Nature Journaling – Page 3 – Handcrafted Books by Michele Olsen

Landscapitos

I remember drawing my first landscapito. It was a revelation. In 2010 I participated in several days of an Urban Sketchers Conference in Portland, Oregon. I had taken my first (ever) drawing class the year after I retired and the conference welcomed beginners. That was me. I found myself overwhelmed with too much visual information and unable to decide what to put on the page. On the last day the great sketcher-journalist Gabi Campinario encouraged me to draw a scene in a small box instead of using the entire page. Amazing. That small (2″x 2″) drawing taught me that, yes, I could draw if only I had to eliminate a lot of details and just see the basic structures. It was fun and far less threatening.

Portland, Oregon (2″ x 2″)

Landscapitos should be smaller than 5″ x 7″. Mine are generally about 3″ x 3″. I draw the rectangle first and use the sides to mark important intersections. The following series of images show steps in the process: 1) Compose scene – in this case with camera 2) Determine foreground, middle ground, and background 3) Draw

In nature journaling landscapitos have a number of advantages. They can be drawn and painted quickly enabling you to keep up with your hiking buddies. They document places that captured your attention and build memories of the experience – your mind will fill in the rest of the details. In general try to include 3 regions with darker regions in the foreground and the lightest in the background. Marley Peifer provides instruction and a video if you want to explore!

Mt. Everest (1.5″ x 1.5″)

Troncones, Mexico (3″ x 3″)
Gobi Desert, Mongolia (5″ x 7″)

Mt. Lassic, California (2″ x 2″)

February 16, 2021/0 Comments/by Michele

Nature Journaling

MetaData on the North Coast

Meta-data provides the setting and conditions for any journal entry. I included temperatures (yes – I was not in Humboldt County), wind, humidity, forecast. I used symbols that came from the Weather app on my phone (weather.com). I really like the visuals for the data. In future I will move the date from the bottom of the page where I have always put it – until learning about metadata symbols. It turns out in this journal entry the weather is the big news – I was shocked to see box elder bugs on the side of the cabin in such cold weather. Hundreds will gather over the siding in the Fall. They are colorful and I find them much more pleasant than what locals call Asian Beetles – they bite.

Name a field of science and there will be a collection of symbols to go along with the discipline. The chart below can be printed from: https://www.nj.gov/dep/seeds/wssym.htm

Are there any that you might adopt?

In Humboldt we might want to add symbols referring to tide times. I like the wind data symbols and will think about a way to adapt the oscillating graph to my journal page. These can be located: https://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Samoa-Humboldt-Bay-California/tides/latest

There are some very interesting demonstrations of metadata on the following websites:

Christine Mauser: https://www.naturemeuse.com/journals

Roseanne Hanson: https://www.exploringoverland.com/field-arts-tutorials-list/2020/7/5/nature-journal-page-flow

Fiona Gillogly: https://www.fionasongbird.com/naturejournal.html

February 2, 2021/0 Comments/by Michele

Nature Journaling

Lettering

Of course, nature journals require some handwriting. This is a place for calligraphers to jump in and dress up the page. However, there is much that can be done to make your page more interesting without a lot of fuss. I find that I print in my journals rather than using longhand; I like titles to be a different size, font, and color. John Muir Laws, an organizer of the Wide Wonder Journaling Conference 2020 uses bullets, titles in boxes, colored letters, and letters that feature artwork. This long video on his website features Bev Brady teaching lettering. She is a graphic artist for Trader Joe’s (and I do love their store signs). Her workshop at WWNJC included block lettering which I really enjoyed.

I like to print using architect’s handwriting as described by the urban sketcher and instructor Liz Steel.

I also like Tombow Dual Brush pens. The ink is water soluble but you an use that to your advantage. This Tombow Lettering Practice pdf is great.

A really easy way to add color and different “fonts” to your page is to use a fountain pen called a Pilot Parallel Pen. It’s actually a calligraphy type of pen but since is it a fountain pen, I can add colored inks. I love the inks carried by Just My Type Letterpress in Eureka and they carry the pens. I like the 1.5mm pen.

Mistakes. I make them. This is the first page of a new journal class from Liz Steel. When I wrote the word “DESIGN” I wrote “DESIN_” and realized I was concentrating on the style of the lettering instead of spelling! So. What to do? I used collage! It’s one of the best techniques for covering an error. I grabbed some red (to match berries) paper and wrote “G” and glued it down. The page didn’t look balanced so I made another red square for “K” even thought that was not a mistake. I actually think the page looks better with my “mistake”. I believe the plant is a cotoneaster. I drew a black and white image of the vein structure to fill the page with more science!

