Nature Journaling with ballpoint pen

A couple of months ago I experimented with ballpoint pen as the drawing medium in my journal. I had been using graphite. That worked well, and I often only used a mechanical pencil with HB lead. If I wanted it darker I would use some darker 4B or others. Then I'd have to spray it with fixative to keep it from smudging. I had also been using colored pencils, but that is an extremely slow medium.

I wish I could remember what article I read or video I watched that was the inspiration for going to ballpoint pen. But when I tried it I was immediately impressed. You can actually use the same shading technique with ballpoint pen as graphite pencil! When you push harder more ink is released, when you let up the pressure the ink is lighter. This is only for ballpoint; other pen types lay down an even amount of ink whether pressing hard or lightly.

Here are some sample pages.

Because the ink will not smudge I can journal on both front and back pages, unlike pencil (until sprayed with fixative).

Nature journal entry

Some people make an initial sketch in graphite pencil and then ink that. But that doesn't save any time over graphite alone. Rather, start drawing lightly in ballpoint pen (expecting that your first marks will be wrong) and just go with it, strengthening the lines that are correct. It is rather freeing to draw without erasing.

Most of my nature journaling is not done in the field as taught. Rather, I photograph profusely and then draw from photos. In the example following I drew from photos, primarily freehand. For the turkey profile and the one running from page to page I used a grid and pencil sketch to get proportions right.

2-page spread.

Here is a close-up. If you click on the photo and look close you may see a few of those stray barely-visible faint "wrong" lines.

close-up

While the above "finished" drawings took a bit more time, the sketches on the following page were done more quickly. Nature journaling is "not about the art." It is your observations and impressions that matter. The sketches bring back to mind. They don't try to perfectly replicate what you saw. Some of the nature journaling instructional books I have use rather quick, crude, drawings. I'm trying to emulate that quick nature and curb my perfectionism. Some of the time, anyway.

Impressions from my pelagic trip.

One downside of ballpoint pen ink is that it will fade, especially if exposed to sunlight. So it's perfect for a journal.

Julian getaway: turkeys and deer photo collection

It was Marlene's and my 40th wedding anniversary. We only had 3 days. Getting "away" sounded better than going to a place with lots of other people. So instead of an expensive stay on a crowded beach, we rented a little cabin in the woods at Julian.

We arrived Saturday afternoon and stayed until noon on Monday. No other people for nearly 48 hours. Pine trees, turkeys, deer, sunsets, oak trees. Silence. Rest. Away.

Here is a collection of photos from our trip. The first 3 were taken on my camera phone, the remainder with my large lens and camera.

As perhaps you can tell from the photos below, there was no time during the weekend when there weren't deer and turkeys in view. In fact, when I walked around the property I invariably had  several deer following me around, and the turkeys weren't spooked until I was within 30 feet.

Just what we needed!

Pacific-slope Flycatcher in ballpoint pen

One of yesterday's photos of Pacific-slope Flycatcher at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego rendered in ballpoint pen (BiC round stic medium).

I had never tried to create artwork with ballpoint pen before. It turns out that it can be used in a similar way to graphite pencil. You can sketch very lightly and create layers of tone by going over the same area several times. You can't erase, but I was able to draw this freehand very lightly and any marks in the wrong place were so faint as to be invisible in the final work. Of course, I could draw lightly in graphite first and go over it with pen, if I wished.

The ink in all ballpoint pens is dye-based, as opposed to pigment-based in many other pens. So it is not lightfast. It will fade under the infrared light of the sun or even indoor lighting. So I can't create an art piece to hang on the wall. But it should last many years in my nature journal.

I should have perhaps used the scanner, but instead took a camera phone photo. So there are some bluish shadows in the "white" of the paper caused by the brightness of my desk lamp that appear in this image that aren't in the original.

Pacific-slope Flycatcher in ballpoint pen. Click for larger view.

My reference photo.

