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Spring Is A Great Time To Start A Nature Journal
My nature journal “kit” is simple. Shown here with past journals and field bag.
People often ask me how to begin a nature journaling practice. Others ask me to teach classes, but to be honest, it is very simple. Are you ready to learn?
Go outdoors with a notebook and a pencil. Jot down or draw what you see, hear, smell, feel. Add a date and location. Voila! You have begun your nature journal.
Nothing needs to be fancy. Some will prefer a notebook with lines while others will choose a sketchbook. There are colored pencils, watercolor pens, black ink pens and all sorts of things to fancy it up, but I recommend keeping it simple.
I carry mine in a small bag that I bought over 20 years ago. I carry a black ink pen, a pencil, a pencil sharpener, a small set of watercolors, and a waterbrush (a brush that has water in it). I’ve used a wide variety of sketchbooks over the years, but none larger than six by nine inches, but that’s a totally personal choice.
You don’t have to be an artist or writer to keep a nature journal. You just need to get outside and start recording your observations. There is no right or wrong way, no matter what anyone tries to tell you. A nature journal is simply a way of collecting your observations of nature in one place. It doesn’t have to be in book form. One friend of mine keeps her separate pages in a big envelope. Another keeps hers on her phone and uses photos and captions she writes under each photo.
There are those who are diligent about writing or drawing every day and those who write or draw only a few times a year. There are no tests to pass or deadlines. You get to make it up. It’s a journal, not an assignment.
Many of you may have seen or read author Amy Tan’s “The Backyard Bird Chronicles.” Tan was new to both birding and sketching when COVID kept her at home, but she dug right in and found a new interest and passion. Like many others, she had joined one of the online nature journal groups run by John Muir Laws, a naturalist who not only keeps his own nature journal but who has shared his love of doing so with millions at this point. You will easily find him online, and I highly recommend joining one of his social media groups if you are so inclined. They are free and inspirational. The community is huge, and most participants are extremely encouraging and helpful, especially to beginners.
When I take people out for nature journal walks, I find that many worry that their drawings aren’t good enough, but here’s the thing. Go out with a kid and see how easily they put down the basics of what they’re seeing or hearing. Does the bird have a red cap? Why, yes it does. The child will add the black dots on the back, the stripes on the tail, the yellow on the feet and so on. Will the bird look perfect? Maybe not to someone looking for biological accuracy, but I bet they can guess what type of bird it is.
Kids are great at reminding us to look for the things that differentiate one bird, one butterfly, one flower from another. How many petals does the flower have? Are the leaves pointy or round? Does the bird make a noise you can write down? What flower does the butterfly like to hang around? These are the observations that make a nature journal fun.
There are many beautiful nature journal pages being shown on the internet, but most of these are done at home, from photos, and are planned out like any painting done by a serious artist. Those of us who do most of our drawing in the field have messy journals with drips of mud or rain, smears of paint, rips or tears, even tiny footprints of ants that ran through paint that hadn’t dried.
Our pages may have a lovely flower or grass tucked in the back, notes of birds we see or hear, little bits of whatever we’re thinking about, the weather, or even a memory or two.
What our journals look like is secondary to the experiences we encounter. I often go out thinking I’ll look for something in particular, but get completely sidetracked by something else. For example, one day I went to draw some frogs and tadpoles but ended up running into a weasel chasing a rabbit. Because I was standing in the path sketching a flower, the rabbit almost ran into me and then got away because the weasel just stopped, paw in midair, totally flummoxed by my presence. We stood that way for a minute or two, long enough for me to get a quick sketch that I would paint later — right over the flower sketch. I didn’t get any frog sketches done that day, but I didn’t care.
Spring is a great time to begin or dig out a nature journal you may have already started. There’s no need to make it complicated. Just get outside, take a few deep breaths, and open your notebook or sketchbook. What do you see? Don’t tell us. Show us.
