Reindeer and Camel and Koi – Oh, My!

11/22/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

11/22/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown

11/22/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink

Swanson’s Nursery is popular among gardeners year-round, but during the holidays, the visiting reindeer and camel make it an extra-busy family place. The Friday ad hoc sketchers gathered there on a sub-freezing morning, where not even my extra-thick Freehand gloves could keep me from freezing my hands off. Last year when I sketched the reindeer, they were either dozing or snacking lazily. Today, Dasher and Blitzen were in constant motion, so sketching them was more like an exercise in blind contour drawing. Curley the camel was a different challenge – one of scale. Once I sketched Curley’s head, his immense body wouldn’t fit on the rest of the page.

11/22/13 Private Reserve Velvet Black ink

I lasted about a half-hour before my fingers went numb. Fortunately, Swanson’s delightful café is warm and surrounded by a jungle of plants and even a koi pond. I let my hands thaw around my cup of cappuccino before sketching the brightly colored fish.

11/22/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink, Sailor pen

The Friday ad hoc sketchers were out in full force at Swanson's!