We, nature journalers, all have something in common: our love from nature! And mine came from my parents. They both love nature and introduced me to it from a very young age. In addition to that, until the age of 7 we lived in a house in the middle of the woods, so I really did have a lot of contact with nature from a young age.
Both my mother and my father kept nature journals (my father more about biology and my mother about geology) which inspired me to start my own for the first time (when I was 7 was years old). But that didn't really work out.
My father’s nature journal
My mother’s nature journal
When I was 13, I tried it again and that time it went a lot better! But in the end it also didn't work out because I had one main problem: I was trying to make a perfectly beautiful nature journal that looked like a book. I would search for all the information that went into my journal, draw perfectly, etc. And even though it looked beautiful and I loved it, it led to a very small number of entries and to a huge fear of writing and drawing on the pages.
My first nature journal - age 7
My second nature journal - age 13
Now we get to the nature journal I have currently (at the age of 17). I simply love how it is turning out and the way it is working! It took a lot of trial and error (as you can see on this post) but I think I finally found my style and the way it works best for me. I have been doing a lot of entries on it and I'm really proud of the way it is turning out.
My current nature journal - age 17
These are the main things that I learned from my expirience and use in my current nature journal that I think make a huge difference (and also some personal tips for making a nature journal):
Using a stitch bound sketchbook will help you fight the urge to rip out pages that turn out less good or pretty. It also allows you to draw something across a spread of two pages, which can be very useful.
Using a sketchbook that isn't too expensive will help you lose the fear of writing and painting.
Using a sketchbook with mixed-media paper allows to use basically any kind of writing and drawing medium (watercolor, colored pencils, ink, gouache, graphite, even collages) and even to mixed them together (I've recently found out that watercolour with colored pencils is the way it works the best for me).
If you are interested in drawing animals, plants and fungi… buying a folding magnifying glass is going to be really, really useful because of how practical it is.
If you are using watercolors, using a kneadable eraser will minimize the the amount of paper worn out, allowing the paper to take more watercolor.
Drawing in the field is a completely different and unique experience! If you can journal in the field (sometimes you can't do it, and that's completely okay), do it. I promise you will love it.
It is a nature jounal, not a nature book! So don't try to make it look like a book… experiment, sketch, have fun!
In case you are drawing something that moves, you can draw a simple diagram showing the movement. I find this really beautiful and useful and usualy do them in black and white to keep it simple.
And my biggest tip and the thing I take as the most important in my journal: write and draw what you see and what you discover! Write your theories and thoughts about the subject you are journaling about. You can always research after it and write down what you find in that research, but always keep registered your theories as well! And if you find out your theory was wrong, simply write a note on the side saying something like “my theory was wrong, what is right is…. “ and fill it with the information you know is right. That is the beauty of a nature journal, seeing one’s thoughts, ideas, theories and points of view of the world (and more specificly the nature) we live in.
And this is my post for International Nature Journaling Week, I hope you liked it, it was useful and that you will participate in this amazing week!
Find more of Afonso’s nature journal pages on Instagram @obscurusnix.