Finally, after months of lockdown, Melbourne restrictions eased and the Zoo opened for ticket sales. I was in an online queue for an hour and joined as 4995th.
The Zoo opened Tuesday 26th October and luckily everyone wanted weekend tickets. The capacity was capped at 3000 a day which was 25% of normal numbers. My sketching friend Kaz & I got tickets and planned our day. I had been singing this childhood song all week. Click the forward arrow to START it.
I wanted to draw in an old ledger book which I used last time at the zoo. This time I decided to use watercolor pencils, but not add water, as the paper is quite thin. I also wanted to try a few other pencils I had. On the day I ended up just using Black watercolour pencil, a Black coloured pencil and a few with my new multicolour pencil (just for fun).
I did lots of quick sketches, and there was not a lot of time for studied observations. It was a matter of being flexible and making the most of opportunities, Some animals were just not visible and we did not wait for them to turn up. I filled many many pages. Here is a selection
I have never seen koalas so close and so active. They are usually a shape in a tree that I can’t spot. And they sleep 80% of the time. What a treat! One of the zoo staff was there to tell us all about these two. But as you can see, there were lots of false starts as they moved around.
Just three sketches with my multicoloured pencil.
I did ten sketches of elephants. I have sketched elephants for a project in 2009 (The Sketchbook Project: Elephant in the Room) and it sort of came back to me. I had to look where parts of the head intersected. Thankfully, there were four elephants and they returned to specific poses as they were feeding.
I also sketched kangaroos, swans, orangutang (from a distance), and a tortoise.
I think the key for me is no expectations. be flexible,
Get the shape of the face right, maybe even the eyes and nose, A few basic shapes or key features of the body.
I had such a great day and I am really looking forward to my next visit.
What a wonderful blog. The zoo song was such a great addition. I loved the sketches of all the animals. The ledger looked so heavy. So pleased you have shared this special day with us.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. The ledger was not heavy. I have a few others that are and have decided to make this one my ZOO sketchbook. I always want to draw bigger than my usual Moleskine when I go to the Zoo,
I have been reading your blog for a while now and you (and Tina) inspired me into sketching with WC pencils (I used ink and WC pans for the last 3 years). Thank you so much for the descriptions you give in your posts, and this one is a perfect example of how helpful your blog is. Plus, your sketches are inspiring, and I love all of them today. I can only imagine the crowd at the zoo and it must have been very challenging to manage those sketches in such a short time.
Kudos for the Koalas, and wow for the elephants !!! I also use a magical pencil, I have various versions of it but right now it’s the lead clutch holder that is in my kit.