Here’s a list of Illustrated Nature Journals to get your creative juices flowing
Drawing by Bob Hines Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Illustrated nature journals are some of my favorite reading material. Nature journals don’t have to contain drawings or photographs but I like them best when they do. The published illustrated nature journals I like, have informal quickly done sketches not highly polished drawings that took hours. There is a certain charm to quick sketches with their sometimes awkward perspectives and misplaced lines. They seem very human and fallible. They also encourage us with an “I can do that” look. The majority of the following recommended books are British. Apparently, nature study and nature journaling is more commonplace in Great Britain. So in this small but choice collection, I offer my very favorite illustrated journals and sketchbooks for your enjoyment. Nature Journaling: Learning How to Observe and Connect with the World Around You (1998) by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. RothThis was a phenomenal bestseller of over 80,000 copies. It is not an illustrated journal itself but shows you how to keep one. It is full of sketches from nature journals. It is invaluable for dedicated nature journalists. The book also has a section on nature journaling with children. I highly recommend it.Drawn to nature: Through the Journals of Clare Walker Leslie (2005) by Clare Walker LeslieDrawn to Nature is a collection of Clare's nature journals of the past twenty-five years. I like all of Clare Walker Leslie’s books. Clare’s drawings are simple and non-intimidating. It was her books, which encouraged me to start my own nature journal.A Naturalist’s Sketchbook (1987) is another of her published journals. Also see Claire’s other books, The Art of Field Sketching (1984), Nature Drawing: A Tool for Learning (1987), and Nature Journaling written with Charles Roth (1998). Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, 1906 (1977) by Edith HoldenIf you missed the 1970 ‘s and 1980’s phenomenon of Mrs. Holden’s two books, you are just in time for the to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of their existence. The publisher has come out with new editions. Edith Holden was born in 1871 in England and worked as an illustrator. She kept a diary of the natural world in her small of village of Olton in Warwickshire. The watercolor paintings are beautiful and provide much inspiration.Also check out her Nature Notes,1906 of an Edwardian Lady (1989) This was the first volume of her nature diary but the second to be published. It contains the same style of charming watercolors as the Country Diary. This book is also still in print Janet Marsh’s Nature Diary (1979, 1984) by Janet MarshThis book has very beautiful finished drawings that certainly weren’t done in the field but there is a homey charm to the book. It is a journal of the happenings in Janet Marsh’s village in the Itchen Valley in Hampshire England.All of the books are available used or new on Amazon.com and other online bookstores. I created an "Best Books on Nature Journaling" Amazon.com page of nature journaling books and one on the "Best Illustrated Nature Journals", to ease in finding the these books. There more published illustrated nature journals. Check out other titles by Elaine Franks, Cathy Johnson, Charles Tunnicliffe, and Keith Brockie. The Internet makes digital publishing easy and inexpensive. Some people have started posting illustrated nature journals on their websites and publishing them as ebooks. I hope more people publish their journals online. But for more inspiration check out the drawing books for the ‘how-to-do-it” of sketching.
Other Journaling TopicsJournal promptsJournaling with kids Observation checklist Phenology Phenology sayings Drawing Books
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