Here’s to happy mistakes!

January 22, 2021/0 Comments/by Michele

Nature Journaling

Zoom In

A class taught in the by Rosalie Haizlett titled “Tiny Worlds” was my favorite at the WWNJC2020. I am certain it’s because I didn’t need to draw the shape of the object but could concentrate on smaller details that are often overlooked. The circle becomes the shape of the object. I held a canning jar lid over a hackberry leaf, a turkey feather, and some weeds from our little ranch in Central Nebraska. The canning lid previewed the area I wanted to draw and served as the tool I used to draw outlines of the circles in my journal. I found this experience very meditative and was awestruck by the beauty I might have missed.

These circles are about 2.5″ in diameter. I also used smaller circles to identify aspects of a drawing I’ve done in closeup. This mushroom in the Trinidad State Forest had wonderful gills and I used a circle to highlight that outside of the actual drawing. The circle is about 1/2″ in diameter.

I didn’t want to carry a jar lid around in my kit so took a heavy piece of cardboard from a box in recycling and used different punches I have to create holes of different sizes. The card was then cut to size and I can carry it in the back pocket of my journal for use in the field. Of course, these can also be used to create Venn diagrams when comparisons are being made in different subjects. Give it a try! You will like this.

TIP: I also use the closeup features on my iPhone11. I have also discovered that I can take photos with the built-in microscope application. I’ve enjoyed this so much I am considering buying a microscope!

January 20, 2021/0 Comments/by Michele

Nature Journaling, Past Workshops

Nature Journaling Basics

COVID isolation has been a challenge for all of us and I’m sure many of you have been outside more than usual. I’ve been outside so much I’ve been inspired to keep my observations in a journal. On a whim I signed up for a 5 day, 10 hr/day workshop this Fall with the Wild Wonder Natural Journaling Conference. Courses were taught by scientists, artists, poets, and nature advocates. I loved what I learned so much that I want to share some of the ideas with you.

“Nature journaling is a fun way to engage with our environment, sharpen observational skills, learn more about natural history, reduce stress, and give us a stronger sense of place. It encompasses art, the environment, natural history, and writing AND you don’t have to be an expert in these areas to create pages that record your experiences and enhance your connection to the natural world. We will develop a minimalist travel kit, learn simple techniques for developing pages, and explore the world of people who journal. Basic materials, techniques, and ideas will be covered.”

I will be teaching a course through HSU’s Osher Life Long Learning on the basics of nature journaling. It will be on Zoom Tuesday, February 9, from 10am – 12 noon. To view the course and register use this link:

https://extended.humboldt.edu/olli/course/introduction-nature-journaling

I hope you can join us!

January 14, 2021/0 Comments/by Michele

Nature Journaling

Scribble Trees

Kristin Meuser taught a wonderful class titled The Gesture of Trees during the Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference. She called our trees “Scribble Trees”. As in previous classes there was an invitation to wonder what it would be like to be an element of nature. How could we move like a tree? What parts of the tree remind me of myself? What kind of energy does the tree have? Kristin suggests that these observations make their way into your drawings. How would you describe the energy of these two trees on the Arcata Plaza?

Really different aren’t they? To assist us placing this energy on the page Kristen we printed architectural drawings of trees and scribbled the energy we felt right on top of the handout. The two trees that are circled are original and the other trees have been drawn with pencil and watercolor.

I like to include maps on some of my journal pages so architectural renderings of tree tops would come in handy and they have their own kind of energy don’t they? Thanks to my brother-in-law Rod Lamberson – a very fine architect!

Would any of these ideas be helpful in your drawings?

January 14, 2021/0 Comments/by Michele

Nature Journaling

Quick Sketching

I was a fan of Maria Coryell-Martin before I took an online class with her during the Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference in October, 2020. I follow her website Expeditionary Art and have purchased some of my favorite supplies from her store: Art Toolkit. She lives in Port Townsend, Washington so knows the Northwest – although she has traveled and painted around the world. I really hope to get up there and take a workshop from her – in person!

Many of the class activities were warmups to the actual drawing. The truth is, I like some of the warmup drawings more than the final drawing; given too much time I am likely to overwork a drawing. My favorite warmup is the Contour Sketch because the drawings are so animated and quirky. They also suggest the image rather than explicitly defining it. The rule is to draw without picking up the pen from your paper. In blind contour you wouldn’t even look at your drawing. This blind contour drawing of cattails was done at the Arcata Marsh. It’s a favorite; every time I look at it I find myself back at the marsh.

