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| 3/12/13 Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Guri ink, Hand Book journal |
Ever since I visited the Burke Museum with a few
sketcher friends, I’ve been wanting to return to sketch more prehistoric skeletons.
Last time I had only a few minutes to spend on the Hoplophoneus, so I sketched
the forest-dwelling feline’s skull. This time I devoted a full hour to sketch
its entire 25-million-year-old skeleton.
The Hoplophoneus lives in the education room that was empty
when I started sketching, but a few minutes later a classroom of first graders,
their teacher and several moms came in for a presentation by a Burke staff
member. They didn’t shoo me out, so I stayed, and as I sketched, I learned the criteria
for something to be identified as a fossil
– it must be natural (not a buried Barbie doll head), it must be previously living
(not a rock), and at least 10,000 years old – and other interesting facts about
very old creatures.
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| 3/12/13 Private Reserve Velvet Black ink, Hand Book |
On my way out, I sketched the head of a Xiphactinus audax,
an 85-million-year-old “Daring Sword-Ray” that was found in Kansas.
I think i would get lost sketching all those bones and teeth. These are impressive sketches.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joan. I generally get freaked out trying to sketch something with a lot of detail, but for some reason, I find these prehistoric skeletons to be intriguing and compelling.
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