Shir

Pretty colors, Matt. I like the realistic look you were able to depict with not all perfect shaped leaves and the depth and variety of looks to your leaves. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Joanna, I like your thinking. I feel a bit the same way. I feel perfection strains my creativity and natural ability to sketch what I see. If I wanted perfect, I would just take a photo or find a perfect with Google and print it. I find one wrong line is not the end of the world and is the beginning of my creativity of really making a sketch my own. Sounds crazy I guess but that is me. I am sketching and drawing so many other projects and things along the way slowing my course to make certain I am learning to apply the concepts as I go along. I am a bit farther along in the course than you as started a good while back. Right now I am to the adding color part and have really taken a break from the class just to try out watercolors and brushes I already have - I am finding them quite nice. I had never thought of sketching out my pic first and then adding watercolors. I had always just thought you created with the brush. I drew three intricate roses yesterday and instead of the usual colored pencils, I used watercolors. It went quite well ---hahaha...until I got to the background which I suspect I was supposed to have done a wash first before painting anything else. I flubbed it but that is okay....I scanned before adding color so I can do it again if I so desire. Probably not, though. Will just sketch a different kind of flower and give it another try. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and I really think you are going to be very successful - remembering it's not about perfection but the experience. I like that!

@Dale Hi Dale, I have been wondering about that, too, re watercolor to my sketches. I usually scan my sketch before I add color as even with pencils sometimes color changes my sketch. I decided to print a couple of those and add watercolors. The sketches have detail of the feathering of wings, etc. but after adding the paints though they look nice, I have lost my feather detail. So am hoping to gain a bit of skill of how not to do that. Taking a breat from the instruction at present and as Liz asked us, just trying to get familiar with my watercolor and art supplies and play around with colors, etc. before continuing on to the next section. It has been fun so far.

It is interesting how seeing things differently really help. The negative concept I understood but found it hard to apply as I wanted to focus on the main subject - so I took a break and starting drawing landscapes for a bit - Bingo, I began to see the negative space in a different way. The upside bird was fun and was easy to follow proportion and placement.

What a sweet picture. Love your presentation.

Laura, I like your bird's stance and the glint in the eye. Nicely done. Enjoy the class and take your time and savor each activity. That is what I am doing...I want it to last forever so I take time to practice and do many examples for each lesson before moving forward as the class is self-paced. Just wanted to take a moment to welcome and encourage you as you move fwd through the class. Happy Nature Journaling and Field Sketching through your days.

Wow, you had a lot of patience and precision to make all of those neat repetions for so many blossoms. I have sketched lily of the valley before but not like this so I googled and found that lily of the valley bush is entirely different from the lily of the valley flower. Thank you for sharing and great sketching. Keep on sharing.

@Paula Paula. Why not stop and sketch your wildflowers while they are there. Wildflowers are nature and can add spark to your journal. You can apply your skills to the flowers. Anything you sketch is another step to sketching the bird you might want to sketch later. Your bird could be in a field of wildflowers or by a wildflower or two. The class is self paced and you can take as long as you want. I just read a Japanese proverb that said ,"Be not afraid of going slowly. Be afraid of standing still." I want it to last a long time and am pacing it out. I have sketched more things that are not for the class than I have for the class. It's Easter so many Easter sketches, a Carolina chickadee feeding its young on a tree branch, a lady sitting in a comfy chair, etc and yes, flowers, too. Just have fun with the class and back away when it is not fun or pleasure. Thanks for sharing your desire to sketch wildflowers and I hope you share a few with us.

This next one I had trouble depicting the yard art cardinal. I changed its position from the day before. I actually plopped it in a flower pot so it would be facing me. What I had trouble with was its left wing. Some how the way it was positioned that wing was straight out but somehow lifted a bit so I could partially see the underside. I tried sketching that but instead of it being raised it was more like it was hanging down...so erased and just quickly filled it in so that one is a do again.  

I started what I call bird sitting last Friday 5/3/2020. I don't put a time limit on myself might be 30 min or could well be an hour. It varies. I am going to make several posts and share my sessions with you and each day is a new adventure and never boring or the same. Day 2