Stephanie
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Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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This was a huge challenge! I found two tricks that helped: 1) I noticed when Liz was drawing she kept the fingers of her left hand on the notebook near the spine. I put my thumb and first two fingers down on the edge of each page before starting, and used them to "feel" where the top, bottom and a central part of the drawing should be. For instance, the top, bottom and end of the nose of the springbok. 2) I closed one of my eyes, and that helped me immensely with staying focused on the contour and not getting lost looking around at different places on the object. Not particularly proud of any of these drawings but I will keep practicing.
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I chose two different mushroom varieties spotted on a hike yesterday for my comparison study. I completed drawing and making observations and decided to google each one to try and learn more about it. It turns out that iNaturalist had misidentified one of the mushrooms, and it was actually a close relative of the other! I drew ochre bracket fungus (trametes ochracea) and turkey tail (trametes versicolor). Both grow on dead deciduous trees and have a bracket structure with no stem, but I believe the ochres I saw were more mature than the turkey tails because they were much larger. Taking the time to do the comparison study first made me much more confident about changing the ID and choosing the turkey tail--the white band around the outside was evident in the specimens that I saw and drew, and is one of the distinguishing characteristics. I will definitely try drawing unknown plants and fungi again before seeking out identifications.
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I don't have my full-sized journal yet so did this assignment on a small sketch pad--I think it will be easier with a larger surface to work on!
1. How did you feel about drawing from the photo? What came easily and what was challenging?
Honestly, I felt relieved I wasn’t trying to capture a bird in real time! It was still a challenge however. I wasn't sure where to start so found myself defaulting initially back to those geometric shapes learned in school–bird are ovals, as D.J. said! But once I felt I had the head and back shaped correctly, it was easier to fill in the other details proportionately. I struggled with the beak and made many revisions there, while the wings, legs, markings and branch came easier. I am very curious to learn strategies for field sketching, when birds, bugs, leaves, etc. are moving around and not holding perfectly still!
2. Was there anything in the photo that you might not have noticed if you weren’t asked to draw it? Would this make a difference when nature journaling?
There were many small details in the photo I didn’t notice until I reached that area on my sketch, like the fact that the markings on the underbelly are a different color than those on the wings. Leaving that out wouldn’t be detrimental to a nature journal, but the act of drawing and observing it adds more to the journaling experience. It’s a reminder to pause and stop our brains from filling in the blanks!
I don't have my full-sized journal yet so did this assignment on a small sketch pad--I think it will be easier with a larger surface to work on!
1. How did you feel about drawing from the photo? What came easily and what was challenging?
Honestly, I felt relieved I wasn’t trying to capture a bird in real time! It was still a challenge however. I wasn't sure where to start so found myself defaulting initially back to those geometric shapes learned in school–bird are ovals, as D.J. said! But once I felt I had the head and back shaped correctly, it was easier to fill in the other details proportionately. I struggled with the beak and made many revisions there, while the wings, legs, markings and branch came easier. I am very curious to learn strategies for field sketching, when birds, bugs, leaves, etc. are moving around and not holding perfectly still!
2. Was there anything in the photo that you might not have noticed if you weren’t asked to draw it? Would this make a difference when nature journaling?
There were many small details in the photo I didn’t notice until I reached that area on my sketch, like the fact that the markings on the underbelly are a different color than those on the wings. Leaving that out wouldn’t be detrimental to a nature journal, but the act of drawing and observing it adds more to the journaling experience. It’s a reminder to pause and stop our brains from filling in the blanks! Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)