You can also create a contour drawing by looking at your drawing paper only when you change direction. This pinecone was done that way. Contour drawing is good for fairly complicated things where there is little need to draw every detail.

It’s the process of contour drawing that I find so rewarding. It’s very relaxing – like a meditation – with no judgement involved. Time stops and it is just me exploring that pinecone in every possible way. This experience is one of my main reasons for journaling in nature.

I also enjoyed the thumbnail sketches we did. They are often used as a warmup to explore values and layout for your final drawing. I carry very small journals so you might say that I am always drawing thumbnails. These four were done in addition to another technique Maria suggested – timed drawings. Each sketch was done in under 2 minutes – the watercolors were added later. The images are each 1.5″ x 1.5″. Drawing smaller images encourages me to stick to the essential elements of an image. Tracy is my service dog and I got her to sit still for 2 minutes. The skyline is San Diego harbor and and landscapes are from Humboldt County.

Landscapes are fun to draw and Maria suggested forming the foreground, middle-ground, and background. Again, for me it’s easier to do small drawings and this was done on location at the Arcata Marsh. I think I used contour sketching for the poison hemlock. Drawing is about 3″ by 3″.

These techniques are easy for beginning naturalists. I prefer sketching on site rather than from photographs so these techniques really suit my purpose. With Humboldt County weather it is good to sketch quickly before the fog move in or the next rainstorm arrives.

December 23, 2020/0 Comments/by Michele

Nature Journaling

Eye See You

Here’s the thing about nature journaling; it makes me want to spend more time with birds! I am blessed to live near one of the premier birding spots in the U.S.A. – the Arcata Marsh. I’ve been heading down there more frequently and admittedly, my new binoculars have made a huge difference in my ability to actually see the birds. I have always loved the black crowned night herons and they are the perfect bird for those first bird drawings: they sleep during the day, don’t move much for long periods of time, don’t seem to mind people standing nearby, and there are lots of them. I pulled up my binoculars to survey the sleeping masses with their eyes closed and heads tucked down. Then all of a sudden my binoculars came across this bird looking right at me with it’s amazing red eye. I was just overjoyed to have made it’s acquaintance.

December 21, 2020/2 Comments/by Michele

Nature Journaling

Whole Brain Techniques with Christine Elder WWNJC*

This class with Christine Elder was taught on the first day of the *Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference and was perfect for beginners. She had several suggestions that changed the way I approach my journaling: use my journal to explore, use drawings as a tool to understand, and value process over product, These tips were emphasized in most courses. I found them very liberating and I was felt more relaxed with the process. I also discovered that if I am really curious about the object I am drawing then the time I spend drawing, paying attention, and learning was what really matters.

The first exercise involved whole brain techniques that encouraged us to gain confidence and speed. I found the following to be most helpful.

Marsh Wren, photo by Rollie Lamberson

BLOCKING IN involves drawing geometric shapes around the larger parts of the bird. Then each shape can be filled in. Now I can relax – I have the basic shape.

BLOCKING IN

PROPORTIONS requires an imaginary line along the length of the object and then the larger parts of the bird are judged to be ¼, ⅓, ½, etc. parts of the line. I like this to get body proportions recorded correctly.

PROPORTIONS

ALIGNMENT helps with general direction of major parts of the bird. N, S, E, W, SE, NW etc.

ALIGNMENT

FLOW LINES is a technique more like contour drawing. I would use this before ALIGNMENT but it depends on the object!

FLOW LINES

ANGLES. This bird is all about angles and this technique will block them in for you.

ANGLES

When using one of these techniques be sure relax, avoid erasing, and enjoy yourself!

Another part of the workshop involved techniques similar to exercises from Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain written by Betty Edwards – my favorite being drawing things upside down (the object or you!) with the purpose of encouraging you to let go of what you think the object looks like.

Be sure to enjoy the website of Christine Elder. She has wonderful tutorials, online classes, and a great photo of how she draws with the help of a spotting scope!

