Animals

Our next task for weeks three and four are to study and draw a variety of animals, some of which may or may not be real. Animals and creatures have been documented throughout the ages, many by artists who worked to create an image of a creature with nothing but eye-witnessed reports. The results were less than realistic but always interesting.

This is what those in medieval England thought a Crocodile looked like.

 

 

During the two weeks we had trips to Flamingo land zoo where we were able to view some of the more exotic breeds in their enclosures. We also had a trained handler visit the studio with some of his fury and not so fury friends.

 

These were some of my favourite days as I adore all animals great and small, even the eight-legged whopper I plucked up the courage to hold. Strike one off the bucket-list! Though I am still terrified of the smaller, scurrying buggers that continue to invade my house... Oh well.

 

 

 

 Above are the sketches when some of the animals paid a visit to our studio. The baby Meerkats while very cute, turned out to be the most difficult to draw, simply because they moved so fast. Luckily all the practice doing Reportage the weeks before came in handy and I was able to create some very nice images, that I think have captured the form and motion of the critter.

 

Flamingo Land zoo was a lot of fun which a lot of wonderful animals on display. Most of which where inside their enclosures but some (like the Peacock and Squirrels) freely roamed the park grounds. Others were part of shows that ran every few hours and I was able to watch at least one of those featuring some amazing birds. The Barn Owl was especially cute and a lot smaller than I ever imagined.

My favorite drawings from that day had to be of the Baboons. They are a wonderful animal with so much character and an adorable facial expression. I was lucky enough to witness a female carry one of the troops younger members and parade right by where I sat.

The rest of my research came in the form of books and images found on the internet as well as some family pets.