Jennifer

1) I really enjoyed drawing from the photo, but I felt nervous about sharing it. As with others in the class, I am a bit of a perfectionist and drawing has never been my strength. As a child I decided I wasn't very good at it and gave up on it by the time I was in middle school. I still enjoyed it, but I thought I would never get any better. I never took art classes and never gave it much thought. Now I am a homeschooling mom and I would like for my children to learn to draw and to nature journal. I have started attempting to teach myself to paint and draw better, but I still have to make sure I am not hyper-critical of my work. So the hardest part is not judging myself. 2) I feel that there is so much I miss when I take a photo over painting. I don't think I would have noticed how far the wing goes back, the transition of coloring from the shoulder to the wing tip, etc if I had taken a picture and moved on. I have also found that drawing and painting cause me to pay more attention to body shape, which is also helpful for identifying birds. For me the ultimate difference is that painting makes me slow down and take in the moment more. I find keeping a nature journal both helps me to remember where I have been and helps make the memory more vibrant in the first place.