Rhinos and Dragons and Bears – Oh, My!

 

5/4/22 Malayan tapir and rhinos at Woodland Park Zoo

Some sketchers I know visit their favorite gardens or parks over and over, year-round, and never tire of sketching the same trees or plantings. I feel that way about Woodland Park Zoo. If I had to choose a single favorite sketching subject, it would be animals from life. I could probably sketch at the zoo every week and never tire of it. Although in recent years I haven’t visited as often as I did during my first few years of sketching (it was where I first learned to become comfortable sketching in public), I still get my money’s worth from our zoo membership.

Last Wednesday afternoon warmed up to the mid-60s and partly sunny – ideal zoo weather, at least for humans. We had hoped it would be warm enough for the other animals, too. Many were still sleeping in their shelters, but I found plenty that were active enough to see and sketch.

My favorites on this trip were the rhinos (above), whom we don’t see often. After the Woodland Park’s long-time resident elephants were transferred to a different zoo several years ago, the endangered one-horned rhinos moved into the elephants’ former home, so they are now much easier to see close-up. They wear a fascinating hide of what looks like plate armour.

A bat eating from a hanging bowl. I had a hard time figuring out what part of it was what!

Although I’ve sketched the Komodo dragons several times, usually they are so still that I wonder if they are even awake. I had never seen one so active as last week. The one I sketched was exploring its territory thoroughly, flicking its long, peach-colored, forked tongue rapidly and continuously. It was a bit unnerving when it suddenly stared me down through the glass, tongue still flicking, but I took advantage of the close-up view to capture it.

Komodo dragon and Chilean flamingo

It was wonderful to get a brief glimpse of the two adorable sloth bear cubs, who were born on Jan. 1 this year. I didn’t get much of one before mama led it away.

Sloth bear cub and Asian brown tortoise

Technical notes: I usually bring my full sketch bag when I visit the zoo, since I never know what might catch my attention. This time we were using the opportunity of our visit through the large park for our fitness walk as well as seeing animals, so I felt like traveling light. Thinking about all the animals I have sketched there, I realized that I could capture probably 95 percent of them with either brown or black or both. So I brought only those two colors plus pink (in case I sketched flamingoes), a rainbow pencil (which I didn’t use) and a waterbrush – that’s it. The sketchbook was my square Hahnemühle. The more I use it, the more I appreciate its compact, 5 ½-inch square format, which fits so nicely in my small fitness-walking bag and is also easy to hold for quick gesture sketches.

Brown, black, pink -- all I need at the zoo!

April at the Zoo

4/21/16 colored pencils

Woodland Park Zoo is one place I don’t think to visit during the year until at least May, and last year I didn’t get there until August. But in April?? Unheard of – except this year, when yesterday was Day 5 of our spring summer (which has, sadly, ended).

Despite temperatures in the mild 70s, the animals seemed to be operating on the actual calendar, hiding away in their caves and burrows as they do most of the cold months. Maybe they just weren’t ready to face the hordes of screaming children yesterday (frankly, neither was I).

In any case, I hardly saw any to sketch. I did manage to catch a few meerkats, the comfortingly slow-moving Komodo dragon and Malati, the orangutan, who was lethargically nodding off as I sketched.

On my way out, I stopped to see the South American Humboldt penguins, whom I can always count on for a few quick gestures. They seem to be happy, rain or shine, all seasons of the year.

4/21/16 colored pencils

4/21/16 ink

4/21/16 non-hairy brush pen, white gel pen

Like Crack

5/24/12, fountain pen, Hand Book sketchbook

“It’s like crack!” exclaimed Lisa, describing how she feels after the 6 a.m. Jazzercise class we both attend. “That rush keeps me going the rest of the morning,” she said.

I have been going to Jazzercise classes three times a week for 13 years. I work hard, I sweat hard, keeping my pulse rate at the optimal aerobic level for at least 30 minutes, followed by a strength routine and stretching. Yet I have never, ever experienced the endorphin high that Lisa and my runner friends describe.

