Welcome to Bird Academy’s Creative Summer Challenges!
Calling all artists, nature journalers, and photographers! We’re using the summer as a time to find and express our creative side with inspiring artistic challenges. Join us and try one or more of our suggested activities. Then share what you’ve created on our Discussion Board below!
On social media? We’d love to see what you do! Share your summer creations with #CreativeSummerChallenge24
Zoom In, Zoom Out
Feather texture and painting of a Sunbittern
Image: Jane Kim
Find and sketch or photograph a texture in nature, such as overlapping bird feathers, a leafy tree, or a rough rock. Use repeating pencil, pen, or paint marks to describe it, or if you’re taking a photo, zoom in and capture the texture in sharp detail. Then, zoom out and sketch or photograph the whole object for a different perspective.
Capture movement creatively! If you’re drawing or painting, this could be a behavior or other action you witnessed that was too fast for you to capture. From memory, render the gesture of that movement as best you can, or even make a dotted line that traces its motion.
Photographers, try lowering your shutter speed to blur the motion, such as for the wings of a bird in flight.
You may already know that you can upload photos to Macaulay Library to support your eBird list observations, but did you know that you can also upload a sketch? Either way, images add value to your observations! Learn how with this page about Uploading Media. For field sketches, be sure to select the tag that says “Field notes/sketch.”
Take notice of something you encounter daily. Maybe the fruit on your kitchen counter can be a creative inspiration, or busy ants in the garden, or one of your regular yard birds, like a Mourning Dove. Observe with fresh eyes, and sketch or photograph it to gain a whole new appreciation of something you regularly see.
ABCs in Nature
B is for Barn Owl
Image: Liz Clayton Fuller
Build your alphabet with photos or sketches! Write, sketch, or photograph something you experience in nature that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Need a shorter challenge? Sketch or photograph something in nature that starts with each letter of your name.
No matter your skill level, improve your artistic skills with Bird Academy! From Nature Journaling to Painting Birds to Photography, there’s something for everyone. All creative courses are on sale for the summer. Get inspired and jump in at an extra low price. Shop our Catalog.
I have just got back from a birding trip to Nunavut, and this is one of my strongest images from the trip.
We saw these beautiful Red-necked Phalaropes feeding in a pond next to the local rubbish dump. Pieces of garbage had blown from the dump and were stuck in reeds at the edge of the pond.
Perhaps prophetically ... I had been working on a somewhat extreme version of the 'alphabet challenge' for multiple months now. This tile was what I did for the Letter E - all nine species here begin with 'E' somehow - amongst them, an eider, an elephant bird, five emus and two emperor penguins. There is a subspecies of black kite here too.
Hey! I have just started bird photography, and I was wondering if anyone had any tips? I am currently working with a monocular attachment to my iPhone thirteen and looking to upgrade!
I like your reflections in the water and the composition on the bottom photo. I, too, am starting out photographing birds. I've had some good luck with my iPhone 16. It's amazing what an iPhone can do! I also have a Canon digital camera that I use with a wide variety of settings and when I'm being more "serious" about getting a good shot. I'm still learning what works best though. I'll watch here for tips from others!
Muy buenos días 🌞
les saludo desde Costa Rica 🇨🇷.
por motivos de salud todas mis queridas actividades relacionadas con el amor por las aves , tuve que relegarlas . Sin embargo, mi imaginación me ha seguido llevando a su maravilloso mundo . Con pequeños retazos de tela he aprendido a recrear a algunas aves de mi país , he creado cuadros y me encantaría poder compartirlos con uds ! Apreciaría mucho si me orientan en cómo o donde puedo exponer mi trabajo !
Saludos/Eliza
iHola, Eliza! puedes compartir tu arte aquí. Simplamente usa la boton "insert image" y carga imagines de su arte. (Lo siento por mi español terrible. Usé Google Translate)