365 Nature Journaling

[Janet]

Huge, enormous "AHA!" for me today. A bit of background: for the past few weeks, I've found myself REALLY drawn to the Nature Journal thing - you know, making sketches and notes. Just spending time connecting with the nature around me. Still reading through and learning from

Keeping a Nature Journal (http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Nature-Journal-Discover-Seeing/dp/1580174930/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252622299&sr=8-1) by Clare Walker Leslie & Charles E. Roth
Illustrating Nature Right Brain Art in a Left Brain World (http://www.amazon.com/Illustrating-Nature-Right-Brain-Left-Brain-World/dp/0915965089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252622327&sr=1-1)by Irene Brady
Drawing with Children (http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Children-Mona-Brookes/dp/0874778271/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252622391&sr=1-1) by Mona Brookes

And I'm waiting for Mona Brookes's other book to arrive:
Drawing for Older Children & Teens (http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Older-Children-Teens-Brookes/dp/0874776619/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252622391&sr=1-2)

and following the blog Sketching in Nature (http://naturesketchers.blogspot.com/)

I used Drawing With Children while teaching 2nd grade with LOTS of success for my students and myself (we didn't have an art teacher at that point). But I let my drawing and sketching skills go. I want them back.

BUT while I'm getting them back in shape, I still want to do pages that record the nature and changes around us. It's what I do naturally anyway, just don't always record it. That was my huge "AHA!...well, duh." moment. The obvious that escapes us so easily. Looking through all of my images over the past year or so, and having the focus on nature journaling surrounding me, I finally made the connection.

Just another slant on the 365 thing. Would love to have some company on this path. :)

[Janet]

Nature Journal 9-7-09

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/Nature-Journal-9-07-09web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=333109&ppuser=69)

[shazzt]

That is cool Janet. We often take lots of photos of nature's beauty but it can be a challenge to make pages from them and especially to journal. Thanks for the links :)

[Kathleen]

Great ideas, thanks for sharing! And love the colors in your photo!

[Cheryl B.]

You have a skill for beautiful writing. I was sorry to see the journaling end. I wanted to finish reading the story.

[idtwinmom]

I just added those two Mona Brookes books to my wish list! I've never been a confident artist even though both my sisters were very good (maybe because they were). I find it's making it hard to work with my kids and help them build both confidence and imagination. Thanks for sharing!

[Janet]

Lisa - I sorta am the same - my sister is an incredible artist! I remember in grade school, they'd hang up the artwork in the gym from all the classes and I'd always look for hers first - anxious to see what else she created and her take on the assignment. She's still an amazing artist, but as a professor/engineer, she's just busy.

Those books by Mona Brooks are wonderful! They taught me where to start, how to practice, how to simplify and break things down. I learned right along with the kids in class - and later when the school DID get an art teacher, she borrowed that for a few years and returned it well used - made me smile knowing that it helped a ton. The version for the older kids should arrive today.

[Janet]

You have a skill for beautiful writing. I was sorry to see the journaling end. I wanted to finish reading the story.

Thanks, Cheryl, I'll definitely keep posting more. :)

[Janet]

It doesn't matter where you live - even in the city, Nature still surrounds you. You have parks, and trees, and weather - the book Keeping a Nature Journal shows great examples of how to do this - even if you're confined to a bed, you can still draw and record what you see out the window.

They also point out that how is your house any different, really, than a bird's nest - it takes items from nature to create it. Wood beams, 2x4s, rock that helped to create drywall, etc. It gives you a whole different perspective on it.

[Janet]

Here's another one done with a scan of a page from my handwritten journal showing one of my sketch attempts - it doesn't look too bad to me now. Like how the layout came out.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/JW-Nature-Journal-8-3-09web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=333197)

[idtwinmom]

Janet, another gorgeous LO, but most of all I'm really impressed with your drawing! It's amazing!

[shazzt]

You are so talented Janet - what great drawings :)

[Janet]

LOL - I'm blushing! Honestly, I toss out more practice sheets than I actually jump in on my handwritten journal. I've also been doing some practice with my Wacom Tablet - not good enough yet on that to show, but I'm sure it'll come with practice. :) Pretty much most of my skills have come from all of those books. But especially Drawing with Children which really got me going years ago - and the Drawing for Older Children and Teens just came. :)

Another blog I follow is My Fiddlestix (http://myfiddlestix.blogspot.com/). She's a contributor on the other one, but she's also capturing those everyday scrapping type moments and recording them another way.

