10 reasons to keep a nature journal

Mental Health

Nature journalling supports our mental health in so many ways. To start with, it provides a reason to get outside, or at least look out of the window, and spend time observing nature. Studies suggest that the human eye can see more shades of green than any other colour, and that green shades have a calming effect to our systems. The Japanese have a past-time called ‘forest bathing’, through which people immerse themselves in nature for the calming and relaxing response.

Nature journalling also provides a way to make time to do something that both challenges and relaxes the brain. Looking carefully and sketching or writing about what you see gives you an opportunity to disconnect with the fast-moving modern world, and reconnect with your human roots.

Improve observational skills

Observation does not mean just looking at something, it means really exploring it to gain a greater understanding of how it works. The act of journalling your observations about nature, especially when you focus on drawing what you see (and not what you think is there), helps to gain a deeper understanding of your subject.

Improve drawing skills

Similarly, careful observation and regular drawing will help you improve your drawing skills. As you begin to understand how a flower or insect goes together, how its parts connect and grow or move, your drawing will become clearer and more accurate.

My ability to sketch robins has improved between 2017 and 2022!

Track changes in nature

If you make nature journalling a regular habit, you can begin to track changes through the year, and year upon year. This is especially true if your nature journal has a small focus, perhaps on just one tree, or a section of garden. Or you might begin a Calendar of Firsts, sketching in the first snowdrop, the first nest, the first leaf fall and the first frost. If you continue year on year, you will begin to notice patterns and changes in patterns.

Explore pattern

Speaking of patterns, nature journalling make lead to you noticing all the patterns in the world around you. It is fascinating how many plants grow their leaves and petals in spirals, much as water spirals down the drain or our galaxy spirals through space. Look closely at the centre of a sunflower, the scales of a fir cone, the unfurling of a fern or the twists of honeysuckle and draw what you see.

Explore colour

Nature journalling can also lead to a better understanding of the colours of nature. Early spring is full of yellows and acid green, merging into the pinks of blossom, then the deeper greens with splashes of red and blue as we enter summer. Autumn brings hazy blue skies and warm reds and oranges before we end the year in the cool browns and greys of winter. All of this is endlessly inspiring for new art!

Explore relationships

Taking time to focus even a little time on nature journaling will help you to notice the relationships within the natural world. You might learn about how gall wasps rely on oak trees, or the way jackdaws congregate in extended families, or which plants are preferred by different butterflies. Much of nature journaling is about asking and answering questions by continued, careful observation. And just about every answer leads to yet another question!

Reason to spend time outside

There are some artists that love to draw and paint outside. I recently watched an artist on Instagram hike a mountain with canvas and paints, and another battle a storm on a sea cliff whilst creating amazing watercolours. Many are more like me, though, and I have a tendency to lose track of time hunkered in my studio with a paintbrush and the birds in my head. Nature journalling forces me to get outside, breathe the air, and notice the things that inspire me anew.

Learn more about the outside world

This world is the only one we have got, and it saddens me that so many people only notice the things humans have brought to it. There is so much to discover and explore outside, so much inspiration, such fascinating creatures and exquisite plants. Through nature journaling, you can look more closely, learn more, and remember to love our beautiful green planet.

Make time for art

Nature journaling was the thing that pulled me back into art making after many years away, and it can be for you too. It does not require many materials, no more than a sketchbook and pencil, your subject is right outside your front door, and it is a quick activity that is easy to fit into the busiest of weeks.

Community

Bonus reason number eleven is the social community you can discover through nature journaling. There are so many artists out there how journal what they see in nature, and post about it on social media. You could join this world of people fascinated by the natural world, and discover an abundance of different ways to approach this kind of exploration. Keep an eye on my @createwithalaina Instagram feed over the next few weeks to discover how some of these artists work.