Drawing With Children-Les 5 Watercolors in Your Nature Journal

This is the long awaited final blog entry in the series on Drawing with Children-Nature Journal Style. ( If you want to read the other entries, they are listed on my left-sidebar.) Watercoloring is the medium that I will share with you this time and show you how we use it in our personal nature journals. I know there are lots of ways to incorporate watercolors into your nature study but I will focus on how to do so in your journals while you are out and about.

Please note: Nature journals take many forms. What my journal looks like is different than what yours will look like. The idea of offering this series of Drawing with Children entries for nature journals has been to offer different ideas and ways to go about keeping a record for your personal enjoyment. I have shared before that we don't always make an entry with every hike or outing. I make lots of entries and my boys make a few entries. If you are interested in seeing the variety of ideas we incorporate in our journals....here is an entry I wrote awhile back.

Drawing in Your Nature Journal-My personal journal and thoughts on how to make it your own


So if you are reading Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes, you can follow along with her lessons for watercolors on pages 167-169. Here she gives you step by step instructions for offering watercolors to your children. I would suggest following the lesson and then letting your children practice on watercolor paper. After you feel comfortable with the medium, try using it in your nature journal.

We take our journaling supplies with us on every trip we take. Our recent trip to the desert in Arizona was no exception. Here is a photo of what I packed to take along with us in case we felt inclined to stop and draw.


This is the dollar store box that holds all the supplies. I am sure you can find something similar if you try the dollar store or Wal*Mart or another local discount store. This one is the perfect size for slipping into a backpack.


Here is what I take along inside. From left to right:
Prang semi-moist watercolors-purchased at Michael's
Ziploc bag with assorted sizes of brushes
Scissors-never know when you will need these :)
Small yogurt cup for water
Black gel roller pen
Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils in a metal box (underneath the sketch books)
Sketch book 9 x 6 size with 60 lb paper- I carry two of these so the boys can use one too

That's it. I rarely need more than that for "on the road" sketching and painting. Inside the watercolor pencil box I do carry an extra sketch pencil. I don't worry about carrying water since we either have a water bottle along on the hike or we find some water where we are going like in a lake, a stream, or a river.





Sometimes I will sketch with a pen and then watercolor it later.


However you decide to use watercolors in your nature journal, you will love the results. Try to make one entry a month and you will soon have a good start on your personal nature record. Don't be intimidated by the blank page. Come back regularly and go over the entries in this series and you may be inspired to do another page or two.

I also have a link on my sidebar to some watercolor tutorials. If you want some additional help, be sure to check that link out.


Barb-Harmony Art Mom