[Cheryl B.]

Ok, I'm inspired! I'm getting my granddaughters a nature journal and starting them on their own nature journey. I'm letting them see your work, so they'll see how fun and interesting this can be. Thanks for sharing your lovely work, and for all the ideas!

[Janet]

I started reading Mona Brooks' second book last night and am SOOOO jazzed! That one is the next level - or for adults and older kids who have a good grasp on the basics. The first book takes the basics a bit slower and is perfect if you're really not sure about this, or have younger kids - it works with kids as young as 2 or 3 - old enough to take some direction and hold something to draw with.

Looking through my photos this morning - I can see where the ones I've taken to capture details will work for some of the drawings I have in mind - and others will work better as a more traditional scrapbook page. SO fun to find a groove that fits like a glove!

[Janet]

Here's a layout I did this morning - this one works better with the photo rather than trying to capture the feeling of being there with a sketch - though at some point I might play around with this with watercolors and see what happens. That's the fun of having all those nature photos - virtually an endless supply to work with in the middle of winter or whenever I just want to play around with sketching. Or, I can just do a full digital nature journal page.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/JW-Nature-Journal-8-13-09inYNPweb.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=333328)

[Janet]

Worked on another sketch last night - I still have to quiet that inner critic to do these, but it's getting easier. This was done from photos I took at the end of July with the intent of sketching them later on.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/thumbs/JW-Nature-Journal-8-31-09woodnymph-web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=333879)

[Janet]

Wow - having this Nature Journal format really frees me to create with all the various photos I've taken and notes I've scribbled. Got another one done:

AUGUST 4, 2009
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/thumbs/JW-Nature-Journal-8-4-09-web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=334065)

[Cheryl B.]

Janet, I am so enjoying this thread...and learning so much. I love how you are combining modern techniques, digital kits and photos with handwritten sketches and journaling. Just so beautiful! I'm looking forward to more.

[Muma]

First time that I have caught this thread.
Absolutely love nature photography and used to do quiet a lot of it in the 90s back in England. Lost most of the photos when a box was misplaced and never recovered in the move over to the USA and its been hard to get back into it. Your wonderful pages are very inspiring though and I love the thought of a nature journal. Will have to take some time and visit the links you gave.

The only page I have created that comes anywhere near nature journaling was one taken from the point of view of the wind. My DD was playing in the garden and a breeze came through. She stop and just stood there for a few moments with her arm outstretched as if she was taunting the wind to play. The LO itself is of my DD so maybe not very nature journal material but the journaling might be.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/../gallery/data/7163/thumbs/Summer-600.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/../gallery/showphoto.php?photo=302809&ppuser=87478)
Summer (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/../gallery/showphoto.php?photo=302809&cat=500&ppuser=87478)

[Janet]

Muma - that is AMAZING!!!!!!!!! Of course it fits here!!!!! :)

Any observation of nature counts. From sweeping landscapes out in the middle of nowhere to dandelions living in a crack in a sidewalk in the middle of the city. Nature reaches out to us everywhere and taking 10 min to just connect with it refreshes and restores (or at least that's what I find).

I'm about half way through Mona Brooks' second book and I LOVE it - she really makes drawing seem so reachable by anyone. Just finished the part on examples from students and styles and it's so inspiring!

I'll also share some of my doodles and quick gesture sketches - they are FAR from perfect, but I can see where getting comfortable with the imperfections is just part of the path to regaining my drawing ability. Most of it is just learning to 'see' and the imperfections tell me what I'm focusing on, and often exaggerating.

[Janet]

Another quick page done:

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/thumbs/JW-Nature-Journal-9-17-09-web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=334286)

[shazzt]

These are so beautiful Janet

[Muma]

Thanks Janet for the encouragement .... it has been so hard to get back into it as I often think of the photos I had. Especially the ones of my vacation to Iceland. I took 100s of photos and actually came out with a pretty decent book. But if I never get back into it look at what I will miss .... so with your inspiration I am going to take some photos of the local trees turning their autumn colours this week.

