Slow down, look closely, and capture the living world around you, one page at a time.

Nature journalling is the practice of recording observations of the natural world through sketches, notes, questions and reflections. It isn’t about creating perfect artwork. It’s about developing curiosity, noticing details and connecting more deeply with nature.

“If the point were making big discoveries or making pretty pictures every time, I’d have quit long ago. The point is waking up, paying attention, noticing and exploring. The point is remembering, again and again, that the world we inhabit is infinitely rich, complex, fascinating, and beautiful. The point is learning from the world and renewing a sense of belonging within it”

– Sarah Rabkin 

A nature journal is simply a place to record what you notice outdoors in sketches, words and small observations.

It’s about noticing.  Rough drawings and short notes count just as much as polished pages.

Anything can go in.  Plants, birds, weather, colours, questions, or how a place made you feel.

It grows with you.  Over weeks and seasons your pages become a personal record of the world nearby.

There are no rules!

Why try nature journalling?

Maybe you’re scientific, maybe artistic. Maybe you just want to improve your skills or record what happens in your garden over a year. Maybe you want to help your children learn about nature, or learn about it yourself. Maybe all of these things and more! Nature journalling is for everyone.

Getting Started

What you will need

The basics:

• Something to write on
• Something to write with

It’s that simple!

Something to write on

A notebook: lined or unlined, purpose bought, gifted or a ‘free complementary gift’ often given out. Hard back or paper back. Even sheets of paper works!

Long term, a small (A5), hardback notebook (lined or plain as to your preference) is good to take out and about with you – it’s small enough to fit in most bags, not too bulky or heavy, and the hard cover protects it from damage and gives a hard surface to lean on when writing or sketching. Thicker paper is best if you plan on painting on the pages, but otherwise pretty much anything works.

Something to write with

Simply put, to start with all you need is a pencil. My personal preference is a mechanical pencil but remember: there are no rules!

Use whatever you are comfortable with, whatever you have, whatever you like.

You may like to try all sorts of other forms of art, such as:

• Colouring pencils
• Watercolour paints/pencils
• Felt tip pens
• Ink
• Wax crayons
• Acrylic paints
• Sketching pencils
• … and much more!

To begin with, set aside 5-10 minutes outside. Get comfortable, relax and look around you…

Most importantly, make sure the page has the date and location on it somewhere. Other things you might like to include are the time, weather, temperature, and even how you feel.

You do not need to be an artist 

Top Tip: If you are ever unhappy with a drawing or sketch – annotate it! Turn it into a diagram, draw lines and title the parts of your sketch, ask questions, add a scale line beside it to show its true size, make it useful.

You can draw from photos

Like me, you may take many photos of things that you never look at ever again. You’re more likely to pick up your nature journal and flick through it from time-to-time than you are to scroll through thousands of no-context photos on your phone. With that said, photos can help you capture details that you didn’t get the first time around, so they can be useful to help you complete a drawing or sketch later on.

Your drawings and annotations may also help you to identify what you have seen. Useful data such as date, location, and (in the case of animals in particular), the food plant, activity and even smell can help with identification. Your notes alongside your sketch or photo can make all the difference!

You do not need to draw at all

At our Nature Journalling workshop, some people discussed how they might like to take rubbings (e.g. leaf or bark) or even press flowers/plants to put in their journals alongside their notes. I brought along my beetle reference collection – specimens of beetles collected in Bath and Bristol during my university degree, and displayed it alongside my nature journal that I completed at the time. One lady brought along her wonderful ‘wheel’ that she created which showed the weather, temperature, moon phase and more for a whole year on only two pages! It held a great deal of information in an easy to digest format, and she shared that it was great because it required very little time or effort to complete.

These are all valid ways of nature journalling. 

Where can I learn more?

Books:

There are many books on nature journalling, and though I cannot endorse one over the other these are the two I had with me at the workshop:

• The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling by John Muir Laws
• Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie

There are lots of published nature journals out there too, such as Secrets of a Devon Wood: My Nature Journal, by Jo Brown

Websites: 

John Muir Laws website is packed full of information and resources on nature journalling
The Wildlife Trusts and Kew Gardens have great blogs on nature journalling
Alex Boon has a free guide to nature journalling when you sign up for the newsletter
There’s even an International Nature Journaling Week 

Another blog with some great ideas can be found on Children & Nature Network

There are many, many nature journalling groups on Facebook and more examples on Instagram.

I say the above with a tiny caveat though: Try not to get too bogged down reading about it. Nature journalling is different for everyone, and it’s really easy to get overwhelmed or self-conscious of your skills and for it to stop being fun or good for your mental wellbeing.

If that happens, take a step back and start from the beginning again with short sessions, basic art equipment (if any) and just try to enjoy yourself.

Wild About Bath Nature Journalling WhatsApp Group

Alongside our recent workshop event and this post, we have set up a WhatsApp group to help support each other with nature journalling.

Aims of the group:

• Share our ideas and work
• Encourage and inspire each other to continue
• Suggest prompts
• Monthly challenges
• Organise meet-ups for journalling (independent of Wild About Bath – all attendees at their own risk)

If you would like to join the WhatsApp group, please email us using the form below.

– By Cat McAlpine