I started on this course in the summer without any experience in watercolor painting. Thanks to Liz's empathy and encouragement, I have learned to accept my painting mistakes and push on. It is now October and this ruby-throated hummingbird shows how much I have progressed so far. I have a lot more to learn, and I am having a lot of fun on my journey! Thanks, Liz!

I have learned so much about water colors and will keep referring to my new Nature Journal! Adding detail is important but trying to not be so perfect is important. Just keep trying every day and see what wonderful things I will find out about myself and the natural world around me. Thank you so much!

The nature journaling that I have done, as helped me to be much more attuned to the birds and other wildlife around me. I now am award of when birds fly past my windows when I am doing something else, something I just was not attuned to before.  And I REALLY want to know what that bird is at the feeder when I don't recognize it right away. So in about July, we put up a nectar feeder off our back porch after seeing a Ruby Throated Hummingbird show great interest in a small flag we had hung there.  Those little birds have given us so much joy since then.  I had taken pictures of them, sketched them and even videoed  a "territorial"spat between 4-5 hummingbirds.  I also purchased a hummingbird handbook to learn more about them.  Only having Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in my area, I had no idea how many different varieties of hummingbirds there are.  So early on in my journaling we went down the road to a state lake and I saw a wildflower that I had never seen before.  I took a picture of it and later drew it in my journal.  As I was reading the handbook, I learned that the flower, Pink Fire, has a symbotic relationship with hummingbirds.  Cool! Even though I am continuing to practice, I have found out that I am more comfortable using colored pencils in my journal and feel that I can put in more details using them than the watercolors.   However, I am also surprised at how much better I can sketch by practicing most days.  My friends call me an artist.  I laugh and say I am a budding naturalist.  Everyone needs a retirement hobby, right?

Milkweed seed pods: wet on wet, wet on dry, dry on dry. I was so wrapped up in the illustrative process that I failed to describe many of my observations. My a-ha moment was the minute I put pencil to paper. I never thought I could do it. My learning curve seemed to be on the same level as most of the other students. I can see how the lessons can benefit individuals who aren't able to trek around but love flowers and plants. A sketchbook in the backyard can do wonders to lift one's spirit.

My favorite experience happened after finishing the section on chiaroscuro and suddenly seeing highlights in objects, paintings, and photographs. It sounds like such a simple thing, but I had never really noticed it before. The same thing happened after finishing the section on mixing colors and suddenly noticing the nuance of colors in the everyday objects around me. I also loved drawing the song sparrow upside down and having it look like the actual picture I was copying. One of my most frustrating experiences was working on filling a sketch with color, attempting to erase a slight pencil mark where I wanted to place the eye of a bird, and smudging the still-wet section. Ugh. Lesson learned.  

I actually found a nature journaling monthly meetup in my city. Each month we meet up in a different park or forest preserve and journal for ~3 hrs. I've met some nice people and have enjoyed learning from them and sharing our experiences together. This year was full of hard times but this group really helped me focus on the good things in life - nature and people who are inspired by it.

A very exciting incident occurred while I was sitting in my yard listening and observing one morning. I was near a large "crop" of beautiful yellow tar weed and there was a gentle breeze causing the long stems to sway back and forth. I was enjoying the moment when one of the yellow flowers dipped down, then up. It caught my eye and then another flower dipped down, then up. I watched more closely and saw that it was a bee collecting pollen! I watched it move from flower to flower and when it reached the flower right next to me, I could see the yellow pollen collecting on it's middle legs. It was exhilarating to see something this special! I was hooked on journaling from that day forward.