[Greenfingers]

Just when I decided to give up on 365, you've come up with a brilliant idea:) this really interests me. I don't think I have quite got the stamina to start doing 365 again, but I will certainly try to do some nature LOs.

[Janet]

You can shift and change it to suit how you're working - once a week nature journal, just as you notice things. NO pressure to do anything any one particular way. :)

I do try to get out daily to take some type of nature photos - documenting the changes, but if I miss a day, I don't sweat it - just jump in again the next day. If I don't DO anything with those photos for awhile, that's OK, too. They're there when I'm ready.

[Lauri]

You have done some amazing pages Janet!! I find I take so many more nature photos than any other while doing a PAD, this is a great way to showcase my favorites!! Thanks for the inspiration!

[Marilyng]

Good Morning,
Thank you CherylB for your nice comments on my nature photos & for telling me about this link.I love anything to do with nature.What a beautiful photo Janet.We need some nature icons don't you think,lol.
Marilyng

[Cheryl B.]

Janet said that looking around and noticing nature was the first step in making a nature journal page, and I decided that I wanted join in here. Today was easy to notice...it was the last day of summer and IT SNOWED! I thought that would be a good start to my nature journaling.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/500/thumbs/LastDayofSummer_Web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=334539&ppuser=21059)

Last Day of Summer (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=334539&ppuser=21059)

[kim]

This is a really cool idea!! Janet, those pages are beeeeaauuuutiful!

[Janet]

Nature Journaling gives you a way to look at the world around you - and gives you a way to deliberately connect with nature. For some of us, we've done it all our lives it seems. If you've not tried something like this, jump in. :) If you find yourself taking photos of plants, grasses, your garden, and such - you're probably doing this without really realizing it. Nature journaling encompasses the curiosity that arises - "What IS that plant/bird/flower/etc?"

I'm armed with my camera and stacks of reference books (bird books, flower books, weed books, geology/rock books, and if I can't find info there, I search online for it). I want to know what bird that is, or the name of a flower I don't already know. Or I look up the ones I do know to see what else I can learn about it. I love seeing the changes that occur. If I find myself stressed over anything, I grab the macro lens and head outside. Within moments, I'm lost in a whole world that lives in that small space - often I don't need to go farther than 100 feet from the house. The stress disappears somehow.

I do live in a beautiful place, but nature really exists everywhere - so no matter where I am, I observe. All of it qualifies. I do try to write down a few notes each day, or take a photo of things to remind me - just now I ran upstairs to take a photo of the Sangre de Christo mountains we look out on - they disappear in summer with no snow, and this morning they stand out clothed in the snow we received yesterday. Anything that catches your eye counts. Grass growing in the cracks in a sidewalk, the roots of a tree along the ground, things in your garden, squirrels, birds at a feeder, a walk in a park, how the sky looks today. All of it counts.

Traditional Nature Journals are done with sketches and drawings done by hand. Some are created from photos used as a reference. I'm working to add that, honoring my desire to draw, but it can also be done with photos and blend well with a type of digital scrapbooking. One of the hallmarks of Nature Journals is to add in the date and location of the observation - and all the 365 products in the store really lend themselves to that. So, on my nature journal pages, you'll find I add that in somewhere.

Some folks focus their journals on just a subject - weather, birds that visit their house/bird feeder, or the flowers and plants in a certain area. Others of us just journal whatever we notice.

Personally, I'm adding the nature journaling pages to my 3-ring binder - right along with all the other pages. Observing nature is a part of who I am and makes up a good chunk of our life. I've not thought of it as "real scrapbooking" before, which now seems silly, but it's something I think a lot of us do.

