Karen O

I have been trying to learn how to use watercolors, but it is challenging. I worked on this finch until  I realized I had forgotten to leave the crisp white edges of the feathers unpainted. Colors are not as true as I wish, the red brown was especially hard to try to match. Still do not understand which colors to mix to create my desired color. The red-brown for example was too gray, add red? or yellow? I will keep at it!

I found this stinkhorn mushroom in my front yard. Question: what is the purpose of the nipple like opening which seem to be sealed with a gel like substance? Is that where the spore slime is discharged? The purpose of the odor is to attract flies, and it was very effective. The surface of the cap was sticky, but also deeply grooved with a net pattern of sharp ridges and shallow valleys. To keep slime from washing off before it had a chance to be picked up by fly feet? Although  well past prime, there was still evidence of a lacy indusium. My field guide suggested this was to help non flying insects access the spore slime. I was intrigued by the variety of flies, and that they were non competitive, and seemingly unaware of each other. Why was Stinkhorn solitary, but the tiny brown mushrooms two feet away in a group of 50 to 70.

I love your fir trees, and the way the text wraps around them. It is a beautiful journal page.  We have balsam fir, Abies balsamea, here in Maine. Not familiar with your type of fir.

I found time to go to a spot around 5:30 PM. But it was  getting dark quickly. I listened I smelled I tasted. I was there a short 20 minutes,  so many species to record, a few sounds, and only tasted one thing. But I felt the rough texture of the Aspen bark,  and the smooth velvety surface of the polypore which I need to identify it is not one of the few I know.  

Love your shaggy mane drawing, knew at once what it was! Nicely done.

What inspired you to begin? I was required to nature journal as part of a naturalist program I took. It started an addiction. Combining verbal observations with visual sketches brings a depth of understanding, or questions, that simply walking through the woods cannot. But my skills need improvement. We were left to our own devices, and I am eager to approach journaling with some training and help. This class seems ideal. Which approaches do I want to try? Watercolor. It keeps calling me, but I keep resisting. Hoping this class will calm my fears. Love sharing ideas  and work with others. It is both reassuring and inspiring. Journal ideas: this was touched on, but I would like to incorporate hand lettering to call out key observations. And mixing media, perhaps gluing seeds and bits into journal as well as drawing and writing. And I would like to answer this question: should all pages have the same personality and style, or can I mix it up without becoming chaotic?

I had a horrible time with the feet too, and yet I found them almost the most interesting part. I love how your confident simple strokes capture perfectly the spirit of this bird.