![]() ![]() ![]() When I am gesture drawing, my hand is moving in a quick and sketchy way, so much so that I can hear the marks of my pencil on the page. Start small, don’t feel the need to fill the whole page to capture a movement. Don’t bother with lightly drawing delicate outlines, just really get into it-let your pencil fly, shake your shoulders out, and loosen up. To create a gesture drawing, use loose and flowing lines to represent the form of your subject, but don’t worry about the details. This type of sketching is intended to take away the pressure of perfectionism, teaching you to draw instinctively while getting comfortable with quick sketch marks. The intention behind gesture drawing is to capture the essence of your subject-its behaviors, movements, and posture. Gesture drawing is a type of sketching that is quick, loose, and sometimes even wild. Gesture drawing can be quick, loose, and even wild-the point is to capture the essence of your subject’s behavior, movements, and posture. Northern Pintail by Brad Imhoff/Macaulay Library. For me, making the first mark is the hardest, but by recording these details on my page I can take that fear away. Logging the time and place also removes the intimidation that a blank page often causes for artists, beginners and professionals alike. This practice establishes a record of that day, so every time I revisit this page in my nature journal I am transported back to that time and place, and my observations trigger memories of what I saw and how I felt. I often open the page by documenting the date, time, weather, and location at the top. Use Time and Place to Overcome the Blank PaperĪfter settling down in your sit spot for nature journaling, it’s time to “open the page”- an artist’s phrase for getting started on a sketch. I close my eyes and listen closely to the birds chirping in the trees. I look up and see how the clouds are moving and what shade of blue the sky is as birds are silhouetted flying overhead. I take a deep breath and notice how the air smells and how the breeze moves by. For example, I often focus on one sense at a time. Take this time to record your observations in your nature journal, by sketching your environment and writing what you are experiencing with your senses, reflecting on what you’re experiencing in your thoughts.Īs an artist in my nature journaling practice, I enjoy doing quite a lot of drawing, supplemented by note-taking about not only what I’m seeing, but also how I am feeling. As time passes at a sit spot, the small movements and new sounds happening all around you will become more obvious. An observation is any information you gather with your senses-sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste. Nature artists use sit spots as well, as a way to heighten the skills for making observations. After about 15 to 20 minutes, animals resume their natural behaviors, and you get a glimpse of the natural world as it occurs when you’re not around. The sit spot is a tried-and-true technique in birdwatching: choose a spot where you can sit comfortably and quietly for an extended period, allowing the creatures around you to become accustomed to your presence. Gesture drawing is a way to quickly capture the overall shape of a bird as it moves through a variety of poses. Mallard by Hannes Leonard/Macaulay Library. ![]() Add in a few pro tips from the art world on the process and practice of observation and sketching, and you’ll open up a whole new dimension to the way you experience and connect with birds and their habitats. Even though creating art can be an intimidating prospect for a beginner, birders have an advantage, because they already have the critical eye of an observer. Whether you want to connect with the birds in your backyard or document nature while you travel the world, field sketching and nature journaling are extremely powerful tools for connecting with birds. As with picking up any other new skill, all it takes is time and practice. ![]() That includes learning the skill of sketching, and that’s exactly what sketching is: a skill, not a gift or talent that you either have or don’t. You don’t have to be an artist to practice observation like an artist in fact, incorporating a few time-tested sketching techniques can even change the way birders build relationships with birds and the natural world. Observation in the service of producing art requires stillness and awareness it asks us to slow down and spend time with our subjects, allowing for a deep connection. Birders spend countless hours in nature dedicated to the practice of observation, whether walking and spotting birds with the naked eye or stopping to carefully study a bird’s features, its beak shape, or plumage patterns through binoculars.Ĭoincidentally, professional artists spend a lot of time in focused observation, too. ![]()
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