Art and Nature Journaling

Nature study is something we started early in our home education journey. We weren't very systematic, but we loved watching and identifying birds, noting the changes of the seasons, and attempting to identify flowers, trees and other natural wonders. But, I was sorely lacking in any ability to draw, and that always kept me from regular nature journaling.

Two years ago, at a home education conference, I met Barry and Saundra Stebbing of How Great Thou ART Publications. The curriculum hall was packed with people and all I could hear was the constant barrage of promises of the Perfect Curriculum. I was finding it all to be suffocating. As we stopped at the How Great Thou ART booth, I found my way to the corner. On the table were a few of Barry's art journals and I opened the front of one book, Farm Journal IV, and found myself swept away. Starting with a photo of Barry and his dog, and moving through the sketches, writing and painting that filled the pages, I was transported by the reflection and the beauty. I had to be pulled away from the journal, but only after confirming that Barry and Saundra would be teaching art classes in our community in the next month. Four of my children and I joined the class, and we learned a bundle in three days. Barry is an old-fashioned teacher and is very no-nonsense in his approach. He encourages drawing lines, ellipses, and circles (over and over and over again.) We loved the class.

Since then, I have adopted Barry and Saundra as my personal journaling mentors. I have used Barry's book, The Student's Guide to Keeping an Art Journal for guidance, and his curriculum at How Great Thou Art to learn drawing basics. The Stebbings will be in our area again this year, and all five children will join me for the class. We are looking forward to it.

Why art journal? The biggest advantage I have found is what it has done to my ability to notice and really see what is around me. This skill is invaluable to any relationship (especially with children) and helps with attitude adjustments on a regular basis. In the summer, when the hot weather is tempting me to become a cranky beast, I can still find things to draw. Whether a flower, the color of a vegetable leaf or the changing leaves of the oak trees, I can find pleasure, even in the summer heat. I am amazed at what I learn by sketching my children. I see the shape of their face, the bruise on their shin, the flood pants (when did he grow so tall?), Daddy's blue eyes in a little girl's face, or the gaps that are still in my son's mouth. It makes me stop -- and see. I try and draw and write something each week, and I have every intention of finishing a whole journal...eventually.

Some other recommendations:

For nature specifically, I highly recommend Nature Journaling: Learning to Observe and Connect with the World Around You, by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles Edmund Roth. Topics include: Getting started (with a sampling of journal styles), journaling through the seasons, and learning and teaching nature journaling. I like to see the different styles of the two authors -- it reminds me that part of the charm of an art journal is that each person is unique. Quotes: "Why do people keep journals? Well, we just do. Some people keep track reading the daily newspaper. Some keep track with the evening news. Some call their neighbors, or chat at work. I keep my place by putting my connection on paper." "The natural urge to ask questions, look for connections among observations, and reflect on what you saw and what was in your mind at an earlier point takes the journal to another level. Recognizing patterns in your observations can lead to a better understanding of the world around you." Hmmm, sounds like why we blog, too.

For sketching of the human figure, I recommend the human body model that is pictured above. It helps you see the proportions without the distractions of personal features. I sketch this little wooden model often, especially since it can be put in many different poses (MANY different poses. Trust me!)

My final book recommendation is one of the favorite things I have gleaned from Mental Multivitamin. The Art of Making and Using Sketches (G. Fraipont) is a little volume of advice (and sketches, of course) for the budding artist in all of us. It was written sometime in the 1800's, but my copy has no date. This quote set me on the search to find a copy (and it will be a search, if you are interested): "The art of making a sketch is, in fact, the art of recording by a few strokes of the pencil or touches of the pen the remembrance of a thing we have seen, or the impression of a scene we have imagined." Another quote: "Numerous as are the subjects which the vegetable world has yielded, and will yet yield, to the painter or sculptor, the mine will never be worked out, for Nature is so lavish to artists as to renew perpetually the documents she so freely bestows on them, and so generous as to be ever ready to lend fruition to their enthusiasm...In the country, wherever your road leads you, over whatever ground, you will come upon ten, twenty, a hundred, subjects to sketch for foreground; the least blade of grass, the humblest trail of foliage, is a joy to draw." Oooh, I love this little book. As one who is still reading about the Napoleonic Wars, I laughed at this opening line in the preface: That this little book is from the hand of a French artist will make it none the less acceptable to English students." It is most certainly acceptable to this American student.

My final words of advice: Just give it a try. Drawing is a discipline, and if you want to learn to draw, you do have to draw (duh, right?) Practice, don't give up, and do a little each week. It can bring you some joy, and eventually it can be a volume filled with your own work. Priceless.