Nature Journaling for Beginners: Train Observation with Drawing and Words

What Is Nature Journaling? A Notebook That Turns "Looking" into "Observing"

Definition and origin of the term

Nature journaling is the habit of recording nature you have seen outdoors with your own eyes in a single notebook using three things: pictures, words and numbers. You do not need to draw as neatly as a field guide. What matters is leaving the "observer's viewpoint": what you saw, felt and wondered about on that day in that place.

The person known for popularizing the term is Clare Walker Leslie, an American wildlife artist and educator. For more than 40 years she has taught ways to connect with nature by combining drawing, writing and observation, and has written more than ten books. Naturalist John Muir Laws (known as Jack), influenced by her book Nature Drawing: A Tool for Learning, published The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling in 2016; it was translated in Japan by Tsukiji Shokan.

How it differs from diaries, sketches and field notes

Many similar habits exist, but nature journaling differs a little in purpose and rules. Sorting out the differences makes starting feel lighter.

Why start by the sea

The habit works in mountains and forests too, but the seaside suits beginners. The tides change the scenery every day, so just returning to the same place reveals differences. Shells on the sand, crabs on rocks, washed-up seaweed, the colors of sky and sea: there is no end of subjects at your feet. Umi Lab focuses on how to record by starting from seaside observation.

Why Does Drawing Deepen Memory and Understanding? The "Drawing Effect" in Research

The University of Waterloo drawing-effect studies

The rule of thumb that "drawing helps you remember" has experimental support. Myra Fernandes, Jeffrey Wammes and colleagues at the University of Waterloo in Canada compared how many words people could recall later after writing them versus drawing them. Drawn words were repeatedly remembered better than written ones, and participants often recalled more than twice as many. The researchers named this the "drawing effect."

Notably, drawing skill did not affect the results. Even when drawing a word took only 4 seconds, memory was reported to be better than for writing alone. In other words, practicing to draw well is not required to gain the memory benefit.

Why it works: three kinds of encoding at once

Researchers explain that drawing makes you encode a word verbally, as an image, and through hand movement at the same time. You check the object in detail, translate it into lines, and record it with your hand. Information is thus imprinted in several ways, which likely gives you more cues when recalling it later.

• Verbal encoding: organizing names and features in words
• Pictorial encoding: holding shape, color and layout as an image
• Motor encoding: hand movement becomes a memory cue

How observation changes: fewer "I thought I saw it" moments

Another big practical benefit is losing the illusion of having seen. When you try to draw a shell, you realize you did not know whether the spiral turned right or left, or whether the rim was jagged or smooth, until just before drawing. The moment you try to draw, you see what you had not seen. This is the core effect of nature journaling for building observation skills.

A Lineage from Darwin: Why Have Scientists Kept Notebooks?

Beagle voyage notes that prepared the theory of evolution

The habit of observing and recording nature is almost the history of science itself. Charles Darwin traveled the world from 1831 to 1836 on the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Beagle, leaving huge numbers of observation notes and specimens. His observations of places such as the Galapagos Islands later led to the theory of natural selection. His notes worked less as a tool for reaching conclusions than as material for thinking again later.

Naturalists in Japan

In Japan too, Edo-period honzogaku (herbal studies), natural-history illustration and modern naturalists recorded nature by combining sketches and explanatory text. Minakata Kumagusu is known for carefully recording slime molds and fungi with illustrations. Nature journaling can be seen as turning this tradition of observing, recording and thinking into something ordinary people can enjoy.

In today's conservation work

The Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACS-J) has also featured efforts to record familiar nature in drawings in its magazine Shizen Hogo. Having citizens who notice changes in nature, not only experts, is regarded as a starting point of conservation.

Preparing to Start: A Pencil and a Notebook Are Enough

The minimum kit and useful extras

The most common failure is getting stuck choosing tools and never starting. The minimum kit is just one notebook and a pencil (or pen). For the seaside, add useful extras as in the table below.

Choosing a notebook: blank or grid

A plain or lightly gridded notebook is recommended. Thick ruled lines make drawing hard, while a very large notebook is a nuisance to carry. Choose a first notebook that is inexpensive and fine to ruin. A beautiful notebook creates the tension of "I must not spoil it" and records do not last.

Safety preparation: always check tide and weather

If you observe by the sea, it is important to check the tide table before you go. The Japan Meteorological Agency publishes tide predictions nationwide, and knowing the low-tide window lets you pick a good time for rocky-shore observation. Also check wave and weather forecasts, and do not push yourself on rough days. The Japan Coast Guard also publishes information on preventing accidents at sea.

