Chris

I like the economy of words in writing haiku because otherwise I don’t focus as well. I use it often to describe things in nature. Bushtit Haiku: Blow in quick, gone fast Kamikazi moves Lightning strike waves on feeder. Group ESP flash Feasting swarm ALERT! Blizzard of bushtits, poof! Gone!    

yesterday I drew & painted my Northern Flicker from a photo I took a few days ago. I enjoyed using some purple wash for shadowing on the bird’s chest. I realized how right Liz was about getting the bird’s eye right. I found the wrong location or size of the eye really detracts from a drawing so it was worth erasing & trying several times.

I call this, “Ok, you can look now”  learning the proportions trick helped me a lot to get close to the shape I was drawing  

This was hard. It seemed to be a matter of trying to match my mind with what I was seeing & it sometimes felt that timing was out of whack between the two. Will add the Springbok with next reply.  Felt the Springbok was better & that the bird of paradise flower was the worst - which is frustrating because one of my best large paintings was a bird of paradise flower. Good thing I didn't have to not look at the canvas LoL!

I thought I went out too late at dusk but I did get to watch 2 hummingbirds trade dinner time at the feeder. Dark fell quickly so I used photos I took of them last year. I was excited to use some texturing tools I recently learned. They move so fast that it took a camera to capture the details I didn’t see otherwise like tiny yellow feathers & pollen coating a long black beak. Chris Jonientz

Gorgeous!

Drawing forced me to look at all the details which makes me more observant to journal. The detail of the feathers, the texture of them, & the fine breast streaks were very hard to try to capture. I haven’t used a ‘water brush’ before so I’ll have to master that too to do so.  I hope to be more precise in painting those details though. It will be interesting to try this again at the end of the course.

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Hello, getting a late start on this. 1. What inspired you to begin nature journaling? This course appealed to me as I looked to do something fun & creative after almost a year of chemo & a stem cell transplant for leukemia. Meanwhile I retired & am ready to start having some fun again! I paint & photograph but in 2017 I wanted to make a bird Christmas card after seeing some in Wild Birds Unlimited. I laid out about 50 photos of the blue jays who visit my porch everyday & chose several that had fun poses - these birds have such character. It was my first bird painting & I want to do more in a nature journal with notes and observations. A friend introduced me to a nature journaling group on facebook & I was so impressed with what people were doing. I didn't know how to begin until I saw this course. 2...which ideas or approaches do you want to try? I love the ideas/styles that all the video journalists shared & anticipate experimenting with a mix of the styles, especially boxing sketches & letting the subjects reach out of the boxes, magnifying details, the quick sketching of shapes & changes as the birds move, the detailed studies of different parts of a bird as you focus on each part. 3. Do you have a different journaling idea, not mentioned here? Maybe only where I want to journal. I'm a solo backpacker in the Pacific NW & can see taking some lightweight journaling materials would give me a way to sit still & capture things around me in the beautiful mountain & coastal hikes I do. Meanwhile as I get stronger for the next few months, I'll journal my bird feeders & around the yard :) I look forward to working with you all. Chris