Zoo 408- The last of the submissions. Finished it up this morning and got it scanned in. Whew. It is a rough finish, but it is on the beloved Craft Paper. Alright... now to start the day.

One of the kangaroos from the Saturday excursion. This will be one of the ones that I submit for the Zoo donation project. I have another that I am feverishly trying to finish prior to Monday.

There was a dominant one that got a bit territorial after the others got too close to me. It would run by but at passing me, it would pound the ground one or two times in passing. "No further may you go". I didn't move, and always knew where that one was at all times. After two passes, it settled down and grazed with the rest of the herd. No other incidents occurred. I just quietly drew and made no sudden moves. All was perfect. What a gift. Truly a gift that there are things more simple yet grand all around.

Zoo 408 continued- more work for the Zoo. Some loose sketch masonite work. Done from the sketches of that morning.

Zoo Sketch trip 408- Well, I did it. The first sketch trip to the zoo. It was cool when we started, 46 degrees, but the sun was out and everybody was pumped. The first batch of sketches absolutely stunk. Was intimidated, cold, and not warmed up eye/hand coordination wise. But as the morning progressed, so did I. Here are 4 sheets. The highlight of the excursion was the Australia walk. I got to sit quietly amongst a herd of red kangaroos. Some of which were only 10 feet away from me. I didn't move, and did not make any sounds. They seemed extremely curious that a person was not running around or making lots of sounds. This person just sat there like a lump. Not moving. They had to get a closer look at this. Maybe to see if I was hibernating? It was a wondrous moment for me. They would cock their heads and stare and move closer. I drew a crowd of folks in the distance. "Joey-whisperer".

Self Portrait 4:
Well, did one with dark darks. This was a hated beast to scan. Prismacolor has so much wax content that if I put a wick in this drawing it will burn for a week. The build up is tremendous. I will have to find another medium for working with saturated intense values, because this was a real car crash and didn't need to be. I learned. Boundaries now reset. That is always good. Came really close to going "doug smash" on this one. And to pieces it almost went. But, that isn't a proper example to set or an adult solution. So, since I can't drink... I just sat with arms folded and hated until I could feel that the drawing felt sorry.

Drawergeeks: Triplets... originally this was to be a sonogram editorial cartoon. Around the sonogram was to be thought balloons "Are we there yet?" "You're on my side." "Quit touching me." "You're hogging all the womb." But when the illustration came out... it changed somewhere to this.

pages from the sketchbook: exercise for the Zoo Next Saturday to go with a group for drawing in the morning. Haven't done life drawing at a zoo in years. Was fun when I last attempted it. Will bring the camera for reference on anything that requires finishing at home. Rest assured, results good and bad will go up... unless they are "what were you thinking" bad.

yet another attempt at a self portrait, again... it just isn't there, technically, conceptually. sepia on toned paper. American Artist is having a Self Portrait competition this year due May First, and the National Gallery is having their Portrait competition. I am trying a new outlook advised by a close friend... get out there and do it. So I am doing... Doing for me, if I get in, great... it not, then the work and effort I put in will have brought me farther along on my path of discovery. If I create something that I until that time thought unreachable, or unlock questions that have been leaving my work unresolved, what more can I ask?

self portrait 2: still playing... experimenting.

first attempt at self portrait with the clayboard scribble technique. It has moments... on both sides of the measuring post. Enough enthusiasm is within me to keep at it and give it another try.