Are you afraid to test new ideas in your nature journal? Does your inner perfectionist block you?
Today’s Prompt: Fill a test page in your nature journal with a new technique you learned
Two very important points come up with this prompt. One is the importance of experimentation on learning. The second is that your memory is really bad unless your practice something. During the Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference John Muir Laws mentioned the dreaded “forgetfulness curve.” This somewhat depressing research shows that there is a very very steep drop in retention right after learning new material. Practice the material as soon as possible and you can flatten the curve. See the graph below.
What does this have to do with test pages in my sketchbook?
If you went to the Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference you will forget everything you learned within a week if you don’t practice. Since we are just a few days after the conference so it is the perfect time to review and practice somethings we learned. Today’s prompt is to fill a test page in your nature journal with a new technique you learned. Want to remember how to do that iridescent feather trick that Catherine Hamilton taught? Want to remember how to simplify visual information with Akshay’s boxy critters? Let’s do a test page.
Tips for test pages
- First of all, dedicate a specific page. Keep your inner perfectionist at bay by separating this page from pages with more polished drawings.
- Secondly, remind yourself that your intention is learning NOT creating something pretty.
- Copy directly. Sometimes, you just need to try to copy a teacher or other artist. See more about stealing like an artist.
- Make it your own.
- Lastly, get meta cognitive with it. For example: Did a certain part frustrate you? Make a note of it. Perhaps you have an idea of where you could combine this in your practice. Make a note of it. See below for examples.
In the above example you can see some of the notes I did during Catherine’s class and some of the experiments I did a few days later.
Notice the cartoon in the bottom left. That is me saying “I think I need to work on this.” Such meta-cognitive notes help you process and remember new information.
But what if I’m completely new to nature journaling?
Regardless of your experience, we got you right here. Below are links to some super resources for beginner nature journalers.
Are you just getting started with Nature Journaling?
Here are tips and motivation for beginners.
Where is the 30 day challenge?
If you missed the beginning you can still jump in now. Here is the complete guide.
If you want a PDF for printing: 30 Day Challenge Wild Wonder Nature Journaling
