Patient blog-followers,
The last two months have been a whirlwind of activity! July is always a wash; I co-direct a pre-college program for high school students, which, as you can imagine, takes up much of my time. But usually August affords me some time to catch up. Not so this year! I traveled extensively, from Nantucket to Maine to Texas and back home again, a new destination each week. If you would like a peek at what I was up to in Maine, take a look at my friend Julie's blog,
Orchid Grey.
However! I have not been shirking my responsibilities, artistically speaking. Normally I feel a little shy about posting sketches, but after last year's fantastic
Drawing Everyday exhibition at Montserrat, I see the benefit of sharing a sketchbook.
The sketchbook I'm sharing today is from my time in Texas in late August. I was interested in all the roadside signs along the highway, mainly because there's not much else along the highway:
On the second page above, you can see the real object of my sketchbook: drawing animals from life. I was lucky enough to make it to two excellent zoological gardens while in Texas, the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi, and the Dallas World Aquarium (one of my favorite places). Below are some sketches of the animals I encountered:
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| The shoebill stork from above had a seat, and a little blue penguin. |
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| Piranha! Also bottlenose dolphin. They were FAST |
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| Japanese spidercrab, and a jaguar resting its head in its paws. |
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| A jackass penguin's...back. |
I do as much drawing from life as I can when presented with an opportunity like this; drawing from life lends an understanding of the underlying structure for me, and probably for you, too!
Goodnight and good luck,
Chelsea
