Zoo with Friends

 

9/23/21 Flamingo, Woodland Park Zoo

When I saw that the weather forecast was for sunshine last Thursday, I decided to go back to the zoo, and this time I invited a few sketcher friends to join me. We all know that our outdoor-sketching days are numbered, and I, for one, am trying to grab any opportunity I can.

Since I was there just a couple of weeks ago, I went out looking for animals that I missed last time. One of my favorite exhibits is the African Savanna, where giraffes, zebras and ostriches roam around. They aren’t always close enough to see easily, but I try to treat zoo sketching like studio life drawing and focus on the gestures more than the details.

Giraffe

Female lion

Ostrich and zebra

Zebra

I love the Visayan warty pig. With a long snout ringed by a white stripe, it’s adorable (for a wild pig).

Visayan warty pig

Napping peacock

In addition to an ostrich, I sketched a couple of other large, showy birds: a peacock and a flamingo (top of page). I couldn’t get the peacock to display for me; in fact, he was dozing off near some bushes, but that made for easy sketching. The flamingo was more challenging, and I was annoyed that I had removed my pink pencil from my sketch kit shortly after cherry blossom season ended. The color isn’t right, but I made do with a mix of magenta and red.

I wonder if I can squeeze in one more trip to the zoo before the weather goes bad. . .