Sketching at the zoo

Taught by Barbara Fugate. We spent yesterday at Woodland Zoo. Barbara teaches us to discover the forms and, especially with moving objects like animals, learn to combine our quick sketches. We use Conté crayons (a new medium for me and one that will take getting used to - jury is still out.) We look at the mass of the object - its basic shapes, then and in-and-out-and through contour drawing, then line contours. Just as I teach the kids, we're trying to be careful not to assume and draw what we think a turtle, for instance, looks like, but instead draw only what shapes and lines we see, our hands following our eyes. (One of the reasons I always liked having kids draw an upside down images, so that their brains could get out of their way!) I'm going back soon to do some more. It's fun and very challenging to do these animals.