April 11, 2024

Nature Journaling at the Beach

Maria visits a local beach and sketches her view of the scenery and wildlife with her A5 Art Toolkit and Demi Palette.

By The Art Toolkit Team

An open sketchbook and toolkit lay on a log next to a monocular, sit pad, and backpack as someone walks past the log.

Today, we are nature journaling at the beach! Art Toolkit founder Maria Coryell-Martin visited Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend on a bright winter day. She found a spot on a log and spent about half an hour sketching her view of the surrounding landscape and wildlife.

Follow along as Maria demonstrates how to observe the natural world around you and capture a range of subjects on a single sketchbook page.

Watch Maria’s full demonstration below.

Pack List for the Beach

A green backpack and blue art toolkit rest on a log at the beach.
Maria was fully equipped for sitting on the beach to sketch.

When sketching out in nature, it can be nice to pack a few extra supplies to ensure you’re comfortable and can take your time, no matter the conditions. In addition to her Art Toolkit and palette, Maria packed some extra items:

  • Sitpad

  • Water bottle or thermos of warm tea

  • Snacks

  • Monocular* or binoculars

  • A5 Art Toolkit full of sketching supplies

*Maria loves having something lightweight and compact for her daily carry. She has a tiny Nikon 7x15 monocular and likes that she can peek through it with one eye and then down to her sketchbook easily. Binoculars are great, too, when she has the space for them!

Maria’s Art Toolkit

A person uses a waterbrush to sketch a beatch scene with a toolkit and palette in their lap on a lot.
A Toolkit full of supplies means you have everything within reach.
A demi palette with 9 vibrant colors is clipped to a sketchbook on a blue toolkit
Maria packed a Demi Palette she made for a recent demonstration, Getting to Know Your Palette.

Mini Pans
Left to right: Raw Sienna, Perelyne Red, Cobalt Teal Blue, Green Gold, Buff Titanium, Neutral Tint 

Standard Pans
Left to right: Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Rose, Cobalt Blue

Sketching Tips from Maria

  • Add notes for your sense of place, the “w” questions are a good place to start: who, what, where, when, why, and weather!

  • I like to think about the ink as the “bones” of the sketch and the watercolor brings it to life. When I add color, I usually paint top to bottom, background to foreground. 

  • Add notes to your sketches to help remember what you observed with all your senses.

Prompt

A person in a windbreaker and hat holds up an open sketchbook and looks away from the camera, gazing out at the beach.

Find a time to observe the natural world! Whether you explore nearby beaches, a grassy field, or a sandy terrain, we invite you to pack some supplies for a more extended sit-down and set a timer for 30 minutes while you observe and sketch the land and animals you spot!


Thank you for following along with this nature journaling demo! We hope it inspires you to go outside, observe your surroundings, and have fun!

We love seeing what you create! Tag us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube @arttoolkit.
An artist sites on a rock, dipping a paintbrush in a Pocket Palette.

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