A Year of Nature Journaling Prompts

Out the Window:  Draw a tree you can see out of your windows.

Go Monochrome: Sketch a tree using values of only one color, or play with using a non-local color.

Leaf Study: Focus deeply on a single leaf, or make a comparison or montage.

Bark! Bark! : Focus on the delicious textures of bark. Consider making a texture map.

Old and wise: Journal an old tree in your neighborhood.

Let’s Draw Trees! Live online class with Kate Rutter and Cathy Raingarden

New to me: Draw a tree you’ve never seen before, identify it, learn and note down both the common and botanical names.

Get to the root of it: Sketch, question, measure the root system of a tree.

Up in the canopy: Observe a tree by looking up into the canopy. Draw slowly, noting the patterns of sun and shade as they move and change.

The Snuggle is real: Journal two trees growing tightly together.

Critters: Draw a tree and note all the interactions with birds, insects, animals, and humans.

Twig Drawing: Draw trees, leaves, and branches using a twig as a paintbrush/pen

Nursery Rhymes: Go to a local nursery to draw trees for sale along with the tree shoppers. Write poems or haiku to go with your sketches.

Scent-sational: Journal the scents and smells of a tree.

Stick Figures: Diagram a handful of trees very simply, making basic line drawings of the branching structure.

Damage: Journal a tree showing damage or injury such as cuts, weeps, or seeps. Is there a tree who has suffered bad pruning?

Trees and People: Draw people interacting with trees, or explore how how people set the scale for a tree. You might sit at a cafe and draw the trees nearby, including the people.

Three Materials: Make a portrait of a tree using only three materials.

Beauty Break: Visit a local garden or park, and journal the most beautiful tree you see. What makes it beautiful to you?

In Context: Focus on everything surrounding a tree. Is it growing in a concrete jungle? A field? A forest? How does the tree contrast with the human-built environment? (and an extra link https://amystewart.substack.com/p/how-to-walk-in-the-woods)

Throwing Shade: Use shading and value to show volume in a tree.

De Colores: Make a tree color chart of the different colors you see when drawing trees. Experiment with novel ways to organize the chart. A pie chart? A grid? A rainbow? (and an extra link https://substack.com/home/post/p-142229187)

Lean on Me: How does wind affect trees? Find a windy area and journal the lean of the trees.

Tell a Story: Draw a tree concentrating on visual storytelling. What else can you include in the tree’s setting that tells a story about that tree?

Arbor Day! Arboreus Maximus: End the challenge in a big way by drawing the biggest tree in your neighborhood. For a mega-challenge, draw the biggest tree in your town, city, or region!