have a lot of trilliums in our woods, red and white, and I wanted to spot differences and similarities between them. I wrote down some questions that I thought of while doing it. 

Cottontree Esplanade Park is alongside the river mouth and has many native trees.  They get lots of salt spray and sea breezes.  I chose two that looked different and sat for 40 minutes.  I was pleased I didn't feel nearly as self-conscious sitting there as I thought I might.  Also I was surprised how many differences I discovered in the detail of the trees and how looking for those differences improved my knowledge of them both.  What a great exercise!

Backyard garden viewing of two brilliant flowers, plus an unexpected visit from a flying friend.

• I saw a downy woodpecker when I was on my last hike and took a picture.  We have hairy woodpeckers in our area but I have  never seen one.  Although this was a study done at home, I asked and tried to answer questions.  It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot too.  Although my favorite medium is watercolor, I tried out a new one after watching a video by Liz Clayton Fuller—gouache!  I like it!  This course is great and although I am progressing slowly, I am learning a lot and having fun too!
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I compared two citrus trees in my yard.  I have a lemon tree and bitter orange tree. I was able to notice subtle differences in the leaves, the thorniness of the trees, and how the fruits clump.  I am not very good at sitting still or drawing, but I suppose I will improve.  It's interesting how my senses started to tune into your surroundings while doing this.  I started to notice the sweet smell of citrus and an uncharacteristic warm breeze.

I planted two types of kale last year and it has wintered through -10 degree C temperatures and still produces delicious leaves. Right now the plants are flowering and there is an abundance of yellow. So, I decided to compare the two types. I have really taken them for granted. I know one plant provides small, 1 - 1.5 inch leaves, which are tougher, serrated, and the other provides leaves sometimes between 5 - 7 inches long. These are soft, papery leaves with tough leaf stems. Spending time allowed me to closely look at the leaf design and how each attaches to the main stalk. It also allowed me to compare the flowers and how the buds form then open. There were some similarities in flowers and both types had flowers of similar size and were yellow with only slight variation in colour. I know the pollinators like the flowers because I have seen some on there before. I looked carefully and saw the stamens in the centre, four in each flower on each plant. I laid out my page the same as Liz had done in her demonstration and this seemed to work well when comparing two plants.

I did several comparison activities. I quite enjoyed doing them. In all cases they were birds I saw in my yard. I did use what I saw in real time along with my pictures and pictures in a bird book for the drawings. Birds move so fast it was hard for me to do a good comparison quickly. I hope this gets easier with practice. I am not sure how I will balance my drawing, writing, etc in my journal. I have taken a hiatus from my course and journal but am now back at it. I am assuming that my journal will evolve with more time using it.

For my comparison study I chose to compare the Daisy and Dandelion which are around the same size and very often found next to one another in fields and parks. 1.) I learned that my two specimens have a lot in common and yet they can easily be differentiated. 2.) Because I had a fair amount of text I omitted numerical data. Although I kept the vertical division of the page I decided to arrange everything on the right as a mirror image of what I had on the left. This helped bring an even greater balance between all the elements, textual and illustrative.