— Field Arts & Science —

Keeping a nature journal or field journal can both deepen your connections to the natural world and help you learn more about it. Neither science education nor art training is needed—you will develop the skills of a naturalist and a field sketch-artist along the way.

This 3-session class will introduce the tools and processes of keeping a nature journal, with instructor Roseann Hanson. There will be an optional 1-hour check-in as well.

“Your observations, questions, and reflections will enrich your experiences and develop gratitude, reverence, and the skills of a naturalist . . . If you train your mind to see deeply and with intentional curiosity . . . the world will open before you.” - John Muir Laws, artist, naturalist, and author

In this class we will learn how to practice “intentional curiosity” as the core of nature journaling: to ask questions, to dig deeper, to focus our minds both intently and intentionally.

The class includes:

• The nuts-and-bolts of journal-keeping (paper and ink types, archival systems, how to make entries that you can refer to later, laying out pages, prompts to jump-start observations, and tips on researching science questions sparked by your observations).

• Easy tips that enable anyone to get started sketching and painting. Roseann will help free you from your inner critic and start sketching and painting. Art in a nature journal is not only lovely to see, but an important component of your skillset because the very act of drawing and painting something from life involves incredibly intense observation. Your brain is wholly occupied by only that thing you are observing and drawing—it is a kind of meditation that results in new insights, deeper understanding, and even reverence and gratitude.

• Optional supplies package and book add-ons, see below.

Instructor Roseann Hanson, who has been keeping a nature journal for more than 30 years, will be your guide on the journey to becoming a naturalist, nature journalist, and artist. 

Optional supplies: Students may purchase Roseann’s book, Nature Journaling for a Wild Life , which includes blank journaling pages, and Minimalist Paint Kit and other supplies prior to the class.

Downloads:

[DOWNLOAD THE FOLDER WITH ALL FILES BELOW (ZIP FILE)]

Nature Journaling Class - Supplies and Reading July 2020 PDF

Leaf Nomenclature for Saturday’s practice

Keep It Simple: Big Shapes, Little Dots PDF

Weather Symbols

Clouds of the Troposphere JPG

Color Wheel Practice Page PDF (print on 8 1 /2 x 11 90 pound watercolor paper)

Sketching Tips PDF

Students’ pages from the class:

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Highlights from Instagram