Outdoor Journaling
By Amy Grisak
Putting a pen or pencil to paper is an endearing method to remember what we see and experience during outdoor outings. Nature journaling is a good way to embed these details and memories, particularly when accompanied by notes to elaborate upon the adventure, even if it's an evening in your backyard.
Recording the world around us has existed long before quill and ink. Consider the cave paintings and petroglyphs of tens of thousands of years ago, along with written texts from Mesopotamia and Egypt that describe the flowers and wildlife of the era. It's in our DNA to keep a record of what we see.
Today, it is so much easier to record our thoughts and observations. We can tuck a sketchbook in our pack and bring along a simple pencil or even colored or watercolor pencils, allowing us to express our creativity from a simple sketch to a more detailed drawing.
In our outdoor workshop on June 14, we'll meet at Nilan Reservoir, and after discussing a few of the techniques of nature journaling, we'll spread out to choose our seats and draw whatever catches our eyes. This might be the shiny mountains of the Rocky Mountain Front, the curve of the rocks in the bay, or a delicate summer flower. Then we'll come back together to share what we see — and hear — to experience a place many of us have possibly visited many times on a deeper level. And to take home a remembrance of the peaceful time spent in our beautiful landscape.
Nature journaling is a way to interact with the natural world in our own way. There is no right or wrong way to create your pages. Think of the journals from Lewis and Clark. Both captains sketched leaves, ducks, or fish between lines of text to illustrate the story. Draw whatever makes you best remember the place or experience.
So join us on June 14. We'll provide the materials, Mother Nature provides the subject, and we'll all support each other as we try a new way to capture our natural world.
Register for SRWG’s journaling workshop HERE.
Nilan Reservoir, Montana
