An experiential, observational and creative arts, art history, science and nature journaling workshop.

1. The following Presentation was created by:
Sarah Stone Art
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product is an educational resource, and my primary intent is to provide educational content for the
advancement of the study of art and art history in conjunction with the core subjects of history, math,
science and language arts.

2. The NaturalistThe Naturalist’’s Notebooks Notebook
An Exploration of the Art of Discovery.

3. They seem like different things, but they have more in commonThey seem like different things, but they have more in common
than you might imagine.than you might imagine.
Art and Science

4. The systematic study of the structure and
behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
science | sīəns|ˈ noun
Which could also be a really good definition for
observational art.

5. Drawing and painting are ways that we interpret what we observe.
Nomadic prehistoric people drew images of the animals they
observed in their surroundings.

6. When human tribes began developing settled
communities during the Neolithic era (9000-3000 bce)

7. This is one of the oldest maps ever found.
Dating from 6200 BCE it depicts the
Neolithic village, “CATAL HOYUK”, in what is
now Turkey.
...it became necessary for people to know where they were in
relationship to their surroundings. This way traveling traders and
visitors could find them. People had to put themselves “on the map”.

8. Perhaps the earliest natural history book ever written was the
Naturalis Historiae written in 77 AD. by a Roman officer and
author named Pliny the Elder.
Pliny (pronounced Plin-ee) lived during the reigns of the
Roman Emperors Claudius, Nero and Vespasian.
Pliny

9. Pliny documented strange and interesting animals and people from
far away lands, gathering his information from the travels of sailors
and soldiers. Some descriptions were very accurate, and others... not
so much:
“It is reported that, on (the shores of Ethiopia),
four or five Dragons wrap together… and travel thus across
the seas to (search for food) in Arabia,
cutting the waves and bearing their heads aloft like sails.”

10. In the 12th
and 13th
centuries, Pliny’s descriptive
entries about exotic and mythical animals were used by artists to
created medieval picture books called “Bestiaries”.
Dragon attacking an Elephant Basilisk

11. Around this same
time period, (1254-
1324) a famous
explorer named
Marco Polo
traveled from
Italy to Asia. He
returned with
detailed descriptions
of the people,
animals, artifacts,
resources and
geography of the Far
East.

12. The Travels of Marco Polo
This illustrated
document of his
journeys
became the most
popular book of
it’s time.

13. In addition to information and illustrations,
Marco Polo returned to Europe with exotic spices. This ignited
a flurry of exploration to find a profitable sea route to Asia.

14. This era of exploration, sparked by spice, is known as the
“Age of Discovery”
(15th
– 17th
centuries)
Amerigo Vespucci
1454-1512
Christopher Columbus
1451-1506
Vasco Da Gama
1469-1524
With it came a new age of mapping, illustrating and documenting.

15. California Poppy
1815
Pallas’s Cormorant, extinct
1741
Explorers traveled around the world in search of new lands and
resources, bringing botanists and naturalists to record their discoveries.
Georg Wilhelm Stellar’s drawings of Giant Manatee, now extinct.
Sydney Parkinson drawing of a
Marmoset 1767

16. Hammock-1535
Uruguayan Indians-1603
They brought back information from newly
discovered territories in the Americas about plants,
geography, animals and cultures with which
Europeans were completely unfamiliar.
Arawak Indians-1492

17. This voyage, and two more that came after it,
are among the most famous in history, due in large part to their artists.
In 1768, the English sent an expedition to chart a mysterious continent.
Artists were sent to compile impressions of this continent
that was known only as “Terra Australis Incognita”,
meaning: Unknown Southern Land.

18. These expeditions are known as: The Voyages of
Captain Cook
A humble coal boat
named “The Endeavor”
was chosen to carry a
hand-picked group of
naval officers and
scientists to the farthest
reaches of the Pacific to
a continent we now know
as: Australia

19. Sydney Parkinson was one of the
Endeavor’s two artists. He made
the first sketches of the plants, animals and people
the Endeavor encountered. The expedition’s other artist,
Alexander Buchan, documented the landscapes.
Sydney Parkinson

20. These are some of the journal drawings Sydney Parkinson made on
the Endeavor expedition in 1769

21. In 1778 he published his drawings, maps, geological observations and
discoveries in a personal account of his journeys titled:
Travels through the Interior Parts of North America.
It was an instant best seller.
On the other side of the world on the mostly unknown continent of
North America, Jonathan Carver, a man from the English colony of Massachusetts,
was exploring the territories west of the
Mississippi River.

