Nature Journaling - Part I

A Nature Journal is simply a nature-themed sketchbook filled with observational sketches of your outdoor environment. 

You can use an ordinary sketchbook for your outdoor sketches, or you can create your own unique, personalized, customized Nature Journal. 

Your journal can include lots of small descriptive sketches or detailed scientific illustrations - or both. You can use dry drawing media only (drawing pencils, charcoal pencils, colored pencils, Sharpies, markers, pastels), or you can also include watercolor pencil, ink, and watercolor sketches.

If you enjoy being outside and you love to draw, nature journaling is for you! Get started by taking a Nature Walkabout. 

You will need:

A drawing board, drawing media, a camp chair, a few sheets of drawing or sketching paper, (or your sketchbook), masking tape, cellphone (camera), sun screen, and a brimmed hat.

If using drawing paper, tape two corners of each sheet to your drawing board to keep it in place. 

Drawing tips: 

Feel free to use more than one art medium for your drawings. Mixed media is great for depicting nature! 

Move in close! Look for details.

Sketch your subject lightly with a drawing pencil first, or skip the pencil and be bold! Start with markers or ultra-fine Sharpies, and dive in to the drawing - trust yourself! 

Observe your subject closely. Rule of thumb is to spend more time examining your subject than looking at your drawing. 

Mistakes can be fixed. If the art medium is un-erasable, no worries! Remember nature is not perfect and you can adjust your drawing to look like the subject without looking exactly like the specimen in front of you. 

For example, a pepper in your garden can take on innumerable shapes and variations in color as it ripens. And every wildflower is slightly different. Use your mistake to your advantage to individualize your subject: change the shape slightly, add deeper shadows, or create more texture. Or turn boo-boos into bees (or hover flies, like these).

If you run out of drawing time (or your subject skitters, hops, or flies away) consider taking a picture of it with your phone before drawing. That way you can finish your drawing in the studio. 

You may be able to ID your subject using an online app or locate your subject in a field guide such as a National Audubon Society Field Guide. 

Another option for future sketches is to collect specimens to draw in the studio. Collect objects that are laying on the ground such as pinecones, bits of bark, broken twigs, acorns, feathers, seedpods, leaves, and rocks. You can also use items like (realistic) artificial  flowers and specimens from your seashell collection. These photos show just a few studio specimens that we collected to observe when the temperatures got too hot for us to work outside. 

Choose a specimen and place it on a sheet of white paper directly in front of you. Study it carefully, then draw it in detail, adding color using your art media of choice. These two scientific illustrations were completed using colored markers and colored pencils:

Polyphemus moth specimen (top) with two artists' illustrations

This moth was found at the end of its life cycle in our walk-about space (my yard). Notice how ragged the wing edges are! We looked it up and found that the the Polyphemus moth lives an average of 6 to 7 days after emerging from its cocoon. It has no mouth or digestive system so it cannot eat: its only function is to reproduce.  We also learned we were very lucky to find it because this moth is normally active only at night, and also that some people believe finding a Polyphemus moth is a sign of good luck!

Next: How to assemble a Nature Journal using your drawings.