1st June 2022
Appreciation
Welcome to the first day of International Nature Journaling Week 2022!
Today we are focusing on appreciating our nearby nature, finding beauty and wonder in the simple things and gratitude for the nature journaling community we have around us.
Live events
We are having TWO events to start the week! You can use a timezone converter to find the session that works best for your area.
***Please Note: The first Appreciation Party will be on 31st May for those in North America.
Appreciation Party! (one)
1st June 2022, 9 AM - 11 AM (Aest)
31st May 2022, 4 PM - 6 pm (Pacific)
Appreciation Party! (two)
1st June 2022, 8 PM - 10 pm (Aest)
1st June 2022, 11 AM - 1 pm (London)
Today Tim Pond will join us with a pre-recorded video on sketching a subject that you might find in your home or in a city botanic garden: A cactus!
Let’s Sketch a Cactus - with Tim Pond
Cactus can at first appear as an intimidating subject. The real challenge is to see through all the visual complexities to get to the main underlying structure. In a sense cactuses can be quite an unforgiving subject in getting their proportions right and won’t look instantly wrong, such as a face if the proportions are a little bit out. Take part in this step by step tutorial to create a barrel and a bunny ears cactus.
Tim’s new book, Watercolour The Natural World is launched this week! See Tim’s website for more details.
Nature journaling in Senegal
We would like to take a moment to share appreciation for the donations that were made last year for International Nature Journaling Week. The money that was left over after expenses was donated to help to buy nature journaling kits to take to Senegal for this wonderful project. Rafa Benjumea and Blanca Pérez shared the video they made during the workshops in Senegal:
Nature journaling prompts and ideas
If you can’t get outside you can appreciate nature inside your own home by looking at everyday things in a new way. Join John Muir Laws and Fiona Gillogly on a Refrigerator Safari, or spend some time journaling the plants you share your home with. Listen to this podcast, or this one, to hear how there’s so much to appreciate about our houseplants.
Remember to look down at the ground – soil connects us all! This unforgettable TED Talk inspires us to learn to love the beauty beneath the ground that we all stand on. Across the world, we are united in our shared dependence on soil. Some people create paints out of soil, like this soil scientist. Do you know what kind of soil supports the areas you nature journal in? Discover the amazing world of soils through Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History with interactive games, videos and educational activities.
Remember to look up at the sky - it’s part of nature! Enjoy living in the moment and noticing nature’s beauty from storms to sunsets. This lovely blog post will inspire you to appreciate this part of nature that’s always with you. For tips on nature journaling skies from fellow sky watchers you can join the Skyscapito Appreciation Society
The Beauty of Winter Weeds. Enjoy the magic of the plant world’s neutral grays and warm browns in the “off-season”.
Nature is all around us, even when we’re in a city. If you live in an urban area you may want to try one of these ideas for discovering and appreciating your local nature from the National Geographic Society. Listen to this conversation with the author of Nature Obscura to learn how she has discovered a hidden world of biodiversity in her city, or this conversation about finding wildness in Berlin.
Artist Patricia Larenas finds beauty and solace in drawing the trees around her. Read Patricia’s blog post “Why I draw trees”.