Tom

@Michelle Michelle, ah yes, action shots. I’m not there yet!  I’m reading manual (slow) and bought the “other” guide book too (as Kindle book) so am slowly learning things.  I did buy an Amazon remote switch which I like for tripod photos (especially as I take Moon pics which are so cool!).  P900 has a small light sensor and relatively “slow” lens at zoom, so full sunlight may get some good action stuff, and/or messing with ISO settings but for now, I’m using “Birdwatching” under “Settings” and I turn off the anti-shake when using a tripod.

Hi Frances, I too got a chance to see, hear and record (on my phone) a Song Sparrow. I didn’t know what it was when observed. Thought “there’s a nice little brown bird with a good voice” and because I had the recording and a decent picture, was able to positively ID, and in the process appreciated the nuance in the different sparrow songs, and even the different “melodies” from the Song Sparrow.  I don’t always hang on to such info, but I don’t mind relearning!

Hi, I love the term (and idea of) “a visual thinking style!”  Thanks for sharing your process and progress and I commend you for your overall and multi-faceted approach you are taking to this “sketching course.”  I too sense opportunities for personal engagement and creating a personalized record that may be shareable, but most importantly represents the full experience of observation, study and appreciation of Nature.

I found this exercise to be somewhat of a turning point for me in this class because I came to realize that my 60 second gesture drawing was VERY useful in rendering the subject at a later time.  In the past, I may have considered quick sketches (more like scribbles!) as minimally useful and more of a "throw-away" drawing.  After doing this exercise I feel I can trust the gesture phase to be a foundation for further development, especially if I'm choosing from a series of gesture drawings.  Some of the other students commented that they felt they had captured something special in their gesture drawings (bring out some of the vibrancy, personality, even Life of their subject). I'm finding the "negative space" technique helps with critical portions of a drawing as does "seeing and drawing shapes" instead of say an "actual feather" (which is overwhelming in its detail!) gives me the confidence to keep working on the drawing.  One challenge I've found, that was almost comically apparent to me was that I put considerable detail into the head of this bird before moving on to the body and when I was approaching finishing, I realized I had the proportions wrong and the bird looked "off" to me.  But I really liked the head (especially area around and including eye) and didn't want to erase it.  For kicks, I opened the image in Photoshop and made the head bigger. YES! I was right about the proportions.  I left it as it was here, and in my notebook, wanting to archive the process and remember the lesson learned...they'll be plenty more bird drawings in my future! AND:  This subject didn't originally have a discussion section and I reached out to Liz to inquire if it could be added. Liz agreed it was a useful addition and quickly added the opportunity for us to share (so come on, SHARE!) Thank you Liz--your "live" presence makes this course Extra Special!

I liked the lesson/reminder about “negative space.”  I say reminder because I’ve heard of the concept before and even “studied” it a bit while reading and doing exercises from “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” about 35 years ago.  I found the concept very helpful applied to this science journal focus.  Recently I was in California (from Wisconsin) and my granddaughter came rushing in from outside and said excitedly, “I found a bug!,” and I “humored her" and went outside to see...HOLEY MOLEY, she was right!  This beautiful praying mantis was just hanging around on their patio and I took a pic, then let it crawl on my hand (I remembered from somewhere they don’t really “bite”--other than maybe decapitating their mates) and it became my subject when back in (now cold and snowy) Wisconsin.  I drew a frame around it for rendering purposes so I could use the concept of negative space to help me with the complex shape.  That also allowed for the insect to "break out of the frame" which I wasn't planning, but really liked the effect. I like using colored watercolor pencils, and this was the first time that I scribbled a bit of pencil pigment on the page and then dipped my water-filled brush into it.  This allowed me to mix dry color a bit. An interesting experience.  I finished the drawing with a few extra strokes of the pencils directly on the drawing to give a stronger accent of color.

I found gesture drawing very interesting and was surprised a few times on what I was able to get down based on what I saw or observed--these "surprises" were perks to keep at it.  I can see how using these glimpses would be useful leading into a more refined rendering. I noted that subjects (thinking birds specifically here) look so different depending on the angle and position, I've always thought about a classic "side pose" or "wings spread in flight" as a way to depict a bird (such as our first exercise). Doing these gesture drawings of pictures of animals in motion and then actually watching animals in motion I started noticing interesting details and positions that would be nice to work on.  I can tell this will take some time to become useful in the field or as "studies" for more structured works.  The quick drawings don't require setting time aside for a full "art session" to apply our developing craft.  Looking forward to some in the field opportunities!

Inspired by the "lecture" and all the wonderful shared comments and pages by fellow students, I still gave it a few days before doing the exercise. I did several hikes the past week and came to realize that even a short walk in my city has me passing dozens of different types of trees and I'm woefully unable to identify more than a few very obvious specimens.  Long intro to: I chose trees.  Two oaks which are growing across the street from me and are beginning their fall color transition. I never knew their names until today, and the comparison of the leaves, trunk and fruit (nuts) upped my appreciation for the Gift of Nature so close to my very small corner lot backyard.  Taking the time to study the leaves, make the comparisons, then draw them and list observations has me feeling like I "got to know my neighbors."  A walk around the block was stimulating and challenging.  I located one tree ID book I had, and ordered another one right away.  Looking forward to the process of learning to ID trees using the methods presented in this course.  Hurrah!

Enjoying this course and that it is stretching me to "take risks"with my drawing and even better, hone my seeing.  On a short vacation and haven't been able to get away to sit, so I collected a few things from our walks.  Seeing others' entries and comments has me excited to sit in my own backyard and begin to see it in new ways. 

Gettin' down & dirty (ie, too much pencil, shading, color, etc!) Enjoyed the explanation of shadow (and learning that new, cool word "chiaroscuro") and I can see that this parameter--shading--will take a lot of practice yet will lead to drawings that I will come to enjoy more (the process and the end project).

Enjoyed seeing others' contributions...we all see and render differently and then of course there's the relationship with the pencil (forgiving, correctable) & then pen (INK! oh my!).  Adding color is fun, scary too, and often I go too far and things get muddy...find it's helpful to take a pic of the drawing before applying color, then I have that for my records and also could print out and try another go at colorization, including using different mediums... oh...THOSE questions:  I noticed the subtlety of the yellow coloring, the black feather tips and I really liked drawing the branch too.