This was truly an eye-opening and enjoyable course for me. I have been passionate about nature my whole life, and I've always had an artistic side, but prior to this course I had never kept a nature journal or engaged in regular nature sketching! I'm inspired to keep going - to bring my journal with me on nature walks, and to take time to sit in nature and just get consumed in its beauty. This year I am also diving into some more mindful birding and ornitherapy experiences, so I'm excited to combine journaling as a regular practice for feeling the many benefits that birds and nature bring us. While I've always had an eye for animal behavior and nature discoveries, I'm ready to slow down and really take it all in and get it down on paper to reflect on it at any time. So far, I think my favorite experience was the sit spot. I felt my senses heighten at every sound, movement, smell, and feel around me. It was so calming and enjoyable and I can't wait to do more. I'm looking forward to trying out these prompts, and really get creative! Thank you, Liz, for this wonderful course!

My best takeaway from this class has been the inspiration to just get out the tools we've been using and get going. I usually take a long time to get something started, but look! I've just put pencil and color to some ideas I've been contemplating, and that's a huge step, really. I don't know if I'll be able to share finished pieces with the group, probably not, but now we get to spread our wings and fly off to do our own things... I'm looking forward to pulling these ideas together, solving the perspective problems - and having fun with it.

The wow moment of my journaling experience was the moment I started sketching. I could see the difference between my first yellow-billed warbler and today's image. A few of the concepts like nature's curiosity cycle- the observation, questioning, and possible explanation were eye-openers for me. Those concepts of scale, quantity form functions, etc, though I am very much aware as a designer myself, applying them to a nature journal was a novel idea for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Actually waiting for a short sit spot in nature to redo all these exercises at one go. Gesture drawing was really a new skill for me to work on, and I am slowly improving in it. By practicing for a few more months, I think I can get the perfect sketches. The other thing I would like to share, in this process of learning, I was able to inspire the school children to work on nature journaling and they have started working on it in a very beautiful way. Thanks to this course and Liz.

This course has given me some great drawing tools and direction for my nature journaling.  Now it's time to get outside and keep filling up those pages, despite the cold weather!  My journal page from today:

1. I was delighted with the outcome of this session.  It was a sit-spot session sketching the scene and making colour swatches, finished off later.  I was relieved to get some depth in the colours at last and happy with the perspective ... at last managing the measuring.  2.  I did look at this scene from different elevations before deciding on the elevation that gave the most interesting reflection.  My take-away is for me as much as others - practice skies and keep them wet!

It could sound like a cliché or a hackneyed phrase, but my favorite nature journaling experience was participate in this course, each practice has been like a challenge of  thrilling search, investigation and later drawing for me, so for this last exercise, I tried to make a parallel with one of the most coordinated, scientific and precise teams, who share the same concerns, objectives and philosophy, contributing and expressing each one's point of view, values, conclusions, and united by the same goal. So thank you very much to Bird Academy Team and congratulations, because your teaching methodology, the environment, and the magnifical explanations and drawings (I said WOW!) gets inculcate values, consideration towards nature, feel part of it, and of course, get involved and feel enthusiastic with our own `nature journaling´ projects.

My favorite nature journaling experience was at a pond. I brought two ziploc bags of mixed birdseed (sunflower, millet, milo, etc.) my journal, pencil, and binoculars. There were so many ducks there, hungry and looking for food for the upcoming winter. I had a blast giving them all birdseed and taking pictures of them. I saw so many birds that day, Song Sparrows, Northern Flickers, Spotted Towhees, a Belted Kingfisher and more! That was one of the most fun birding experiences I've had and I highly recommend just getting out there and exploring because you never know what you're going to find. Journaling-wise, the technique I used was Gesture sketching because they (of course) were constantly moving, so I did quick and scribbly sketches that I later added detail to. I also recommend taking pictures, if you want to keep moving and bird/critter watching rather than sitting down and sketching you can just snap a photo and draw it later. I'm honestly a bit sad for this course to end, but I appreciated going on this nature sketching journey and enjoyed it profusely.

My favorite nature journaling experience this year has been the observation of hummingbirds. Since I am now retired, I had the time to observe the ruby-throated hummingbirds during the day  that visited my Turk's Caps. I have seen the ruby throat hummingbird throughout September and into early October. I have not seen them for several days now as they have all migrated further south. I observed the males first with their red throats and then females. I watched them hover as they looked through the panes of my windows, took pictures and sketched from other photographers images. 

