Nature Journaling
Nita writing in her journal
Journaling by the lake
from Nature Journaling by Clare Walker Leslie & Charles E. Roth
I. Basic Information:
Name Time
Date Weather
Place
II. First Impressions: Jot down a list. Try closing your eyes too.
I see I smell
I hear I touch
III. Begin Drawing:
Ground observations – sitting or lying down
• Get close to each object (leaf, flower, insect, rock, or other)
• Try to sketch it actual size
• Draw two or three objects and then move on.
• Label each item and give approximate measurements. Indicate colors.
Eye-level observations – standing or walking around
• Draw what comes into view (leaves, shrubs, plants, low nests, birds, insects)
• Label the object and describe what it’s doing or is part of.
• Don’t worry about being realistic or exact.
Overhead observations – looking up
• Choose a tree to draw or the sky
• Record any objects passing by.
• Write some words about what you’re seeing makes you feel or reminds you of.
Whole Landscape Observations – take a snapshot
• Divide the landscape into basic shapes and label what you see.
• Keep shapes simple
“Seeing and drawing can become SEEING/DRAWING… No longer do I ‘look’ at a leaf, but enter into direct contact with its life.” –Frederick Franck, The Zen of Seeing
