Sketch Safari At The Detroit Zoo

 In the two sketch groups that I am a part of, there has been talk for about a year now of having a sketch night at the Detroit Zoo. We were finally able to do so, albeit a low turnout for this first time. We started when most people are still at work (peeps can arrive whenever they want as the zoo is open until 8 on Wednesdays) and there was intermittent rain, but that didn't deter us. Plus, there are buildings to duck (pun intended?) into when the rain became heavy. The animals were quite active, so we did a lot of walking around and taking pics. We did sketch, as that was the plan!

Here a some sketches that I did.

The male otter was out and was swimming in the rain. before he became active, I sketched the enclosure, including the water slide.

The top sketch is of the otter zipping by underwater. Sketching movement quickly is an exercise one must work at. The rhinos were out and about, moving around in the rain. 

Oceanic Tendrils

 

My latest Substack is up and has everything to do with the process of creating the scratchboard piece. You can check it out HERE. 

Blue & White Invitational At The Holland Museum

 

Oceanic Tendrils

9x12

scratchboard/clayboard and watercolor

I will have a piece in the Blue & White Invitational at the Holland Museum. The exhibit starts this Friday and runs through October. You can get all the details HERE. 

This is my second gallery show of the year (there will be a third) and my first ever at a museum, so that's exciting. 

The show is inspired by the Delft collection at the museum, so anything blue and white was fair game. Of course, I went weird. Weird, you say? Pshaw, it's normal where I operate. Tentacles, sharks and gulper eels... I hang with only the best creatures.

So, make sure to tell your friends and if you find yourself on the west side of the state of Michigan, then check it out. It's a cool museum and city, as well.

A Tracery Of Loss

 Here is the second illustration that I did for Mary Stebbins Taitt's book of poetry titled When Time Stumbled. It's a simple image for some strong imagery. 

9x9 

ink on bristol board

Here is the poem by Mary:

A Tracery Of Loss

While spray painting a fern for a collage,

I left behind a tracery of the space

around the fern and an absence where the fern

had been, which reminded me of the shadows

of people left by the bomb,

which in turn reminded me of that giant you-shaped hole

in my heart now that you are gone.

  You can pick up a copy of When Time Stumbled here.