Nature Study notes for parents

Nature Study Lesson 1 of 2 : Dry Brush Technique

Supplies :

Prang Watercolors, Semi-moist

Brush # 1 or #2

Small amount of water

Two ply of paper towels, more on hand

Card stock or other paper heavier than copier paper OR your Nature Journal

Note : I have compiled most of this from reading and attending Nature Study workshops at Childlight conferences, mostly from Debra and Holley-Ann Dobbins. Love them. Please check the Childlight blog for excellent posts from Holley Ann about taking Nature Study to Cambodia and integrating Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain ideas.

Dry Brush Technique

We do nature study using the dry brush method. Watercolors are used for the painting, but they are not applied in the common wet-on-wet technique. Instead, minimal water is used so that the paint must be applied slowly and carefully.

Paintbrush : In dry brush, we want to capture lots of details, so we hold our brush like a pencil ( try it ) and we keep our brush end at a neat point. If your brush is treated carelessly and is smashed, it quickly becomes unusable and will have to be replaced. You can keep your brush pointed like a pencil by gently turning the brush on its side on a piece of scratch paper or paper towel.

Water : Painting with the tip of the brush helps you use the proper amount of water. The paints and your brush should be wet enough that the paint slides easily off the brush. However, there should be no puddles in the paint set or on the paper. Puddles in nature study are messes to deal with.

Use a tiny cup of water, because you will need so little water to rinse your brush between colors. If a puddle develops in your paints, gently blot the excess up with a paper towel.

Paint Set :

Remember that your paints are not toy paints. They are artist quality paints and brushes. It would be a good idea to keep them just for the purpose of Nature Study.

The colors in your paint set should be kept clean. You will need to always rinse your brush when you are changing colors. To make a new color, you will use your mixing tray, which is the lid. Save the large center section for mixing green, because that is the most commonly mixed color.

Color Mixing

Note about Green : we have found it best to avoid using Pre Mixed Green that comes with paint sets. ( just remove it from the tray ). That green is NOT the color of any plants , and you will find you can match the green you need for your specimen almost exactly with a bit of practice. In fact, green is what we will learn to mix first.

At the end of your nature study for that day, do not clean your mixing tray off. Let it sit open and dry just the way it is. You can use those colors again another time.

Nature Study Lesson 2 of 2 : Studying Nature

Steps of Nature Study :

1. Find some Nature to be in. Your yard. A park. Hiking trail. Walk for a bit if you are on a trail.

2. Share a scripture .. even if it is short. You or a friend or a parent can read something out loud, or even recite something you have put to memory.

3. Choose something for your study : leaves, acorns, sticks, rocks, flowers, insects, webs, cacoons, seed pods, etc ….

4. Spend your One Minute Observation. No talking during this time, just notice everything you possibly can about the thing you chose.

5. Share your observations with others .. telling back ( narrating ) with words

6. Use your pencil to write the Name, the Latin Name, the Date and the Location in the four corners. You can do this later if you don’t have the information with you ( meaning a field guide or book ). This can make good copy work. Also, a short description of the place, or the day, or who you were with, or a poem or lyric that your child connects with the time can be included on a facing page or another part of the page if it is large enough

7. Use watercolor Dry Brush technique to paint your specimen ( see above ).

We should only paint what we see on our specimens, without adding any other colors or extra things. Try matching colors by mixing as much as you can. Younger students will greatly benefit from an adult helping with a light pencil sketch/outline to guide them. Olders can freehand.

Remember that the point of nature study is not to create a perfect copy of the specimen. It is time to give some full attention to creation, thereby learning more of who the Creator is. Dry Brush watercolors are a great way to slow down and notice the subtleties of creation, but a pencil sketch or colored pencils or watercolor pencils can also bring the same internal results: drinking in beauty and capturing it in the mind.

Great website to check : Handbook of Nature Study ( the above photos were are from this site )

Listen to Debra and Holley-Ann Dobbins presenting a workshop at the Childlight USA conference on Nature Study here. ( scroll down to bottom of page to find them )

Go to Nature Study book : Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study ( shop around and if you can afford it, find a hard cover version ).

I know many of you have other great Nature Study resources to share with us .. and that is what this blog is for, friends ! Share away, please !