The Basic Format: Build One Page with "Notice, Wonder, Be Reminded"

Three prompts proposed by Laws

When you do not know what to write, three openers introduced by Laws help: "I notice," "I wonder," and "It reminds me of." Just asking yourself these three in order deepens observation naturally.

Five elements on one page

A page becomes a record you can reread later when it has the following five elements. They need not all be perfect; three is enough.

1. Date, time, place and weather (the heading of the record)
2. Tide state (low or high tide, tide level, etc.)
3. Drawing (the shape of the subject, whole and details)
4. Words (observations, questions, impressions)
5. Numbers (size, count, air and water temperature, etc.)

Draw from "whole to detail"

First draw the outline of the subject large, then add only the conspicuous features. Details can come last. Rather than overdrawing, adding labels with arrows increases the information in your observation. A short note such as "shell about 3 cm tall" or "five legs on each side" becomes a clue later when you compare with a field guide.

What to do when you cannot draw well

• Break the subject into simple shapes such as circles, squares and triangles
• Make a "contour-only drawing" by connecting lines in the order you see them
• If you cannot draw, words alone are fine (partly supplemented by photos)
• Limit yourself to five minutes per subject, then move on

What to Observe by the Sea and Recording Tips

Tide-pool creatures: record how fast things change

Rocky-shore tide pools are places where the environment changes greatly between high and low tide. When the water recedes, temperature and salinity fluctuate, and crabs, hermit crabs, sea anemones and sea urchins have ways of coping. Drawing a simple map of where you found each creature helps you see the characteristics of its habitat when you look back. See also our article on tide-pool creatures and observation manners.

Sandy beaches: read the sea's movement from washed-up items

Shells, seaweed, driftwood, pumice and litter are washed up on sandy beaches. Drift items reflect the currents, seasonal winds and recent weather in that sea area. If you observe and record the same beach from the same spot once a month, seasonal change becomes visible. When you find litter, counting and recording its type and number can also help citizen surveys.

Colors of sky and sea, clouds, waves: keep them as numbers

Not only creatures but also the color of sky and sea, cloud shapes, wave height and wind direction are fine subjects. Paint changes in sea color with colored pencils, and write down air and water temperature as numbers if you can measure them. After a year, the passing seasons pile up in one notebook.

The case for fixed-point observation at one place

The most effective approach is to visit the same place repeatedly. Going to one spot lets you notice small changes better than visiting a different place each time. Discoveries such as "there is seaweed that was not here last month" or "the shells on this rock have decreased" become reliable records because you have a notebook.

Linking Records to Ocean Conservation: Nature Journaling as Citizen Science

When a notebook becomes "data"

Depending on how it is used, a personal observation notebook can become scientific data. The Ikimono Log, run by the Biodiversity Center of Japan under the Ministry of the Environment, is a system where citizens, groups and experts can register and share information on living things. From the smartphone app you can also record the location of an observation through GPS photos. If you photograph creatures you observed in your notebook and register them with date and place, they become valuable material for understanding changes in local nature.

It is fine if you do not know the name

Many people hesitate to record because they do not know a creature's name, but in nature journaling you can look up the name later. In some years the Ikimono Log has offered a "species identification support" service in which experts help identify species, and recording first and checking afterward is the recommended flow. Writing the features carefully in your notebook speeds up identification.

Combine with recording marine litter

When observing by the sea you will often notice drifted litter. Citizen activities that count and record the type, number and place of litter take place in many areas. See our article on citizen science and marine litter for details. If you add a "litter I found today" column to your notebook, you can keep both enjoyment and conservation in one volume.

Manners for observing without harming nature

• Do not take creatures home; return them to where they were after observing
• If you turn over a stone, always put it back
• Some places and species are protected from collecting, so check beforehand
• Do not disturb other people or fishers at work
• If you find litter, take it home to the extent that is safe

Building a System to Keep Going: Avoiding the Three-Day Slump

Start with "once a week," not "every day"

The biggest obstacle to forming a habit is how high the bar is. It is more realistic to start with 15 minutes once a week than to try every day. On days you cannot get to the sea, draw the sky from your window or a nearby park. Nature is not only the sea but also right at your feet.

Allow yourself not to "finish"

If you try to complete a page, you will not keep going. It is enough to stop partway and add to it next time. Imperfect pages are often the most charming when you look back.

Make time to look back

If you set aside time about once a month to look through your notebook, you can feel seasonal change and the growth of your own observation. Comparing with "a drawing of the same place half a year ago" shows that your eye has developed.

Using it with family and at school

When doing it with children, the key is not to judge their drawings. Adults only need to ask for impressions and ask, "Why did you think so?" It is also easy to use in school integrated-study time and local nature walks, and sharing what you observed deepens learning.