Sketching while camping

Last week I was able to be an adult leader at a boys camp with my oldest son. It was surprisingly rejuvenating. I realized some areas that I need to refocus on in my life. This is a sketch of one of the camp-sites at Camp Joseph. It is a wonderfully peaceful place to visit. The camp is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and is located right next to the birth place of Joseph Smith.

I spent the week helping with a small group of youth ages 12-15. I helped split and stack wood for the camp and spent time drawing, studying, pondering, and playing games with the young men (among many other things).

Miss Lyndonville Diner

I sketched this a few week ago while I was at the Miss Lyndonville Diner. I was there with my oldest daughter for a breakfast date after her school year had ended. The food was great and the company was wonderful. I love drawing while I wait.

Woodstock Vermont

This is a small information shack found at the park in Woodstock, Vermont (a location I love to sketch at). Woodstock is a beautiful little village and has a wonderful small town feel to sketch. I try to go there often.

Weekly Bow Tie Guy

The Rabbit-Dragon (ˈrabit-ˈdragən)

This rare small reptilian rabbit can be found scurrying through the dense forests of Northern Europe, New England, and North Eastern Canada. It glides more than it flies and likes to live a solitary life.

This is the last of my rabbit series for a while. I want to move on to endangered species.

Fiddler on the Roof poster for The Vermont Children's Theater

I just finished the illustration for the Vermont Children's Theater production of Fiddler on the Roof. Creating it was a wonderful honor as this musical is on my top five musical list. I watched the movie again recently and was reminded how brilliant the show is. I love the  message of love, of approaching trials to long held traditions, of perseverance, and how traditions and faith are not necessarily the same. The show gives me hope.

My challenge initially was to try to come up with something different. Every poster has a fiddler on the roof. As I worked and consulted with the director, I realized the traditional approach was the best way to do it. I believe I put the fiddler more precariously positioned on the top of the roof than any other poster I I have seen though. It also captures the joy of life amidst the trials we go through.

The best part was while working on the illustration, I found myself humming the tunes to the songs.

Weekly Bow Tie Guy–Rhinorabbit

Rhinorabbit (ˈrīnōˈrabit)

This is currently the second to last of my rabbit series (there might be more if I come up with some other ideas).  While I was working on other types of rabbits this one just piped into my head. I thought it would be interesting to have the trust of a rabbit jump in connection with the power of a rhinoceros' horns.

Elephant Gestures

Here is a page of elephant gestures that I drew while at the Granby Zoo last week. As I mentioned in my last post I need to get to the point where I can remember what I am looking at and do more detailed studies. I am currently looking at Aaron Berchild's work for inspiration. I want to get closer to his observational skills. This will take time.

Sketching at The Granby Zoo in Granby, Canada

Yesterday, I took my my sketching class to The Granby Zoo in Canada. I love drawing at the zoo. The down side is for the first hour I was on a visual overload. There was so much I wanted to draw. I also realized, I need to get better at drawing animals from life. I did well with the gestures, but when it came to longer studies, I struggled with the movement of the animals and working form memory.

Here is one of my stronger sketches. (I added color digitally in class as part of a demonstration on how to take the sketches and add limited color.) The Japanese Macaques were holding still long enough for me to get a stronger drawing.

Sketching at VINs in Woodstock, VT

On Tuesday I took my animal sketching class to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) to draw the birds. They have a bird refuge where they house aviary that cannot be released back into the wild because of injuries they have sustained. I highly recommend visiting. Not only is it a great place to draw, it is also a great place to support. They do wonderful work and the Birds are so majestic.

These are two of the Eastern Screech Owls they have. They were easier to draw because they held still for us.

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.