Even before 2020 I was becoming disillusioned with the increasingly pixel-perfect, world of nature photography and some of the practices I witnessed there. So when the pandemic lockdown struck, I decided to go back to my naturalist roots and find new ways to express my love of and curiosity about nature in analogue format.
Ticking off a list of birds isn't my thing so I challenged myself to learn to draw from scratch so that I could document my nature observations more visually. This was a tall order - I have never been artistically gifted and my drawing skills were strictly stick man grade. There was no budding artist in me waiting to emerge. During some online research I stumbled across a Facebook group about “nature journalling” and bingo! I never looked back.
What is Nature Journalling?
At it's simplest nature journaling is about connecting with nature through observation, and capturing your insights on paper. It builds on the long-held tradition of naturalists keeping a field book or diary to record their notes and blends that practice with art and data visualisation to create a creative, insightful and relaxing hobby. It sits at the intersection of nature recording, writer's diary keeping and art journals.
Nature journaling as a hobby was re-imagined by lauded American nature artist John Muir Laws, who coined the three “Lawsian prompts” to encourage observing nature, being curios and sparking creativity:
“I notice...
I wonder...
It reminds me of...."
Due to its broad appeal, the hobby concept took off and has rapidly expanded to the UK and rest of the world. The great thing about nature journaling, as opposed to creating regular artwork or art diaries, is that the aesthetic quality doesn't matter at all, the focus can be placed squarely on experiencing nature itself not artistic achievement. For me it's about that connection to nature, through observation and using visual representation, embracing imperfection, to develop curiosity and to learn as well as to enjoy being present, flow and mindfulness.
It's the perfect outlet if like me you feel you are creative but not artistically inclined or, ahem, talented. You can nature journal even if your drawing standard is stickman diagrams and tally sticks. Messy entries, like muddy boots, are a sign of time we'll spent!
Nature jounalling lands squarely in the middle of nature observation logs, written diary keeping and sketch or art journals. Some people coming to the hobby from art emphasise drawing or painting while others prefer a combination of words (notes, bullet lists, counts prose or poetry) and diagrams, photos, maps or a even varied mix of everything. Some people like to journal or sketch real time in the field, while others use reference sources or photos - its whatever works for you. It's a very flexible creative hobby that is accessible to almost anyone.
I've had a few stops and start attempts at getting a nature journalling practice going, trying to find a rhythm and style that works for me as a less artistically capable journaller. From now on I'll increasingly share the fun I've had during my imperfect attempts at journaling my garden observations as well as my photographic highlights.
