Wow, I'm really enjoying this but it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. I love the attention to detail and am trying to spend the time to practice the skills we've been taught.
Using the negative space and measuring is very helpful. I know this is a good way to help gather information for identifying birds etc. so it was great to see how to apply this to sketching. Appreciating the surrounding area really helped keep my sketch in proportion. Thank goodness for erasers!
This was an interesting exercise. I found that not looking at all really helped me focus on the small details in contours. However, I found checking in a key points to see if I was close to where I was supposed to be helped me to both focus on the subtle details and complete the image.
Drawing from the photo made it easier to concentrate on the details and colors. As for a challenge, I think seeing the bird live would help with the way the light interacts with the feathers.
The photo offered detail on the texture of the feathers that I might not have noticed. The bird appeared "fluffier" than I might notice live. Yes, this could have an impact on nature journaling especially on live animals that are being drawn.
Advantages to photos would be quickly capturing multiple movements and actions of an animal. The advantages to drawing is the subtle movement and depth of those movements.