Zoo Sketching!

Hello readers, it's been a while. I've been pretty busy with work. Please forgive me and continue visiting! Here's some sketches from my zoo trip!

Little kids are great when the sketching is good. This little boy was pleading his mom to look at my sketchbook, but I think she wanted to give me privacy. I volunteered and she seemed genuinely impressed. That feels good.

 Crowds of people block the view sometimes, but that shouldn't stop the flow of ink.

A girl doesn't often get to ride a lion... Here's a picture of me at the entrance of the San Antonio Zoo.

Until next time!
Tiff

Bisbee

For the last 7 or 8 years I've wanted to go to Bisbee to paint. After years of excuses of why it's not feasible, financially or otherwise, I finally just went. Shoe string budget. Didn't even rent a car, explored on foot. Rice and beans most nights ($2.50 at the Savory Spot restaurant)

painting en plein air is hard work. I sweated through climbing the crags around Bisbee, the hikes up steep staircases, up and down streets and alleyways, with all my painting crap, searching for a shady spot to paint. I do two paintings a day, only one of it turns out good enough to post. Basically I'm out 10 hours out of every day just hiking and painting, with only a 9x12 painting to show for it at the end of the day. I got better the last few days though, mostly because the techniques started coming back to me from when I used to do this every weekend.

In my stay in Bisbee, I learned how incredibly friendly people are in small towns. I felt at home right away.

This is me and the cook Barry at the Apache Springs Cafe, the Inn's restaurant.

 This is me baking on Castle Rock itself

 The owner of the Inn Chris, helper of many wandering down-on-their-luck souls. A very kind person.

 and his lovely girlfriend

 James James James the innkeeper. We talked till 4am one night! We even painted together one evening. He was my rock in Bisbee, always ready to hang out.

 Lori, who is an aspiring artist. I loved seeing such passion in a young girl.

 Tell Hicks, famous artist I met on the plane! We hit it off so quickly!!! The stories he tells me, oh my. Hitchhiking across Europe, the Middle East, Australia... amazing stories. Inspirational ones. I hope our paths cross again.

One person I'm omitting a picture of is Hazel, the cook for the dinner parties held at the Inn. She doesn't like her picture taken.She is such a darling woman, so full of life and energy. I am indebted to her for her wisdom. She's the kind of person who makes everyone feel good about themselves. I felt that I was her baby chick and she was the mother hen when I was at Bisbee. :)

Artist Death Grip + San Antonio Wildlife Ranch + Figure Drawing Practice

Why take the time to draw from life when there's a billion photographs of animals and people? The main reason is that cameras flatten and distort pictures. It's impossible to see dimensionality with just one lens. You need two eyes to see depth. Your understanding of the forms are truly better when you draw from life. This comes in handy when you're doing actual animal design from imagination, which I do quite a bit at work. It's so freakin' hard though, the animals sure love to move.

showed my boss my drawings, and he said I was "bold" drawing with a pen. If only he knew, I'm a scared little girl when I draw, especially in public. But I overcome as best as I can. I don't doubt that my public audience understands the difficulty, so I really shouldn't be scared. My main audience are usually kids going "WOW SHES DRAWING THE __insert animal name here___", and let me tell you, children are brutally honest. They will tell you if you've failed.

 I got to practice my Artist Death Grip today.

target acquired....

 approaching target...

DEATHGRIP!!!!! target eliminated. I killed the poor llama.

Now me and the sheep can run away together, without pesky llama in the way. dude look at my boney ass chest. when did that happen. probably the other day when i turned into an old hag. (34th birthday)

ok here are some figure drawings from last week:

I guess that's about it.

A dump of sketches

I have been practicing!
7-15 minute sketches:

1 minute sketches:

and from the zoo:

cut

Unexpected Sketching

A few days ago, this nice woman was grooming her dogs right outside my office. Her dogs were beautiful. I asked if I could sketch them and she said yes! I made a friend, and she got some sketches of her dogs. Happy day. :)