Course Overview

Take your art outdoors and learn illustration techniques to capture the natural world’s beauty. With artist and instructor Gay Kraeger, you’ll discover sketching and watercolor methods for illustrated nature journaling. Start by loosening up with gesture sketches and watercolor washes, then use simple materials to create lifelike textures for trees, clouds, and more. Learn how to layer watercolors to convey distance, add dramatic clarity with ink, depict waterscapes, draw action-packed birds, and incorporate expressive lettering for meaningful nature journal pages.

Video Lesson List

1. Keep It Simple to Start

Meet Gay Kraeger and begin your journaling adventure. Learn how to create loose-leaf pages to overcome those first-page jitters, then head into the field to practice simple sketching techniques and applying watercolor washes.

20 min

2. Create Landscape Elements Quickly

Master quick techniques for capturing critical landscape elements. Use common household items as “machines” to turn watercolors into trees, grasses, clouds, waves, rocks, rust, and dirt, creating realistic and appealing textures.

29 min

3. Capturing a Landscape

Identify the background, middle ground, and foreground in any scene. Layer transparent watercolors to create a sense of depth, preserve detail, and realistically convey distance.

20 min

4. Adding Depth & Drama With Ink

Discover how selective strokes with black or white ink can add dimension to your watercolor landscapes. Use permanent markers for outlines and small details, and wet-erase markers to create dynamic shadows.

14 min

5. Capture Beauty & Drama of Water

Learn ways to preserve the paper’s white for highlights as you explore diverse waterscapes. Experiment with lifting pigment and adding white paint. Study surface textures, from calm to turbulent waves.

28 min

6. Capturing Action: Drawing Birds

Capture the fleeting motion of birds with simple sketching methods. Focus on conveying birds’ essence and action before transforming your sketches into refined illustrations.

12 min

7. Tie It Together With Typography

Bring your pages together with effective use of titles, dates, and notes. Explore lettering techniques and design tips for a cohesive and memorable journal, plus tips on binding your journal for long-term enjoyment.

16 min