Surprise!

I was warned, but I was not expecting this - - The Minnesota State Fair in sketches. See sketch #2.

Sketching At The Minnesota Zoo

There is so much good stuff going on in my life this week. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon at the zoo with a friend. It was one of those times where I planned ahead and decided that work could wait. I was taking an afternoon off. The underlying reason for the zoo visit was to attend the Indigo Girls concert at the zoo's outdoor amphitheater that evening (with no less than front row seats - - - I have amazing friends).

We arrive at the zoo around 1:30 and meandered throughout the exhibits. I wish that I would have brought my camera. Instead, I used my phone until I ran out of batteries. I also sketched. Here is what I wanted to sketch:

I got busy taking pictures. By the time, I put the camera down and warmed up, the Amur leopard moved, making it hard to see anything but his hindquarters. You guessed it. Sketch what you can see.

Whether I am warmed up or not, I can be sketching, sketching, sketching and it's just not really working. Then, boom. All of a sudden, I can see the shapes and do a reasonable job of recording what I see.

The same thing happened with the prairie dogs. Here are several attempts. The one below the words "prairie dog" had the potential to go somewhere good until the subject also decided to go somewhere good, which was away from and out of the sketch.

Random Thought

My life is good.

Learning how to draw and paint is introducing me to more good things and people out there in the world.

State Fair - Sketching Experience #4

I met up with folks who attended the second Minnesota State Fair Sketch Together gatherings. Again, I showed up and met people at 9:30, but did not go back for the post-sketch meeting at 4:30. There were several of the same people from Saturday. Again, everyone was very friendly and happy to be at the fair.

Today, I only sketched for about 45 minutes. What I learned from today's experience is that going to the fair four times in the first five days is tiring! Still, sketching at the fair in a mentally tired state beats a day at work or almost anything else.

Another challenge was that the animals that I encountered were restless. Most of the animal barns had recently turned over or were in the process of turning over. One was actually closed. There were very few of my favorite animals to sketch namely animals who are asleep or who are very, very tired.

This was my favorite sketch of the day. This cow was sleeping, but woke up and moved after I barely started. That's okay. It ended up being an experience about sketching parts of animals rather than sketching large sections of or a complete animal.

State Fair - Sketching Experience #3

Today was my third visit to the State Fair. It was a day to take in the sites and sounds of the fair. One of the highlights from today were going to one of the Minnesota Cooks presentations that featured friends of mine from York Farm. Another highlight was going to the 1 pm presentation in the Fine Arts building where I got to hear a watercolor artist, John Salminen, give a presentation and a demo.

As far as sketching goes, I learned a valuable lesson. Either sketch earlier in the day or make sure you know which days the animal barns turn over. That along with making a rookie error of forgetting that there is another animal barn way in the back made life a bit challenging. While I didn't really want to sketch cows that was my only option besides horses and I decided that cows would be easier.

I only had about 40 minutes, but that was okay. In truth, I think I was a little hung-over from sketching yesterday.

Here is the sketch that I liked the best.

None of the cows that I tried to sketch stayed very still. While I wanted to work on faces, it was challenging. My last sketch was a quick one of a cow's body, since this cow was eating.

The other interesting experience was going to the Education building and seeing the art created by kids from 1st grade to 12th grade who are in 4-H. I enjoyed looking at the drawings and paintings by these kids and young adults. Some of the work was amazing, but I was impressed by all of the kids putting their work out there. For a brief moment, I was a bit envious. I don't know why the drawing and painting bug didn't bit me earlier in my life. While I was feeling this way, I heard a man with his wife and young child bemoan that he just couldn't do any of this. He just could not draw. Give him a piece of wood and a saw and he could do something with it, but he just could not draw.

So many people feel this way and it's simply not true. I wanted to tell the guy that, but I didn't.

State Fair - Sketching Experience #2

Today, I went to the State Fair to sketch, sketch, sketch with me, myself and I. Given that it was rainy and early when I arrived, the grounds were mostly empty. At 9:30, I met up with a group of sketchers, since it was the first of the two Minnesota State Fair Sketch Together gatherings, organized by one of the Urban Sketchers in the Twin Cities. People were friendly and the organizer had buttons for everyone! When the group broke up to go and sketch, I headed to the swine barn.

This is my favorite sketch and it was a good way to approach sketching at the fair. Draw, use plumb lines, and show the refinements that represent the truer dimensions. I did not have enough room on my paper to correct the snout. It should have been a bit longer.  While I was working on this sketch, it was just me and the pig. All the rest of the hustle and bustle and noise of the barn faded away. I was "drawn" to this pig because of the way his ear was flopped over.

I would like to figure out  how to sketch items smaller, but things really get wonky when I try that.

What surprised me was that I was mentally exhausted after actively sketching a little more than 2 hours.This estimated time did not include the time I took breaks. While I wasn't planning on staying until the 4:30 post-sketching meet-up, I was planning on sketching for 1/2 day or so. I briefly switched to sheep to see if that would help. It didn't. My brain was done and so was I. I went home earlier than expected and took a lovely nap.

State Fair - Sketching Experience #1

Yesterday was the opening of the Minnesota State Fair. The weather was perfect. While I plan to sketch each time I'm at the fair, I only have one time scheduled where the sole purpose is to sketch. The other times, I'll just take break away from whoever I'm with to sketch for a bit. Yesterday was one of those types of days, so I only sketched while one of my friends checked out all of the birds in the Chicken Barn.

It was thrilling to be at the fair and to be sketching! There are so many birds and animals. You can get close to them and many of them stay relatively still.

Here is my favorite sketch from the Chicken Barn. This is a  sketch of a Valencian Figurita pigeon. This bird had puffed its chest way up and out and some of its feathers were ruffled.

Each time I go to the fair, I plan to post a picture of my favorite sketch. I'm keeping things simple. Just a sketch book and a few pens and pencils. I'm not going to try watercolor, major shading, or hatching. It's mostly going to be about catching shapes.