Renee

I have a dedicated bag for all of my materials, with paper towels, watercolors extra pencils and lead, etc.  It is grab and go. In the field, I usually spread out on a bench or on the grass. Many people use a camping chair, but I feel like it is too wobbly.  Often, I will sketch in the field, make notes and then use the watercolors later when I return home. In this case, I picked up the crab molt from my beach after sketching brought it home so I could make more notes and color it in. I am happy with the results.

This was difficult for the first time drawing My bird looks lopsided, I cannot get the scale right, or an accurate representation of the feathers. By drawing it I did notice more detail both in the bird and the habitat -- how the bird's feathers have different layers, the interesting patterns and colors of the lichen on the branch for example.

I was inspired to start nature journaling for several reasons. First, I am going to  expand my freelance work in science writing and I think that nature drawing skills would be a good adjacent skill to be able to include with my writing. Second, and probably more importantly, I like the idea of spending more time in nature as an observer rather than just passing through. I am a regular walker, hiker and outdoors persons. However  I feel that many times I miss interesting thing on my hikes because there is an expected pace that one keeps that prevents rest and observation. I like the idea of sitting and observing for an hour or two that several of the journalers discussed. And, taking notes to help me remember how I was feeling, what the day was like and also make connections (i.e. frog camouflage and dappled tree light) that spark futures ideas to research and understand.