Cool nature journal page right? Actually, I have something to admit. This is not nature journaling. I did the page above while looking at a variety of photos online. That is what I will call homework, not nature journaling.
Why this is not nature journaling
Making “nature journal” pages solely from photos and articles you find online or in books is not nature journaling in my opinion. There is no direct observation of the real world. Everything you see, read, or hear has already been cropped, framed, and frozen in time by the person (or AI) who took the picture, wrote the article or made the video. Their biases limit the information. Their filters prevent you from making your own novel discoveries. You can not smell anything. You can not look behind that rock. You can not see what would happen if you move the rock. That is not nature.
However, these tools and sources of information can be very useful and can be used as part of our nature journaling “homework.” Just because it is not nature journaling does not make it bad so it’s interesting that people got very worked up about this (see below). I do lots of things that are not nature journaling in my sketchbook and many of them can improve or inform my nature journaling practice.
Nature journaling is about direct observation of nature.
That doesn’t mean that you have to go to a wilderness area to do it. In fact, you can do it in your kitchen looking at a cabbage or in your bathroom observing steam coming off of your… well you get the picture. We live in a filtered and fragmented world that is increasingly virtual. Most people experience more “nature” through representations on a screen than through direct experience. Even the best photos, videos, and documentaries are a filtered representation of the real world. Even a livecam on a bald eagle nest gives you a limited amount of information. Someone else put the camera there. Someone else decided what was important and what wasn’t in that video. You have no way to go beyond that filter or be surprised by something serendipitous as so often happens in nature.
The fact that most people would rather try to nature journal a rare orchid from a photo than to nature journal the cabbage in their kitchen is a topic for another day. We are bombarded with images of exotic or extreme nature and then think that is more interesting. However, our nature journals are the key to realizing how amazing a cabbage can be.
My most hated video ever…
I have made over 500 videos on YouTube in the last eight years and none has gotten as many thumbs downs as this one. Why is that? I made clear that this is my opinion only and I point out several times that I am not saying you can not nature journal indoors. I certainly am not saying that only people who can go on long hikes can nature journal. You could sit at home and nature journal the growth of your fingernails. In my opinion that would be more nature journaling than drawing an orchid from photos online.
Why define nature journaling like this?
Nature journaling has something special. I believe that if we are not intentional about understanding that specialness we could end up losing it in today’s world. Nature journaling is more than just another art form. It is more than just a subject matter.
- Drawing plants and animals does not make it nature journaling.
- Using watercolor and pencil with some notes does not make it nature journaling.
An artificial intelligence program could do both of the things above just by copying and pasting visuals from the internet. That is not nature journaling. Nature journaling is a way of seeing. Nature journaling is a process. Nature journaling is a relationship with the real world. Drawing from photos and videos is fundamentally different.
Artificial intelligence and the end of nature and art
Making a page that looks like nature journaling is now something easily done by artificial intelligence. And that should give you pause. AI can scan through the nature journal club facebook page online and then make a page based on that data. Would that be nature journaling? It would probably look great.
If nature journaling is just the way the finished page looks then this is the beginning of the end.
Artificial intelligence can also make photos and videos that look like things from nature but are purely invented. Such photos and videos are already distributed widely on social media and many people take them as real plants and animals. What are the implications of this? What if you “nature journaled” from these images? Worrying right? I would argue that this is not that different from a nature documentary by BBC that thousands of people have already “nature journaled” from. These trusted sources are also filtered fragments but we take them as real nature. Did you know they create almost all of the sound in the studio for wildlife films? Did you know that many scenes are staged by the filming crew? Did you know that the images are often touched up in a variety of ways?
If nature journaling is just the subject matter and videos and images online count then this is the beginning of the end.
Nature journaling is special
If you have a direct connection with nature no one can take that away from you. No one can filter that for you. No one can decide what is important or not important except you. No one can photoshop that cabbage in your kitchen. AI can not put an illusion of a sprouting potato in your pantry.
This is why I am taking a stand to make this definition of what is nature journaling and what is NOT nature journaling.
Do you still need more help getting started with 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.
4 Responses
Hi Marley. I’ve been super curious to see how you’d respond to the feedback to that video. You didn’t disappoint! I fundamentally agree with your main point, which is the importance and value of experiencing and exploring nature first hand, in whatever form it’s accessible to you, and recognizing that nature through a screen can never be an accurate representation. This is related to the debate about the value of zoos in cultivating appreciation for wildlife. Or the frustration of park interpreters dealing with visitors who expect an Instagramable nature experience in real life natural settings based on the facsimiles they see online. The central question is how do we foster deep love and understanding of nature? There are many routes to that with your pen and paper, and it’s interesting to be aware of the limitations and benefits of different practices.
Hi Corina, thanks for sharing your perspective. I think that your comment does a better job of expressing the main point than I did in the video!
I think any creative pause in life, any moment dragged away from the fray, any effort to broaden your vision from a tiny screen to a bigger panorama, any effort to observe deeply, and any moment taken to relish and awe and wonder is a worthy enterprise…what one calls it is not as important as that one does it. Journaling is documenting, however one decides to define it, what one sees, feels, learns, thinks. Let it be whatever it is. Just do it!
Hi Kaitlin, thanks for your words. You are concise and poetic in making your point. The name we call things is not the important part.