My favorite nature journaling was the wow moment when i did the yellow warbler painting again. When I started the course I thought that was one of my best drawings, but now when I see my first drawing of the warbler compared with the final drawing I have noticed so much i learned. In the beginning I thought I knew pretty much but now I see that there is still much to learn in painting.  I have not still tried any journaling ideas , but I will try to do them.  A suggestion for the future students is that even if you are total beginners or very expert this course is for everyone .  I really loved this course.

Recently, I was walking in the woods, and my dog flushed out a deer. All of a sudden, a large doe must have gotten woken up from her hiding place and burst out of a bush at me. To stop it from crashing into me, I hollered, "No!" and it turned and ran up the path.  We were equally surprised. I thought, I am a grandma who almost got run over by a reindeer. It happened too fast to photograph or draw, but I remember the surprised look of the deer as it seemed to put on the brakes while lifting her head pointing her nose in the air, and I remember how large she was. Taller than me and powerful.

I've loved doing this course and I love doing my nature journalling. I'm yet to find my 'style' but I am enjoying the exploration of that. My best experience is the improvement. I didn't think I would improve my observing, sketching and watercolours so much in such a short time. I look back and see how much I have accomplished and it is really inspiring. The hardest part has been to let go and experiment. If I do a great sketch its difficult to add colour because it might mess it up. But the risk is worth taking, often I do mess it up, but I always learn something.

Sometimes I like to draw birds I'd like to see, so that I get to know their points of distinction, especially if they are hard to tell apart at first, like sparrows or terns. It's always a great moment when I draw a bird and then see it because I notice the details so much more clearly.

Nature journaling was an exciting venture for me. The most inspiring session was going out and drawing real trees and flowers in my journal. I never done this before, so I learned so much from this experience. I have a packed sack of tools I need to go out and start observational drawing. Especially after going out and choosing a set spot and observing, then drawing, it was an amazing experience. I suggest that a person should have all the tools ready. In addition, set a special journal for outdoors experiences, to jot down thoughts and draw observations and ideas. write questions and look for answers. Looking back at the journals I set for this course, I found out that I have learned a lot. I can organize my pages, look and draw then reflect and jot thoughts. I found out that nature journaling is an educational experience that is open for all to observe the environment around us and discover the beauty of nature. I was surprised about the ability to draw moving birds. The exercises were exceptional. I feel more confident about drawing birds and flowers from real life and images. My growth in the field of drawing following the tips in this course is more than I expected. I can draw what i see. I can recognize negative spaces. I can understand proportions and transfer it into my sheet. Color is easier now. I am more confident to paint my drawings on set. I will keep on exploring, especially botanical drawings. For now, I see me going after the beauty of flowers to draw and explore. Then will look at the beauty of birds. Below are images from my journals in which I documented my journey throughout the course. Thank you for the wonderful experience.

This course was a birthday present to myself.  I have always been interested in nature and plant and wildlife conservation .  It has helped me to concentrate more on the overlooked details of plants and animals.   The journal documentation really makes me look further and ask myself questions.  For instance up until now I would never have attempted drawing birds.  Now I feel like I can render a nice image of a bird and with practice it will get even better.  I look forward to documenting woodland plants especially wildflowers as spring is warming up .   .I’m going to share the joy of making an ongoing nature journal with other people who I know who would enjoy getting closer to nature. A funny experience that I encountered would be when I documented a “porcupine” in a willow tree  in my backyard.  I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if I wasn’t looking for something to journal about every day during the classes.  So, it forced me to do a drawing of the critter in the tree and do some “research about porcupines”too.

I think my favorite moment of this experience was when we had to draw the fox or one of the other animals from one of the lessons. It turned out much better than I had thought it would. It was a huge confidence booster for me.