It’s not about the art, it’s about the observation. If stick people and animals are your thing, go with it. A stick fox will have big ears and a bushy tail while a stick heron will be tall with a big bill and long legs. Trust me, we will all know what they are. Just get out there and have fun.
Go outdoors with a notebook and a pencil. Jot down or draw what you see, hear, smell, feel. Add a date and location. Voila! You have begun your nature journal.
Nothing needs to be fancy. Some will prefer a notebook with lines while others will choose a sketchbook. There are colored pencils, watercolor pens, black ink pens and all sorts of things to fancy it up, but I recommend keeping it simple.
I carry mine in a small bag that I bought over 20 years ago. I carry a black ink pen, a pencil, a pencil sharpener, a small set of watercolors, and a waterbrush (a brush that has water in it). I’ve used a wide variety of sketchbooks over the years, but none larger than six by nine inches, but that’s a totally personal choice.
You don’t have to be an artist or writer to keep a nature journal. You just need to get outside and start recording your observations. There is no right or wrong way, no matter what anyone tries to tell you. A nature journal is simply a way of collecting your observations of nature in one place. It doesn’t have to be in book form. One friend of mine keeps her separate pages in a big envelope. Another keeps hers on her phone and uses photos and captions she writes under each photo.
There are those who are diligent about writing or drawing every day and those who write or draw only a few times a year. There are no tests to pass or deadlines. You get to make it up. It’s a journal, not an assignment.
Many of you may have seen or read author Amy Tan’s “The Backyard Bird Chronicles.” Tan was new to both birding and sketching when COVID kept her at home, but she dug right in and found a new interest and passion. Like many others, she had joined one of the online nature journal groups run by John Muir Laws, a naturalist who not only keeps his own nature journal but who has shared his love of doing so with millions at this point. You will easily find him online, and I highly recommend joining one of his social media groups if you are so inclined. They are free and inspirational. The community is huge, and most participants are extremely encouraging and helpful, especially to beginners.
When I take people out for nature journal walks, I find that many worry that their drawings aren’t good enough, but here’s the thing. Go out with a kid and see how easily they put down the basics of what they’re seeing or hearing. Does the bird have a red cap? Why, yes it does. The child will add the black dots on the back, the stripes on the tail, the yellow on the feet and so on. Will the bird look perfect? Maybe not to someone looking for biological accuracy, but I bet they can guess what type of bird it is.
Kids are great at reminding us to look for the things that differentiate one bird, one butterfly, one flower from another. How many petals does the flower have? Are the leaves pointy or round? Does the bird make a noise you can write down? What flower does the butterfly like to hang around? These are the observations that make a nature journal fun.
There are many beautiful nature journal pages being shown on the internet, but most of these are done at home, from photos, and are planned out like any painting done by a serious artist. Those of us who do most of our drawing in the field have messy journals with drips of mud or rain, smears of paint, rips or tears, even tiny footprints of ants that ran through paint that hadn’t dried.
Our pages may have a lovely flower or grass tucked in the back, notes of birds we see or hear, little bits of whatever we’re thinking about, the weather, or even a memory or two.
What our journals look like is secondary to the experiences we encounter. I often go out thinking I’ll look for something in particular, but get completely sidetracked by something else. For example, one day I went to draw some frogs and tadpoles but ended up running into a weasel chasing a rabbit. Because I was standing in the path sketching a flower, the rabbit almost ran into me and then got away because the weasel just stopped, paw in midair, totally flummoxed by my presence. We stood that way for a minute or two, long enough for me to get a quick sketch that I would paint later — right over the flower sketch. I didn’t get any frog sketches done that day, but I didn’t care.
Spring is a great time to begin or dig out a nature journal you may have already started. There’s no need to make it complicated. Just get outside, take a few deep breaths, and open your notebook or sketchbook. What do you see? Don’t tell us. Show us.
It’s not about the art, it’s about the observation. If stick people and animals are your thing, go with it. A stick fox will have big ears and a bushy tail while a stick heron will be tall with a big bill and long legs. Trust me, we will all know what they are. Just get out there and have fun.
