Zoo Sketching

So the wife and I went to the zoo for our anniversary on Friday. I wanted to flex my on the spot sketching muscles a little so instead of a camera I took the trusty Moleskine, a pencil and some Copic pens. Here are the results.

Giraffes wiggle a lot more than you would think. Very hard to try and get the patterning down before they move away.

That lion is just like a big house cat. I picked this pose and the minute I started sketching he rolled over onto his back. Jerk.

I have done many sketches of Kelly for a children's book. I love drawing elephants.

I was drawing the cassowary and it kept coming to the fence right in front of me where it would just stop and stare. Creeped me the hell out. Stupid dinosaur...

And this guy was my best model. He just sat his vulture tail on the faux zebra corpse for about 10 minutes while I sketched away to my heart's content.

There may be news of zoo painting coming in the near future. Stay tuned and I'll let you know when I know.

Action Ideas

Sometimes I jot down quick little things that come to me.  This is one of them.

It was just an idea I got since I've been re-reading the Tarzan novels my grandfather bought me a long time ago.  Also inspired (not a little) by the Frazetta sketchbook my wife got me for my birthday.

Education Public Service Announcement

I meant to get this up last week but I've been sick and it kind of fell through the cracks. So here it is now...

At some point I'm going to take on the meaningless-ness of "No Child Left Behind" but we'll start with this...

Whale Coloring!

I helped out the folks at work with some coloring pages for a family event about the new exhibit about whales.  These were some designs I had submitted for something else that weren't used so I let them be used for this.  I think they're pretty fun.

And this next one was originally a vertical design but I felt it worked better horizontally.

Enjoy!

First Plein Air of the New Year!

Thanks to the psychotic weather this year we are a little over a week out from being snowed in last week and today it was 70 degrees out.  So I took advantage to get in the first outdoor painting of the year!

There is a tree next to where I park at work that I am obsessed with.  It is a gnarly, bent, kudzu covered old thing that is just fascinating.  This isn't the first time I've painted it and it probably won't be the last (perhaps a nice pen & ink?).

So I did that this afternoon. 

Snow-cation 2014: The Icening

We're stuck inside for Atlanta's second go-round of wintry bluster this year.  Today's contribution is simple: snow makes me think of Young Harris College and my fantastic friends from there and getting to stay inside means I will inevitably start sketching.  So then I get this:

Easy connection to make!  Stay warm, everybody!

Aaaaah! I Wasn't Sleeping...I Swear!

It's February already!  And I haven't posted ONCE this year!  I swear though, it is because I am swamped with projects.  Work, a couple of family projects, and the infamous book I've been working on for FAR too long (but I am very close to completion).  But I figured I could show a couple of things I'm doing so as to not let my lease on this space expire.

 Sketch-ey goodness for the coming year!

First up, a work-up for a niece requested painting...

Next, the first idea I had for a new series that I will begin work on shortly.  (It probably needs an explanation, but I'm not going to.  It's more fun to leave it as a mystery.)

And finally a new sketch of my best model recently...Jasmine.

I'm gonna try her in watercolor soon.

All in all looking to be a good year!