Share what you observe and see - I'd love to see what's happening in your part of this great world - what your observations are. :)

[Leea]

Beautiful layouts Janet :) thanks for sharing them so we can see the beauty of the world where you are :)
I take lots of nature photos...flowers, trees, grass, butterflies, flowers, sky, clouds, flowers :)
It seems like it's just best to take the camera with me when I go outside, because so often I run back in the house to get the camera, because there's something I just have to get several photos of :)
The pond in our pasture has been a new picture taking location for me...I've taken dozens of photos of baby catfish going after the food we toss them (catfish food and dog food, I've done a layout in SNL of one of our dogs going after the dog food in the pond too... lol...Niki probably thinks we're just making it fun for her to chase after the dog food floating here and there)
Here's the first of my planned Nature Journaling layouts...I've done several nature layouts, but tend not to journal very much, will work on that :)
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/../gallery/data/500/thumbs/September_Evening_LAH.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/../gallery/showphoto.php?photo=334854&ppuser=110260)
September Evening lah (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/../gallery/showphoto.php?photo=334854&ppuser=110260)

Do we post more layouts here? I'd like to follow along with the Nature Journaling but not sure if layout links are posted here, or do we just post in our own gallery :) Thanks for the inspiration :)

[Greenfingers]

Here is one from me from our trip out today
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=334911&nocache=1

[Janet]

Hi all - been away for a few days (really fun business trip - hard to call it 'work'). Had a hard time getting to the internet, so gave up.

Leea - YES, post your nature journaling pages here. :) I want to see what all you're doing and what you focus on in your neck of the woods. Don't worry about doing in depth journaling - just do what works for you. :)

[CindyT]

Summers are to busy to scrap. Thought I would give this a try and it might be a nice way to get started again! Here are 2 tries from me!


http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/500/thumbs/sunset_new-dsp.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=335430&ppuser=51315)


http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=335430&ppuser=51315

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/500/thumbs/turkeys_in_fog-dsp.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=335431&ppuser=51315)

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=335431&ppuser=51315

[Janet]

Theses are wonderful, Cindy! Summers ARE busy - I have a ton of page ideas lurking in my stash of photos and notes that I hope to get to when things slow a bit more.

[Cheryl B.]

I thought this might fit nature journaling. I'm just learning how to nature journal, but I love the idea of documenting the beauty of nature around us.

Colorado Autumn (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=337429&ppuser=21059)
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7252/thumbs/COAutumn02-10-09web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=337429&ppuser=21059)

[Janet]

Absolutely it fits, Cheryl! I need to carve out some time to work on a few more pages - wow - October has hit with LOTS to do - all good and all fun - but LOTS.

[Janet]

Finally carved out a little over an hour to crank out another Nature Journaling Page from my quick August trip to Yellowstone. This one's about a hillside I've noticed for a few years now, and on this trip I finally decided to stop and take a closer look.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/thumbs/JW-Nature-Journal-8-14-09-Hillside-web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=337894&ppuser=69)

[Janet]

Another one done from last summer - I tried this one as a double page 8.5x11 - will split it for printing and I'll see how I like it. Found the photo while processing images for stock and fine art prints.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/thumbs/Nature-Journal-7-31-09-web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=338174)

[Janet]

Another one done :)

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/thumbs/Nature_Journal_7-17-09-web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=339561&nocache=1)

[Cheryl B.]

I thought I would post a new layout I made in this thread since it is Janet who inspires me to try digital nature journaling. Her layouts are just breathtaking. I'm still learning, but I love documenting my part of the world.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/3403/thumbs/WinterWeb1.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=340198)
Winter Wonderland (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=340198)

[Janet]

So glad you posted this here, too! I get inspired seeing how others scrap the nature surrounding them.

Did you grow up in Colorado too? I grew up in Ft. Collins and ALL of our Halloween costumes had to accommodate down coats and hiking boots - not very many girls braved the cold as a princess in those days! LOL More White Halloweens than White Christmases on the front range over the years.

[Cheryl B.]

I did grow up in Colorado. In fact, my family has been in this area (outside Colorado Springs) since they immigrated from Ireland in 1865. We just all stayed here. :) And yes, my halloween costumes were always around coats, too! I still think we're due for a really hard winter.

[CindyT]

Another one.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/500/thumbs/penn_park2-dsp.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=340621&ppuser=51315)
Peninsula overlook pag... (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=340621&ppuser=51315)

[Janet]

Another sketch done and then scrapped digitally - LOVE this combination!

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/thumbs/JW_Nature_Journal_11-1-09-web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=340665)

[pixeldance]

Janet, your work is so beautiful and inspirational.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/7040/thumbs/GeraniumPyrenaicumOrbWeaver111109_web.jpg (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=341329&ppuser=149945)