Christine

If this turns out to be a double submission, please excuse!  I found that I can focus on the topic and ignore extraneous details, but I had to work on it, since everything in the photo was clear and detailed.  This gave me an accurate portrayal of the bird, and I was able to concentrate on the details in a way that I wouldn't have been able to if I was doing this while watching it.  Photos provide a good resource to go to when, after an observation outside, I want to go back and check details on what I've captured in drawing.  On a technical note,  I was concerned how I was going to show the various shades and tones of yellow, and scoured my pencil box for the "right" color to use.  I finally landed on using one color, and found that my shading with a graphite pencil provided the shading I was looking for.  A good lesson learned!

I had a difficult time getting starting on this exercise, and I spent a lot of time thinking about it before beginning.  Then, when I did start I found I started with the branches, drawing them in and then making the bird fit the branches, which I also found difficult.  Once I was working on the bird, though, it became easier.  I blocked in some rough shapes and worked from there. Having the photo allowed me to take my time and pay attention to the details.  There was grey shading on the head, back, and shoulders that I would have missed if I wasn't asked to draw the bird - subtle coloring and shading became more noticeable, as I worked on the drawing.  When nature journaling, it's nice to be able to get all those details, but I think I'd miss a lot of them.  Having that photo helps to keep those details to reference when drawing.

I've always enjoyed being outside, watching what was going on around me.  I initially picked up Clare Walker Leslie's book, The Curious Nature Guide, and was drawn in by her sketches.  Someone shared that she was a naturalist and nature journaler.  I had the opportunity to take a teachers' workshop with her at Clark University in Massachusetts, followed by a weekend retreat.  That, combined with my long interest, but little action on my part of developing my artistic skills led me down this journey.  For awhile I was very diligent in recording in my journal, but I got out of the habit, and I'm working to re-establish that practice.  I like Jewel's approach, of using her nature journal to capture her observations and then share them with others so they can experience what she saw and experienced.  I also like Holly's idea of shifting from a daily  documentation to a monthly page, where she's added to it through the month.  It allows for flexibility, but maintains the practice.  I haven't been one to add much writing, beyond the observations that I note, but I do find poems that I like, and often keep clippings of writing that speaks to me tucked into the journal.  I'd like to find a way to incorporate those into my practice.