The Burke’s Irresistible Skeletons

 

1/4/26 Columbian mammoth, Burke Museum

I’ve sketched at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum many times, both at the old building and the current one, and I never seem to tire of the paleontology area. Who could resist the skeletons of huge creatures that have been extinct for literally eons? Apparently, no one: The prehistoric animal skeletons were by far the most-sketched artifacts at Sunday’s USk Seattle outing.

Although I’ve sketched the Columbian mammoth nearly every time I’ve visited the new building, it’s not necessarily because it’s my favorite (although it is one). Many of the smaller skeletons are backlit by the Burke’s floor-to-ceiling windows, which makes them harder to draw. I really wanted to use my black sketchbook that day, so I walked around to get the lighted side of its skull and amazingly enormous tusks (top of post).

Walking down to the lower-level entrance where the Burke’s mascot mastodon greets visitors (another favorite exhibit that I’ve sketched many times), I looked up at the Baird’s bearded whale skeleton hanging high above us all. I didn’t scale my sketch very well to accurately show how huge it is compared to Andika, who was sketching the mastodon on the floor below.

Baird's beaked whale's tail and Andika

In the time remaining before the throwdown, I needed something I could capture relatively quickly. From the stairway landing below the third floor, I looked up again, this time spotting the Elasmosaur replica hanging from the ceiling.

After the outing, I joined a few friends for lunch at nearby Café on the Ave. I was too hungry to sketch my food (which was a delicious salmon eggs Benedict made with a croissant instead of the traditional English muffin; regrettably, I didn’t even photograph it), but after I was full, I caught my friends.

Lunch at Cafe on the Ave