The Zoo

When you're asked what you want to do for the rest of your life, there really are few options aside from panicking. However, there is one - a spontaneous wednesday morning trip to The Toledo Zoo. As for the rest of my life, for now, I want to get into Sheridan's animation program. The entirety of this blog will be work from a portfolio class where my work will exist for that reason alone. For any of you that know anything about Sheridan, you would understand why "From Life" is the only acceptable title. You would also understand why going to the zoo somehow counts as a productive activity.

Drawing at the zoo in the middle of winter is by far one of the best experiences I've ever had. Sure, it's cold, and your hands will hurt. Sure, I wanted to actually get things done, so I went alone. Sure, some of the animals aren't even out because of the temperature. But because of those things, the zoo was empty; absolutely deserted. You're free to draw the animals in any way you see fit. I sat cross-legged on the railing in the reptile house, on a giant rock next to the lion exhibit, and had my materials sprawled out on the carpet in front of the seals. So brave up the cold, and go. It's an awesome experience.

So here's my quick, scattered sketches from the day. If I learned anything, it's that as much as I love drawing animals, animals don't love to be drawn.

The polar bear was just like a model - he would lay with minimal movement, then change positions after a few minutes. I appreciated him, and his fluffy adorable nature.

The tiger was horrible. He was dead asleep. Then within a few seconds of drawing him, he woke up, and moved around unexpectedly. After a few minutes he went inside. Lots of animals loved to move, hide, and then just leave.

The elephants had an indoor and outdoor exhibit, but would move to the other one each time I followed them. Luckily, a super nice zoo keeper saw me trying to draw them, and called them in and fed them hay for a little while so they would stay put.

This was my scramble of drawings from the last half hour. Most of the time spent was running between exhibits with that giant portfolio, for those few minute gestures.

The lizards would actually stay still. The guy in the top left didn't move for a whole 20 minutes. It was amazing.

For future zoo trips (and there will be future zoo trips) I'll probably just put up a few of my drawings. For the first one, I wanted most of them up here, because I want to see my improvement as time goes on. Seriously though, go draw at the zoo. The animals never stop moving, and it's one of the hardest times you'll ever have drawing, but you won't regret it.