Aug 152 min read

Cutting Nature Journaling Down to Size

I recently took a camping road trip to a few South African nature reserves in the Eastern Cape. I took my notebook with me but did not know if I would actually get around to making any pages; I know, thinking myself out of a good time before I even start!

I divided my A5 page up into four blocks - they are quite small when you think about their size; so not intimidating at all. I surprised myself by filling in a block for each reserve. I noted down a special bird spotted, a quick note on any specific vegetation that I had seen, and one or two other things as well. Before I knew it, I had created a block for each of the nature reserves I was visiting and the note taking would assist me later when I work in my “neat” sketchbook, the one that I do not mind showing off to interested parties.

Nature journaling to me might not look like everyone else’s nature journaling. I pick up my camera before I tackle the notebook. I do so to start capturing images I know will help me remember for sketching later. I prefer to sketch when I am home. Then I can take my time to think about how I will layout my page.

That white page in my notebook can be intimidating - is the information I’m jotting down really worthy of taking note of, is it important?

Besides the blank page, another stumbling block I find is wanting to indulge my need to produce a “perfect” sketchbook entry. I have the small A5 book for note taking and rough work, but I also have the larger A4 size sketchbook where I have decided no rough work will see the light of day; only perfect layouts. Rough work is important, it is the quick note taking that will trigger memories or indicate where I would like to do some more homework and read up about what I noted.

Nature journaling is about discovery, curiosity and to practise your skills. Taking time out of your day to focus on nature journaling will only benefit you; you might just surprise yourself too.

So some lessons learnt: