How to Keep a Naturalist's Notebook

By Susan Leigh Tomlinson

A one-of-a-kind, art-filled how-to guide geared to wildlife students and naturalists, based on the author's college course. Pages from actual field notebooks clearly illustrate what works and why. Hints and advice for outdoorspeople with even limited artistic skills.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stackpole Books
• Release date: Dec 15, 2009
• ISBN: 9780811742078

Book preview

years.

1. Getting Started

We have no knowledge and so we have stuff and stuff with no knowledge is never enough to get you there.

—Greg Brown, Two Little Feet

You don’t need a lot of gear to get started on your journey into learning about nature. As Greg Brown points out in his song Two Little Feet, John Muir went into the mountains with an old overcoat and a crust of bread, and he seemed to do all right. As much as I love gear, I have to remind myself sometimes that it isn’t about having a lot of stuff; it is about the knowledge and experience I gain from observing and participating in the natural world. The tools required to start and maintain a naturalist’s notebook are simple and few. At the most basic end of the spectrum, all you really need is a writing instrument and some paper. Most of the time, in fact, all I carry is a sturdy notebook and a mechanical pencil.

That said, there are a few items you can add to your kit that will make your field experience easier and more enjoyable. I have used all of these, and continue to use most from time to time, depending on my needs. The list below is not a prescription but a suggestion based on my own experiences.

The Field Kit

FIELD NOTEBOOK

Over the years, I’ve tried out many different types of field notebooks, searching for the perfect blend of portability, ease of use, and paper tooth—the way the surface of the paper interacts with your writing or drawing instrument. What I have found is that in the realm of journals,¹ as in the rest of life, there is no such thing as a perfect solution.

A small, pocket journal works just fine if all I want to do is make short notes to myself about a piece of writing I’m working on at home or briefly describe a plant or bird I’d like to identify later. But I find small pages confining when I want to draw or write a longer piece. I just can’t seem to be creative when I’m feeling spatially cramped by the page. This probably has more to do with the way my hand is supported when I draw, since I don’t have a problem drawing small, just with drawing on a small page. So most of the time I carry a journal that is about 8.5 × 5.25 inches in size. Here again, however, I have different preferences and use a ruled journal when I plan to do more writing than drawing, and one with blank pages when I want to draw and paint.

For ruled pages, I prefer a notebook made by a company called Moleskine. There’s no special reason for this—I just find that the line spacing and tooth of the pages suit me. Also, the pages are thin, so there are lots of them in a slender volume. Any ruled journal this size will do, however.

I also use, as my principal sketching/drawing/watercolor field notebook, the Moleskine Large Sketchbook. The pages have pretty good tooth, and they are stiff enough to hold up to light water coloring without buckling. However, it is a little pricey (simply because it has fewer pages than most similarly sized sketchbooks) and sometimes hard to find. I also prefer the Moleskine notebooks because they open flat. Spiral-bound notebooks will do this as well, and many people enjoy using these. I’m left-handed, however, and find that the wire coil gets in the way of my hand, so I’ve never been able to work comfortably using such a notebook.

For an inexpensive, readily available field notebook to use for drawing and painting, the Strathmore 8.5 × 11.5–inch Hardbound Sketchbook is hard to beat. There are lots of pages because they are relatively thin, but they are stiff enough to handle a little water when I use my watercolor pencils (though they do buckle slightly). The tooth works very well with both pen and pencil and gives good results whether you are trying to draw a fine line or do a little shading. And since it is cheap, you don’t feel like you are making a big investment when you buy one.

This last point is an important one. When you go into a book or art supply store, you’ll often find rows and rows of fancy journals from which to choose. While I think what you ultimately pick will be a personal preference, I suggest you stay away from any that are too expensive. To journal well, you need to feel the freedom to mess up—often. Especially if you are learning to sketch or trying out writing ideas, many of your efforts will look half-finished and less than perfect. This is not only to be expected, it is a good sign, since it means you have the courage to try new things.

I’ve purchased my share of expensive journals with rich, textured papers on which to write. They are all still on my bookshelf, largely untouched. Every time I open one, I feel compelled to write something important in it—something befitting its esteemed status. The trouble is that the best journaling is often exploratory, sometimes random, and usually just plain routine. Fancy journals are not the place for the everyday, and the everyday world is a big part of what we are recording. In my notebooks, I have sketches of grasses, grocery lists, variations in sentences from poems that I am working on (over and over and over . . . ). Not only are the expensive journals intimidating, it usually seems the snazzier the tome, the fewer the pages. And since you’ll be carrying these notebooks into the field with you, where they are going to get kicked around quite a bit, tough and utilitarian is the better way to go. In the best of all possible worlds, you’ll take your journal hiking, backpacking, fishing, canoeing, and so on, so you’ll want one that can go the distance with you.

In summary, the features you want to look for in a notebook are as follows: inexpensive, durable, lightweight and not too big, good tooth, and plenty of pages. In the end, you’ll develop your own preferences, of course, but if I had to pick only one journal, or one to start out with, I’d pick the Strathmore sketchbook. It is a good, inexpensive, all-around workhorse.

FIELD BAG

Like the journal, I’ve probably tried out every field bag on the market looking for the optimum fit between ease of use, portability (i.e. not too heavy), and amount of stuff it can hold. And, like the journal, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as the perfect bag. Instead, I have my specialized lumbar pack for trail running, my birding bag for trips devoted solely to that endeavor (I can stuff it with binoculars, field guide, and lunch), another lumbar pack for fly-fishing, a small see-through dry bag for canoeing, and my everyday bag.

My everyday bag is a bit of a misnomer, since I don’t actually carry a bag every day. (I find it hard to convince myself to even carry a purse!) Whenever I do go for a walk in the local parks and trails with the intention of doing some sketching and journaling, however, it easily holds my field notebook, pencil box, eyeglasses, compass, and hand lens.

It doesn’t matter what you use for your everyday bag (I go back and forth between a purse-sized shoulder bag and a small daypack); it just needs to be one that is large enough to hold your notebook and some sketching supplies, but not so big that you feel a wave of panic at slipping it over your shoulder when you head out the door. There are a variety of possibilities on the market; just look for a bag that is durable and large enough to hold your notebook and a few extra items, and it should suffice. Whether you want a shoulder or a lumbar bag is your choice, but for what it’s worth, for everyday use I’ve gravitated toward the shoulder system because it is easy to slip on and off.

DRAWING, PAINTING, AND WRITING TOOLS

You don’t need anything especially fancy to make notes and sketches in your journal. Most of my sketching, in fact, is done with a mechanical pencil with a good eraser on top and filled with 0.5 mm HB lead. I find this sufficient for most of my needs. Even so, there are a few simple things you can put in your kit that could prove useful or enjoyable. Here is a short list of suggestions:

Ink Pens

Though artists once used nibbed pens and India ink for many of their field drawings, materials have become a lot more convenient. Although any inexpensive, waterproof, fine-lined, felt-tipped pens could probably suffice in a pinch, I find that they tend to skip a great deal and can be frustrating. The best pens for sketching are those made specifically for artists and drafters, which can be found in most artists’ supply stores. I currently use one by Faber-Castell that comes in a variety of line sizes, but there are other companies that make equally good ones. My main criteria in choosing a pen, aside from the quality of line I can lay down on the paper, is that the ink is waterproof—that way I don’t have to be concerned about my work running if the paper gets wet.

Pencils

As I said above, I do most of my sketching with a mechanical pencil. However, I sometimes also carry along some old-fashioned drawing pencils for any sketches that require shading techniques. They come in different hardnesses, with H being harder (lighter) and B softer (darker). I usually keep an HB, B, and 2B in my pencil box and find that these three suit all my shading needs.

Tools for Shading

For help in shading, I sometimes use something called a blending stump. These are pencil-shaped rolls of paper with pointed ends that do just what their name suggests. They can be found at any art supply store. I prefer a number 3 size for portability. You could use your finger in a pinch, but it doesn’t work as well, and you’ll probably leave smudges on the rest of the paper after you do your blending.

Erasers

For erasing—which you might need to do, either because you’ve made a mistake or for highlighting techniques—a soft white eraser works better than most. You only need a little bit, though, so I cut mine in half with a knife to save some space in my kit. Some people prefer a kneadable eraser because it makes it