My first year of Nature Journaling

A little over a year ago I began seriously looking into the nature journaling concept--learning about nature by carefully and deliberately observing and sketching and note taking. I wanted to do something more with my birding than just playing tag by checking off birds from the checklist.

In November 2016 I started with the post: I notice..., I wonder..., It reminds me of... Nature Journaling where I gave a brief overview. I bought materials in December and began sketching in my own journal.

By January 2017 I had bought two books on the subject and wrote a review on the best: Book Review: The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling. The author of this book, Jack Laws, teaches classes and continues to post articles and YouTube videos of his classes. His best video on Nature Journaling as a subject is here: Deep Observation and Nature Journaling. This video predates his book by about 2 years, but is very much an overview of what his book would become. Excellent, excellent, excellent!

As a whole, I've kept the Nature Journaling practice in the manner Jack Laws presents, but personalized it to fit my already-established style of nature observation. The prescribed method would be to take the journal with me and record my observations immediately in the field. However, I find it works better for me to take numerous photos of my nature observations and put down my observations and drawings later at my desk. I sacrifice some immediacy and prolonged observation for more drawing and art time--often creating several drawings for weeks after the field trip.

While Nature Journaling is about recording what you see, and not creating "pretty pictures," I find I'm enjoying the artistic part of it. I did some pen-and-ink drawings many years ago. Now, however, I find that I enjoy graphite sketching and colored pencil artwork. Colored pencil is a very slow and detailed process--perfect for me in the evening in my studio.

Online I have found a highly-skilled artist who teaches colored pencil art (and many other mediums). Lisa Clough of Lachri Fine Arts uses YouTube to great advantage. I've been tempted to sign up as a Patreon supporter for only $4 per month for access to her full-length tutorial videos. But her shorter free versions provide great instruction for now. Her style is "painterly" colored pencil art, blending with mineral spirits and many, many layers. It creates artwork like a painting with photo-realistic detail.

There is quite a quality difference between my recent works and when I started a year ago. In fact, I actually see improvement from piece to piece in recent works. And I can see plenty of room for future improvement. I don't really have a "style" of my own yet in technique or composition. Following are some recent examples of entries into my nature journal.

Page scan 1. Part of a nature journal entry for Dixon Lake.

Page scan 2. Another journal page for a trip to Dixon Lake.

Baird's Sandpiper at Imperial Beach, California. Graphite drawing.

Page scan 3. Quicker graphite gesture sketches of Black-and-white Warbler compiled from rather poor-quality photos.

Black-crowned Night-Heron at Vista, California. Colored pencil painting.
First time using Fabriano Artistico paper.

Baird's Sandpiper at Imperial Beach

Scratching an itch. Graphite drawing by Greg Gillson.

On August 27th I was able to locate a previously discovered Baird's Sandpiper on the beach at Imperial Beach, California. It was readily approachable or, rather, it fearlessly approached near me as I sat motionless and as it foraged among the beach-cast kelp on the upper beach. I was able to obtain many photos at close range.

Stepping into a depression. Graphite drawing by Greg Gillson.

One thing many birders noted about this bird was how unusually wide the body of this bird sometimes appeared. The breast feathers flared out widely covering the lower part of the folded wings. I have noted ducks give a very wide-bodied appearance like this, but never other birds. It's something I'll have to pay more attention to. If you think I surely must have misdrawn the proportions, please look at the reference photo below.

I was especially pleased to photograph and draw interesting postures that aren't depicted in bird books that usually show the rather uninteresting "field guide" pose.

"Field Guide" pose.

The identification of Baird's Sandpiper is rather subtle. At first glance it seems to match the field marks of the smaller North American "peep"--Western, Semipalmated, and Least Sandpipers. The bill is about the same length as the head as the Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers. The legs are black as the Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers.  Baird's Sandpipers are a bit larger than the other three, however, if they are seen together.

