We‘re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you, you, you. You can come too, too, too. We‘re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo …
Baboons 
This past week I spent a day at Melbourne Zoo with Kaz, a sketching friend. We were there from 9.00 til 4.30 and sketched all day, with a short break for lunch. Kaz is a regular zoo visitor and knew the layout and where the animals were.
I had an A4 watercolour sketchbook (bigger than my usual Moleskine 13cm x 19 cm watercolour sketchbook) and my usual watercolour pencils. I had also chosen some charcoal and graphite pencils. I was keen on doing some larger loose sketching.
Animals probably won’t stay still , or then again they might. We decided to stay and sketch if the animal was there and stayed and move on when it did. This approach seemed to work. The kangaroos were close to the fence and did not move at all. There were about six or more of them. Two emus would come and go and I would try to capture them quickly when they were close.
This Black Swan was preening and cleaning itself, feather by feather, standing up in some shallow water. I was on a walkway looking down and could see the glorious feathers. All of the wing feathers were ruffled, like flowers or fabric. Every now and then it would rise up and spread its wings to dry.
Below are some photos from my close encounter with a Red Tailed Black Cockatoo. We had been sketching and watching him for a while in the bird enclosure. Kaz was talking to him as he sat in the tree just above us and said “come down” and he did. It flew down and sat on the rail in front of me and started nibbling and turning the pages in my sketchbook. An amazing experience.
sketching up close and personal . Keeping a close eye on his beak.
We spent a long time at some of the enclosures and probably saw about one third of the zoo. It was wonderful opportunity to observe.
These are only a few of the 32 pages of sketches I did on the day. See them all in my Melbourne Zoo Flickr Album. Some sketches are a few lines on the page, not always capturing the essence. It was a wonderful motivating day. I felt very pleased with my achievement and immediately wanted to go back. I am considering Zoo membership so that I can come and go for shorter amounts of time and don’t feel the need to commit to a whole day.
If you can’t get to a zoo or animals , I have been told about this live webcam site for animals EXplore
I like sketching at the zoo too! What a wonderful encounter with the red- tailed black Cockatoo
It was such a lovely day. It was my first big event(and tram ride) after coming out of lockdown (which we are back in again. I loved to be outside. When I sketch I don’t think about anything else in life . I had no expectations of the day and was so pleased with my whole day.
Wonderful zoo sketches, Alissa! Years ago I used to live 3 blocks from the National Zoo in DC. It’s great fun to have a “home” zoo, you really feel as if you get to know the animals.
On the kangaroo and giraffe sketches in particular are you starting with a favorite watercolour pencil or do you just pick one that seems right for the animal? I’m not sure trying a squirrel on the deck will be the same but I’m going to give it a try!
Amazing. What a wonderful insight to animals at the Melbourne Zoo. You seemed to have chosen just the right colours for each animal.