Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Musk Ox

Musk Ox (ˈməskˌäks)

I have to admit a level of ignorance here. While drawing at the Fairbanks Museum this last summer I was frustrated with my attempts to draw a yak. Upon researching it more I discovered that I was not drawing a yak. I was drawing a musk ox. I wonder if that had anything to do with my inability to draw the yak. I may draw a yak eventually. In the end I think I had difficult drawing the animal because I did not fully understand the structure beneath the hair. Since then, the bovine beast has fascinated me with all it's hair. I finally drew one that I was happy with. It naturally looks like it is wearing a coat hence the lack of the sweater vest.

The musk ox or muskox is native to the tundra of North America and Greenland. 

Sketching Class (This is Not a Yak)

Yesterday, I started teaching my week long intensive sketching class. This summer we are focusing on animal studies. For the afternoon, I took the class to the Fairbanks Museum. This is a great place to start as it is a natural history museum with a large collection of taxidermy animals. Although, I was impressed with the classes work and had a wonderful time helping them I struggled with doing anything that I felt was good.

This is not a yak. I started the day really wanting to tackle the Yak, but every attempt left me frustrated. I never realized drawing a yak could be so difficult. By the end of the day I managed to have a few sketches of other animals I was pleased with. This bee-eater is one of them.

Even when you are not feeling good about drawing and struggling with it you need to push through until it works. Now I have the challenge of figuring out how to draw a yak.