‘Tis the time for the outdoor world to bud, open, awake, emerge! Allergies aside, there’s a lot you can take-in on a daily 10 minute stroll. We’re naturally curious beings. While on a walk or hike, many of us have had fleeting questions like “Why is that leaf curled up, but not the rest?”, maybe “What does the flower look like on the inside?”, or “Is that edible?”.

Slowing our roll on walks and hikes will help bring these deeply rooted questions to the surface, and it’ll do you a world of good. Seriously, there are endless health benefits to immersing yourself into nature. It leads to an actual release of feel-good chemicals in the brain!

Nature journaling is what adds the cherry on top!

Our brains l o v e being exercised. They love when we use both sides at the same time! The act of nature journaling triggers this bi-lateral activity quickly! Because we are activating our “science brain” and our “creative brain” simultaneously!

Since starting my own, about 3 years ago, I visit mine almost daily. It has become my “safe space”, my companion in trying moments, my meditation, and source of inspiration for much of my art. Just think of all it could be for you…

As promised, in my recent post, I wanted to share more on starting your own nature journal! So, I spell it out a bit more below…

-One-

Choosing a Journal

First, ask yourself, “What creative (or not) tools do I want the ability to use in my journal, if I ever want to?”

The answer will help guide what kind of paper will be most practical for you. In other words, if you want to play with wet tools (like markers, paint, etc.), they can easily bleed through the paper, if not the right kind, ruining the backside if not more. In this case, I’d suggest “multi-media” paper artist notebooks. These are not very expensive at most craft stores. If you want to be a little more certain of no bleed-through, I’d suggest one that is filled with watercolor paper! Otherwise, lined or graphed notebook paper can work just fine for colored pencils, pens, etc.!

Lastly, consider what size is practical and approachable to set yourself up for success. If you are constantly on-the-go, maybe a size that fits into your purse, or work bag, is important. You get my drift?

-Two-

Tool Pouch

You can spend as much, or as little, on the tools inside your tool pouch. But, you want to find a carry case that, like the size of your notebook, works-for-you! I have a tool pouch specifically for ‘traveling artists’, that I actually don’t like as much, as my soft-sided zippered pencil pouch. Its much smaller and with use, it has gotten soft from shoving into my back pocket, or purse (ok, and I like the artwork on it)! Some fellow journalers even use a zip-lock bag. Being clear, it makes it easy to find what they need! Again, this isn’t a large financial commitment, unless you want it to be!

-Three-

Tools

I’ve played around with everything from Bic pens, to fancy fountain pens, until I found what I liked. You may have to as well. But, a Bic pen can record observations just as much as a fountain pen can! Being I enjoy making my entries more artistic than not, I like the feel of felt-tip pens on paper, for both writing and sketching. So I use artists drawing pens.

A retractable pencil is more convenient. You don’t need to carry a sharpener. But, a traditional pencil works well too! You may find no-need, or desire, to use pencil in your journal. Cool! Again, choosing to use my journal as creative practice, I often use pencil to sketch observations, then go over with pen.

Other than a few different pens and a pencil, I carry an eraser, a short 6” ruler (a mini retractable tape measure might be great instead) to measure and record size/length, a small magnifying glass (fun to draw the funky shapes you see in a leaf up close), my mini traveling watercolor palette, and a little square of scrap paper towel (to absorb any accidental liquid on my paper).

-Four-

What is in a nature journal “entry”?

Again, you can get as detailed as you want…or not! And you don’t need to fill up a full page. Starting in the middle and adding future entries around it, works! Especially if you want to make this a “perpetual” style journal. (See below for setting up a perpetual style journal).

Start simple. These 4 bits of info are often what my entries consist of!

Date
Quick sketch (not submitting for an art award people, you can even trace the leaf)
Location (to re-visit and observe changes in future)
Question/Observation - Usually a question or observation (Ex. What are the spots on this leaf from?)
Journal entries can take anywhere from 5 minutes to a couple hours, if you like. It all depends on how much time you have at the moment, how creative you want to be in adding the entry, and how much research to find additional info to add.

Perpetual-style Journal Set-up

This concept was introduced to me by fellow nature artist, Lara Gastinger. It’s setting up your notebook, dedicating each 2-page spread, to a calendar week. So, you’d want a journal that has 52 two-page spreads, since there are 52-ish weeks in a year. You date each page spread with the week starting and end dates, but not the year.

This offers you the opportunity to re-visit the corresponding week’s spread, each year to come and over time, filling up the pages while observing trends and memories of that week, in years past!

I suggest grabbing a calendar to reference and use a pencil to lightly note the week dates on each spread, before going back with pen (or stamps). I made dating mistakes a few times.

Following @laragastinger on Instagram is also a great way to be inspired, understand the numbering and concept of perpetual journaling. She has weekly IG live journaling sessions too, which I love!

Feel free to e-mail me with questions!

Image credits: Image 1. Severson Dells Nature Center, Image 4. Wild Wonder Foundation (Jack Muir Laws), 5. Leslie Marsh nature journaling page

Originally shared via e-mail 6/2023

Start Nature Journaling!