Kathy

One of my favorite things about keeping a nature journal has been allowing myself the time to observe closely tiny events in nature...either in my backyard, at the beach or on a hike in the woods. My goal each time I make a new journal entry is to observe something I would otherwise have not noticed, either by overlooking it or simply not taking the time to look slowly and closely. This always leads to so many questions that I am following up with -- also more observations, as well as a rabbit hole of research. So rewarding and fun! The journal entry I am including here is of bees in my garden -- I noticed many patterns: in behavior (ie, small groups of my garden honey bees seem to stay around foraging in their own distinct Geranium clumping the garden (see map in my journal) and they seem to be able to make immediate decisions about whether they will dive headfirst into the flower for nectar or move on to the next flower straight away (I timed many of these "flower stops"; form and function (of the lovely Geranium flower design for attracting bees as pollinators, the bees' body and leg designs for pollen gathering and so much more!; patterns of change throughout the garden as spring deepens and more types of flowers and leaves begin opening up. This observation day led to so many questions (and even a few answers!).

It is clear that all my skills will be needed to sketch realistically! I need a great deal more practice I think before I can use both light value and 3D markings both accurately and relatively quickly. I think practicing all techniques together will be the most useful for me. It is gratifying to see tiny improvements!

I am trying to add my photo and will come back to this portion as soon as I get the image to load! I liked sketching from a photo as it gives me plenty of time to get the proportions right. I am a slow sketcher and that is my biggest challenge... I can mostly achieve the results I am aiming for when I take it slow but am hoping to become faster and more proficient. Also, challenging for me are some watercolor techniques and I hope with more practice (I have been sketching and watercoloring since last June) I will get better at gauging the right amount of water to achieve certain looks. I am enjoying the process enormously and look forward to more exploration.