Learning to draw elements of the natural world is a wonderful way to enhance a hike in a new area or even a picnic in the park. One of the best ways to get started is to think small. As your ability to observe and record increases, so will your personal "snapshots" of the world around you.
Instructions
1. Start by thinking small. The natural world contains so many textures, shapes and colors that it can seem harder to cram into a drawing than a carefully-chosen still-life. Get acquainted with small elements easily within your grasp--stones, small plants, twigs and leaves. Gradually expand your vision: the stone on the edge of a water-pool, small plants among the grass and weeds, twigs and leaves on a tree or bush.
2. Learn to look carefully in the moment. Drawing from nature can be both fascinating and frustrating because the nature of nature is change. A starfish on the shore gets covered by the next wave, which leaves behind bubbles, scum or seaweed not in your original background, and, just as you begin to figure out what to add, here comes another wave. The perfect dandelion head gets a hair cut from a stray breeze. You will need to be flexible or learn to carry a camera to record exactly what you want to draw.
3. Consider working at least partly from photographs for complex drawings. This is not an abandonment of "creativity," but rather an opportunity to practice and sharpen your skills.
4. Keep even small sketches of natural objects. Revisiting or finding a similar object, you will observe more clearly and in greater detail if you have had a chance to review your previous attempts to draw it.
5. Feel free to change your focus at any time, to take advantage of all the variety nature has to offer. Rocks just may not be your thing, so take a stab at clouds. Try something you haven't tried before. There is, after all, a whole world out there.