One noteworthy identification mark is that the wing tips extend quite far past the end of the tail. This gives a very long attenuated look to the rear of the body. In general, birds that migrate long distances have long wings; birds that don't migrate have short wings.

Looking behind. Colored pencil by Greg Gillson.

In the fall of the year, juveniles, such as the one depicted, have rows of white tipped back and scapular feathers. These create a "scaly" appearance to the upper parts. Adults are not nearly as bold.

Baird's Sandpiper breed at the northern edge of land in the Arctic, from northeastern Siberia, Alaska, Canada, to northwestern Greenland. When they migrate south they may be found on ocean beaches. But it is not unusual to encounter them on mountain glaciers. In winter they can be found in the Andes of South America in Ecuador and Chile, but also in lower areas in Bolivia, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, and Venezuela. Spring migration is through Central American and Mexico and north generally east of the Rocky Mountains in North America. They are a bit more widespread in fall migration, reaching all the way to the Pacific Coast in low numbers, as this bird.

Portrait: Baird's Sandpiper.

Recent Birding in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico

An unexpected extra (paid!) day off from work in July allowed Marlene and me to visit my sister and family in Puerto Peñasco (also known as "Rocky Point," even though the direct translation is "Rocky Port"). This resort town on the Sea of Cortez is about 6 hours away (330-360 miles) from my home in northern San Diego County. Plus, there can be another hour line for crossing the border back into the US. [And I still think that my map navigation program incorrectly computes travel time in Mexico based on speed limits of 90 miles per hour rather than 90 kilometers per hour. So it always takes a lot longer to get places in Mexico than the navigation programs says.]

Known as "Arizona's beach," this seaside community is only 60 miles from Lukeville, Arizona, and a 3-1/2 hours' drive from Phoenix or Tucson. There's really no specific birding parks or trails here, unfortunately, surrounded for miles by sandy cholla desert. The best birding is on the private golf courses and some of the shallow bays, such as Cholla Bay. [This is also known as Choya Bay--I am so confused about the use of Spanish here. I think both are pronounced the same, with the first the predominant cactus of the area and the second means "head," or maybe "point"? So maybe it's a play on words, or maybe confusion that stuck? Or maybe both words refer to the cactus?]

My nephew, Manny, an event photographer, took me out one day to photograph birds at the Laguna del Mar Golf Course. It's a private golf course but Manny knew the right words to say to get in to walk the main road. He comes here regularly to kayak. It was his first time photographing birds. He enjoyed it, I think, but he wasn't converted. Here are my photos from that morning.

American Oystercatcher. Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. July 3, 2017. Greg Gillson.

It's been several years since I last saw an American Oystercatcher.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Don't tell this Osprey that hunting is not allowed!

Snowy Egrets were nesting in a tree along the road allowing some great flight shots as they slowed to land.

Northern Mockingbird

Male Magnificent Frigatebird

Juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird.

Really ratty plumage. At least it has 7 new outer primaries so it can fly!

About 15 frigatebirds were hunting over the golf course ponds. And here I was looking out to sea for them!

Great-tailed Grackle

Cactus Wren in the tree above me.

Black-necked Stilts

Coyote is not likely to get a bird. Better go back to hunting lizards!

Black-necked Stilt

Later in the afternoon Marlene and I joined Bob and Karen on the private beach at Las Conchas. While we enjoyed the company of two other couples that showed up, Marlene first had to go swimming in the warm waters.

I'm not much for swimming as I was when I was younger (before eyeglasses). But large birds were flying right along the shoreline for decent photos.

A relaxing afternoon at Las Conchas Beach.

Heermann's Gull

Royal Tern

Osprey

Brown Booby

Marlene enjoying a boogie board

Female Brown Booby

Caspian Tern

Brown Pelican. Who's photobombing whom?

Osprey fishing

Yellow-footed Gull

Long-billed Curlew

Immature Brown Booby

A page from my nature journal.