California Sketches

This week I returned home from a 4 1/2 week vacation in California. I hadn't been away for such a long time in more than 10 years! It was also my first time in the US. We had a great time, I've seen so many wonderful things, visited amazing places and met the greatest people.

Normally I do quite a bit of sketching when I'm on vacation but this time there was so mcuh to do that I hardly had the time to sit down and draw.

And some sketches from the awesome San Diego Zoo:

At the Zoo

Yesterday I spend the afternoon at the Amsterdam zoo, Artis. It was a lot of fun, although it was really cold. (We're not having much of a spring so far.) 

If you have been to Artis you might be surprised by the sketch of the tiger. There are no tigers at Artis but in the Aquarium building they have a small museum with mounted animals. At the moment most of it is closed though, because starting next week they will have a new exhibition showcasing the legandary Artis hippo Tanja. She died back in 2009, aged 49. Tanja was extremely popular and starting April 25th she will return to Artis.

I'm looking foward to do some sketches of the hippo; the great thing about the mounted animals is that you can get real close to them. Also they tend to move less than their living counterparts. Which makes for easier drawing. 

If you're wondering why I didn't finish the stripes on the tiger if it was stuffed anyway, it was because I had to leave in order to be on time for a masterclass by storyboard artist Jim Cornish at the Imagine Film Festival. Really cool to see and hear him talk about storyboarding for feature films. (He worked on Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, most of the Harry Potter films and X Men: First Class.) Check out his site for some cool storyboards!    

All sketches are ink (Papermate Flair & Pitt Pen) and marker on grey sketchpaper.

Animal Sketching

This morning I went to the Amsterdam zoo, Artis. Earlier this year I became a member of Artis, giving me free admission for a year. Since the zoo is at walking distance, it seemed like a smart investment. 

So now I can drop in whenever I feel like it. The last months I have used the oppertunity a lot. (Artis is awesome at the moment! They had a real babyboom this summer: there's a lion cub, a baby elephant, a baby giraffe and two baby gorillas, just to name a few.) Of course I always bring my drawing kit, but for some reason I wasn't happy with my last sketches. Drawing animals is always a challenge and I often suspect them of conspiring against me. (When I approach them they are in a great pose, sitting perfectly still. But the moment I put pen to paper they begin to move, usually opting for the hey-how-do-ya-like-my-behind-position.) 

But today I can't complain. I was in the zoo for almost four hours, the animals were great and I got to do some nice sketching. I sure hope you like 'em too! (All sketches were done with a Papermate Flair, and/or Tombo Brushpen. Colors added with Photoshop)