22. His detailed drawings of North America’s tribes and their cultural artifacts, the native
plants, and his maps of rivers and lakes excited the imaginations and desires of
Europeans curious about the available resources of this new land.
“A Man and Woman
of the Naudowessie”
1767
Illustration of Peace Pipe
Tobacco Plant

23. In 1802 France was at war with England. Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United
States, was aware of the costs of this war on France and saw an opportunity to buy a
French owned territory in North America for the United States. He deftly negotiated a
treaty with Napoleon Bonaparte to purchase this land from France.
This historic real-estate deal became known as
The Louisiana Purchase.
35 years after Carver cut his path through North America’s wilderness,
world events were aligning to set the stage for another epic journey
of adventure and discovery.

24. President Jefferson enlisted the services of William Clark and Meriwether
Lewis to head up a team of “intelligent officers with ten or twelve men to
explore (these lands) even to the Western Ocean”.
This group of men became known as
The Corps Of Discovery
The acquisition of this land increased the territory of the United States considerably.
Thomas Jefferson wanted to send a team into this wild,
uncharted land to find out what it held.

25. Drawing of a Northwest Coast canoe, William Clark, 1806
Head of Vulture, William Clark, 1806
Engraved Expedition Map, from drawing by William Clark, 1814
The Corps of Discovery did not
include any designated artists.
Each person on the mission was
required to perform several
duties.
Clark and Lewis each had a
hand in creating the naturalist
drawings and detailed maps that
made up the bulk of visual
information compiled from their
expedition.

26. Lewis and Clark’s expedition set a precedent for exploration of the American West.
In 1819, Major Stephen H. Long began a scientific expedition
with attention focused on the central and southern
Great Plains and the Front Range of the Rockies.

27. Recognizing the importance of scientific and artistic
observation, this exploring party included a botanist, a
zoologist, and two skilled artists to document the
discoveries of the journey.
These included
Thomas Say, a skilled artist and naturalist...

28. …and his assistant, Titian Ramsay Peale, artist/naturalist and son of the famous
Revolutionary war era painter, Charles Willson Peale.

29. Mark Catesby, 1754 Titian Peale, 1819
Leonardo Da Vinci
water study-1508
The subjects that Naturalist Artists choose to describe
can vary widely. The unifying theme is: what looks interesting?

30. In this workshop we are going to try to describe the nature we see.
What things might interest you as a naturalist?
What things might you as a discoverer/artist want to document?

31. We will create our own
Naturalist Notebooks
using artifacts, objects,
living things, and
anything from nature
that you would like to
include.
First, lets start with the
notebook.

32. Notebooks can be purchased or created. One example of a
purchased book is this one from Jerry’s Art-a-Rama.
It costs under $4.
But you might prefer to make your own.

33. To make a DIY sketch book, take about
20 sheets of 8.5 x 11 printer paper and
1 sheet of 8.5 x 11 card stock.
Fold in half with card stock on outside,as cover, for a 40 page booklet that
measures 8.5 x 5.5.
“Saddle Staple” the middle fold.
These staplers are available for use at popular print stores.

34. If you are doing this in a classroom and cannot go outside, gather as
many naturalist items as you can for your students to draw.
These might include:
Feathers
Seashells
Twigs
Leaves
Bones
Rocks
Minerals
Flowers
Eggs

35. Obviously going outside is preferable. If you can do
this, challenge your students to really experience their
environment:
Smell the air:
how many things can you smell?
Shut your eyes:
what different sounds do you hear?
Lie on the ground:
what do you feel?
Look at the world from ground level:
What do you see?
Walk around and explore:
what can you find?

36. Try this Thought
Experiment:
Imagine you are new to this continent, or this planet.
Using only words and pictures (created by you)
it is your Mission
to document all of the details you can of this new
world so that people at home
who have never seen this place
can share your experience.
How can you best describe
your observations to them?

37. If you are not in a state park, take samples of the things you are
drawing, like a leaf, flower or feather, to add to your notebook.
This will make your documentation even richer for the viewer.
(Note: State Parks do not allow removing items from their property.)

38. Most importantly: look at details.
We spend much of our time rushing without stopping to observe and
experience the many beautiful things that are
right in front of us.
This project is about slow looking and observation:
take time to smell the flowers!

39. www.sarahstoneart.com
Thank you for participating,
I hope you had fun!