That always made me feel a bit cheated: This much work, and all I get is sweat? How much harder do I have to work to feel that way? But over the years I have come to accept that if I haven’t experienced a rush from exercise by now, I’m probably not going to. (You may be asking, Then why in the world does she get up for a 6 a.m. Jazzercise class? Believe me, I ask myself that all the time.)

Now I realize I’ve been trying to get high all these years from the wrong drug. Sketching is the real crack! After spending a couple hours at a coffee shop sketching other patrons, I drive home with a buzz that lasts the rest of the day (no, it’s not caffeine – I usually drink decaf). This buzz may be partly due to the surreptitious nature of sketching people without their consent and constantly being alert to avoid being caught. It could be adrenalin as much as endorphins.

But I get the same rush while focusing on a water tower for an hour, painting the struts and girders with watercolors, or while trying to capture the texture of the skin of a Komodo dragon eyeing me from its enclosure at the zoo.


5/8/12, F-C Pitt Artists Pen, watercolor, Hand Book watercolor sketchbook

As a fiber artist working slowly and steadily with needle and thread, I know well the calming, meditative quality of placing tiny stitches, one after the other, thousands of times. There’s no doubt that I enjoy that feeling also.

But baby, it ain’t crack. And I’m always looking for the next fix.

5/24/12, fountain pen, Hand Book sketchbook

The Early Bird Catches Barcelona

3/25/13 Platinum Sepia ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

Fully tanked with coffee and my finger twitching on the mouse button, I impatiently waited for my laptop clock to read 6:00 a.m. PDT, when registration for the Fourth International Urban Sketchers Symposium in Barcelona would open worldwide. I knew that at previous symposia, registration filled within hours of opening, and hundreds of disappointed sketchers weren’t able to nab the 150 available seats, so I was ready.

 

After an initial “browser cookie issue” nearly caused panic at the virtual door, I shoved my way in. A few mouse clicks later, I was one of 150 happy symposium registrants who made it in – I’m going to Barcelona! I even got all my first-choice workshops! (Sure enough, about two hours later, the symposium was full.)

 

3/25/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

As if that weren’t enough to make my day, the sun came out, and this time it wasn’t preceded by snow flurries. With afternoon temperatures in the 60s, it actually felt like spring! With so many things to celebrate, MiataGrrl took the top down and headed for the zoo.

 

I wasn’t the only one eager to get out in the sunshine. The African Savannah was crowded with zebras, water fowl and two giraffes grazing at a large tree. Wanting to stay in the sun, I almost bypassed the Komodo dragon, but the big guy is hard to resist – he hardly moves. In fact, it had been nearly a year since I last sketched him, so he was worth a quick pen sketch. He was in particularly fine form today, drooling profusely, which caused no end of delight among the kids watching him.

 

3/25/13 Private Reserve Velvet Black ink, Zig markers

Taking a break outside the Rain Forest Food Pavilion, I sketched a family and yet another Chinese windmill palm tree – my third in two months. My last sketch at the zoo was of a man who was happy to catch a few Z’s while waiting for his grandkids to find him.

 

3/25/13 Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi ink

 

Today my sister would have turned 67 years old if she had survived the heart failure that took her life a few weeks after her 65^th birthday. All day, I thought of her and everything I’m grateful for, every day, with every sketch I make. I don’t take any of them for granted.

That Big, Bright Thing in the Sky Makes an Appearance

2/25/14 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink, Sailor pen, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

The sun came out this afternoon, so I headed for the zoo! Unfortunately, many of the exhibits were still closed for the winter (those residents are probably still snoozing in warm, dark dens), so I took a brisk walk around the grounds to keep warm and see who was awake and lively.

Did someone say awake and lively? In the Adaptations exhibit, the meerkats were curiously running to and from the window and to look at us. Next door, I found several Indian fruit bats (also known as flying foxes) hanging out. Most of them had their leather-like wings wrapped tightly around them, vampire-style, but one seemed to be napping with wings partially outstretched.

2/25/14 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink, Sailor pen

Two years ago and again last year, I sketched the huge Komodo Dragon in its entirety, so today I focused on its scaly right paw and scary claws.

It was a short visit – despite the sun, I was chilled to the bone – but it felt fabulous to sketch outdoors again. Could spring be on its way, after all?

2/25/14 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink, Sailor pen