APPLICATION:

I’m not sure I’ve ever drawn a bird. I like things that don’t move, like buildings. So for now I will be better off if I draw birds from photos. When faced with new things I read Austin Kleon for inspiration. He is an artist and the author. Steal Like an Artist, and Keep Going. I cannot recommend them highly enough. He is an advocate of “quantity not quality” and also states that “copying is how I learn, it’s a way to understand what’s really going on, and drawing is a way of slowing down long enough to really look at something.” So with that advice I started on the outline of the bird. I ended up using Alignment and Blocking-In techniques. I used a Prismacolor Col-Erase pencil as recommended by nature journalist John Muir Laws; the pencil produces a very light color (look carefully at the photo – the light blue lines are there). It erases but you can paint or draw right over it and it won’t show.

Next I used my mechanical pencil – Pentel Click 0.7 lead – to sketch the contour.

Using watercolor, white qouache, and pen I drew this. I came back several times to intensify colors and add some white. Questions came up while I was drawing (Good thing!) I did some online research at The Cornell Lab. I record questions & answers on my page. Due to hearing loss I am unable to hear birds so I especially appreciated finding some links to the song of this little Marsh Wren.

This drawing (and many others I did before settling with this one) changed the way I look at birds AND THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF NATURE JOURNALING!!! I spotted a sparrow in my backyard this morning and was surprised that the head was settled right down into it’s shoulders. It was then that I realized that the Marsh Wren’s head was elevated because it was singing! That stretching must open the airways making it’s chirps more powerful. Stretching also makes him look longer than he would be at rest. Amazing little birds.

December 7, 2020/0 Comments/by Michele

Nature Journaling

My Minimalist Nature Journal Kit

I tend to get carried away with supplies so it’s been a real challenge to come up with the tools that do what I want and remain portable. It also depends on how I’m traveling, how long I will spend in one place, and how remote the site is. I will show you a number of simple configurations that I use.

Every Day Journal

I carry this Moleskin notebook everywhere. Its pages are 3.5” x 5.5” with grids with a bookmark and an elastic strap for closing. I have added a pencil loop for my Pentel Click 0.7 pencil with 2B lead. To-do lists are mixed with drawings. These drawings were done in the car while my husband and I were driving to Sun River, Oregon. We saw the backs of a lot of vehicles. The journal opens flat which is very important. Pages are probably too thin for watercolor but colored pencils would be fun.

Basic Nature Journal

These supplies can be tossed in a small zip bag and carried every day. The Moleskin Journal is in landscape mode with 5.5” x 3.5” pages of watercolor paper. Choose a journal with sewn pages so they will open flat. The covers are hard and provide a nice support when drawing on the open pages. I also use an 8” x 5” journal. The pencil and Sharpie small tip pen (like a Micron) are for outlines and text. The smallest palette I have is metallic and contains Daniel Smith (mostly) colors. I’m experimenting with colors used by Marc Taro Holmes. I like the greens but am not crazy about the yellow. Did you know you can make your own palette with Altoid tins? Check out this John Muir Laws palette. The water brush makes using watercolor easy because no extra water is carried.

Enhanced Basic Journal

I have added two Rosemary travel brushes – a dagger and a round. The little water bottle is Nalgene and does not leak. I use very little water when painting because I wipe the excess paint or water on a rag (in this case the top of an old sock of my husband’s that I wear on my non-painting wrist). Then I dip the brush and flip off the excess – called Dip & Flip. I don’t always like using the water brush because I have little control of the water but always bring it in case I want to presoak the paper.

Art Kit

Except for the water bottle, all of the materials in the previous photo fit into this art kit by Maria Coryell-Martin at Art Toolkit. In the pocket behind the brushes on the left I inserted a watercolor sampler card for the palette, a piece of watercolor paper to test colors, and tracing paper to assist me when I looking at placement of items on the page. I also carry a slide with green plastic – helpful for determine values in the landscape.

Optional

These items are bulkier but easily carried in my pocket, around my neck, and over my shoulder. Sometimes I stand to journal but it’s nice to have this little three-legged stool so I can sit, especially if the object is low to the ground. I just got these Pentax binoculars and they are perfect for journaling (my eyes aren’t great) and they are light enough to carry around my neck without cutting off my circulation. My phone – aaaah – my most helpful tool! I usually take a photo of what I’m drawing for later reference. However, I also use the app iNaturalist to learn more about the items I am drawing: birds, plants, insects, amphibians, etc. The California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic collaborated in creating the app. It has identified (by viewing my photo) almost everything I’ve added, including the Hackberry Nipplegall Psyllid. Haha. Another bonus with the phone – it has a magnifier, map apps, weather apps, and GPS.

So, there you have it. Almost. But the additional items can wait for a later post. For now I just want to Lighten Up.

November 26, 2020/2 Comments/by Michele