Keeping a Nature Journal, 3rd Edition: Deepen Your Connection with the Natural World All Around You

One of the most effective ways of noting and appreciating the wonders of our world is by recording sights and scenes in a nature journal. Naturalist and artist, Clare Walker Leslie, has put together some of her past nature sketches rendered in pencil, pen, watercolor or other available recording implement to convince the reader of the value of nature journals. This artistically descriptive book holds a colorful collection of flora, fauna, and environmental impressions. Alongside the drawings are identification markers and impressions felt by the the recorder about the subject. Sprinkled through the pages are comments by nature lovers, such as Rachel Carson, Henry David Thoreau, and others. Clear guidelines are illustrated for starting a nature journal, such as how to use one’s vision to see and artfully describe our ever-present environment, while this book itself serves as the exemplar of journal pages. For those unfamiliar with this procedure, listings of materials and basic drawing techniques are included. In addition, there are pages devoted to approaches for capturing the images of leaves, flowers, trees, insects, birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and so much more. As an instructive guide, adaptable for all ages, this is an outstanding natural science resource that will engage the user with the natural world.