Creative Nature Journaling Course: Week One Only (Recorded from a live workshop)

Creative Nature Journaling
This is Lesson 1 of a 5-part Course (recorded from live online lessons)

Regain your curiosity and wonder at the natural world through drawing and painting in this inspiring 5-week course that will teach you how to create and use a creative nature journal.

Keeping a sketchbook (in some form) is vital to artists or those learning to draw. This course will expand on the practice of drawing regularly, ‘putting in your pencil miles’ through observational drawing as well as encouraging you to think outside the box in how a sketchbook or nature journal can be used.

Your Tutor, Bethany Y Milam will guide you through making and/or adapting a book to use as a Journal, personalising it to suit your needs, style and goals. Creating foldouts, overlays, pockets, flaps, using toned paper, collage, or painted pages.

There will be step by step demonstrations of drawing activities and various techniques for adding your observations into your journal. We will explore ways of using tonal paper and other backgrounds, mapping a walk or place, creating a calendar, using printmaking, collage, rubbings and found materials. We will also explore ways of combining words and pictures through illustrating a poem, adding written observations and annotations as well as how you might use sketchbook to develop finished paintings. There will be suggested homework tasks giving each week to be done out in nature or from direct observation.

Suitable for all abilities including beginners. Keeping a nature journal or sketchbook of observations is a fun and creative way of learning, collecting and organizing your observations and thoughts, you do not need to be an artist or naturalist to enjoy this course.

What you will gain from the course:
• Get more from your sketchbooks, Journals and study pages through making or adapting a book to suit you and by regular drawing.
• Improve your drawing skills and learn various exercises for observational drawing.
• Increase your creativity and use of different media.
• Be curious and slow down, pay attention and experience wonder at the natural world.
• Spend time in nature, nurturing your sense of connectedness, wellbeing and calm.
• Have fun!

Course content: Inspiring video tutorials each approximately 2 hours long (recorded from a live online lesson), course plan and materials lists, presentation slides/reference images, extensive useful links/further reading list, and example journal pages.

If you have purchased additional one-to-one feedback on your work (via email) please send one email after completing the lesson with pictures of your work, areas you would like feedback on in particular, your aims/goals/interests, etc. You will receive personalised one-to-one feedback via email, with points to improve, constructive help and suggestions, and ideas to explore further. Limited to 5 feedback emails per purchase. Please only send 1 email after the completion of each lesson (if you need to send multiple emails because of attaching larger pictures, please state this in the first email and mark them as part 1, part 2, etc.) Replies will be sent out within 7 days.

Week 1: Getting started, making books and basic drawing exercises.

What is Nature Journaling and why keep a Nature journal?

What is a Nature Journal? (Plus, Sketchbooks and Study pages)

A look at different Journal formats and how the way you use your journal will influence the type of book you might choose.

Activity: Making or adapting your own book

Activity: Adding fold outs, pockets, overlays, different papers.

What to put in your journal; using pictures words and numbers and I notice…, I wonder…, it reminds me of…

Observational Drawing Basics

Activity: Blind contour of natural object

Activity: Modified contour of natural object

Activity: Boundary box and negative shapes of leaf or natural object

Activity: Constructed drawings of natural objects

Activity: Gesture drawings of animals from photos