Little Bit o Nature

We went on a short walk - just down to the corner and back. I actually carried Monkey part of the way back, because his legs are still little.



In my neighbor's driveway was the cool leaf with water droplets on it. So I gave the Boy to his Daddy and went back out with my camera.



I love what I got this time! Today, I added several leaves to my new Nature Journal. I decided that crayola colored pencils just can't do justice to the intricate veins on the leaves. I've been reading (and really liking) Keeping a Nature Journal, but I have to say that one thing that I disagree with them on. They said, under the caption "Better Than a Photo:"

These examples from Steen Lindell's trips to Monument Valley (left) and Anne Gamble's trip to the Galapagos Islands (below) are great examples of how you can use sketches to remember your experiences. Often sketches let you capture things that photos cannot. They bring a different kind of authenticity to your observations.

I'll give them different, and I'll admit that there is a certain visceral authenticity to drawing it yourself, but it's going to take me a LOT of practice to be able to capture the water droplets' magnification of those veins in these leaves. (Click on the last picture - the small size doesn't do it justice.) That being said, I'm really enjoying the book and have made several nature journal entries in my sketchbook the past couple of days. I love the pictures in this book - they're so encouraging!