COMING SOON!|
In May, our subject is dandelions. The bright and cheery flower heads of the dandelion are practically a symbol of childhood. It’s my hope that these lessons will encourage you to explore and appreciate this familiar flower.
Here are just a few things I had in mind for this lesson:
Method: En Plein Air
Video Demonstration
Art Challenge: 1 min, 5 min and 10 min
Nature Journaling with Steph is a monthly membership subscription that explores the art of nature journaling with a new subject each month. We’ll explore different elements and principles of art through tutorials, exercises, challenges, and experimenting with a variety of mediums and techniques. I’ll also include some of my resources to help inspire and expand upon the lesson.
Here’s what you can expect in each monthly lesson:
Nature Journaling Prompts
My Example Nature Journal Pages
Art Lessons
Exercises and Challenges
How to Draw Tutorial
Monthly Phenology Wheel Template
How to Extend the Lesson Guide
Educational Posters & Resources
Poetry & Art Study
Reading List
You’ll also have access to member exclusive freebies, special offers and behind the scenes content. PLUS a 20% off shop discount code!
A new topic and lesson will be uploaded the first week of each month.
I’ll keep the previous month’s lesson available as well - just in case you missed it :)
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Here are detailed descriptions of what you can expect from this monthly subscription:
NATURE JOURNALING PROMPTS
Journaling Prompts for beginner, intermediate and advanced students. These prompts are meant to inspire creativity and connect with nature.
SEASONAL SUBJECTS
Each month we will cover a new topic that can easily be adjusted to fit your geographical area. I do my best use very common subject matter with an expansive distribution that most will be familiar with, but I will offer alternatives for those of you who don’t live within the range of a specific species. For example, if the American robin is our subject, you can choose a bird species native to your area as your focus. Or if we are working with cacti, but you don’t live in a desert region, you can buy a potted cactus from the nursery or visit a botanical garden.
Here's a list of the subjects I have planned:
April – Robins/birds
May – Dandelion/flowers
June – Clouds/the sky
July – Garden/plant life cycle
August – Ladybugs/backyard bugs
September – Moon/night sky
October – Leaves/changing seasons
November – Squirrels/preparing for winter
December – Evergreens/winter trees
*Please note, these subjects might change based on my own interest and what I happen to feel inspired by each month. But I will keep them seasonally appropriate.
ART LESSONS
I will work to incorporate different elements and principals of art in every lesson. Topics I plan to cover include line, shape, form, color, value, texture, and space. We’ll explore principals such as balance, proportion, movement, composition, perspective, light and shadow.
EXERCISES & CHALLENGES
I’ll include fun exercises that will help students improve fundamental art skills, understanding of art principles, and help incorporate other practices and subjects.
Here are some examples of exercises I have in mind:
The art of the rough sketch
Journaling through the seasons
Nature journaling as a research project
Focusing on the Details
Different times of day
Same subject three ways
Same subject drawn in 30 sec, 1 min, and min
Exploring the abstract
VARIETY IN MEDIUM & TECHNIQUE
I plan to experiment with many different mediums and demonstrate different techniques to help students explore their creativity, step out of their (and my) comfort zones, and expand their artistic horizons.
I do want to keep the process as accessible and relaxed as possible so I don’t plan to go too crazy with the different mediums. Everything I use will be something most families have on hand. You can expect a mixture of mostly pen and ink, pencil, colored pencils, watercolor. But I might play around with chalk, oil pastels, watercolor pencils, charcoal, markers, and my absolute favorite – gouache paint.
HOW TO DRAW TUTORIAL
A hallmark of my brand and something I include in almost all my studies – how to draw tutorials. They’re a super simple, with step-by-step instructions, perfect for any age and fun for any skill level.
PHENOLOGY WHEEL
The phenology wheel is a tool used to help you track the changes in nature over time. You’ll learn to recognize seasonal patterns in nature and recognize the impact those changes have on plant and animal life. Each month will include a phenology wheel template to help you incorporate this simple practice into your nature journal.
EXTEND THE LESSON
As a homeschooling parent, I’m always looking for was to extend the lesson. If my children are particularly interested in a topic, I look at that as an opportunity to expand upon the subject we’re exploring and incorporate topics such as science, language arts, social studies, and math. I’m a big fan of unit studies so I’ll offer a brief guide with some suggestions for how you can incorporate these topics into your nature study.
I will also include support materials that will help you extend the lesson. Each lesson will include some of my educational posters and resources that I hope will inspire and inform.
Some of you who have been long-time customers of mine might recognize a few of these extra resources. It’s my hope that including these in this fresh, new context along with the overall low price point will make it a worthwhile investment to you.
POETRY & ART STUDY
Some of my favorite ways to extend the lesson is by incorporating a poem and art appreciation into our nature studies. I’ll provide a public domain poem and a piece of artwork that includes a quick artist biography in each lesson.
READING LIST
The library is my second home so including a booklist is natural for me!
NATURE JOURNALING GUIDE
Subscribers will also have access to a general Nature Journaling guide that discusses nature journaling basics, mediums and supplies, benefits, nature journaling with all ages, what to include in a nature journal, overcoming obstacles and more.