Sketch night at the Bell Museum - Ducks

Last Thursday night was the monthly sketch night at the Bell Museum in Minneapolis. This month's theme was ducks in honor of the upcoming contest for duck stamp artists. There were about twenty people there sketching and chatting at various locations in the touch and see room.
The wood duck above was my second sketch of the night. I am working in a 7x7 Stonehenge wired sketchbook. I sketched first in sharpie pen and then worked in watercolor to try and capture the great color and iridescence on this duck's face.

The duck above was my first sketch using sharpie pen and watercolor, not sure what type of duck this was (no label), she had very speckled feathers with darker colors and fine stripes on each feather but I wasn't going to spend the time needed to replicate that kind of detail.
Next months theme is mammals.

Birds at the Bell

Thursday night was sketch night at the Bell Museum. This month's theme was birds. There was a variety of stuffed birds, skeletons, eggs, and parts available to draw from. There were about 20 people there this month, which I think is the largest group I have seen so far. Yeah, sketch night is growing! I look forward to these nights every month, where I get to go and sketch with a group of other sketchers for two hours uninterrupted. It is also great to see what other people draw and the approach or medium that they use in their sketches. I strongly encourage anyone out there to find a group of people you can meet with and draw. It is great practice and it is always encouraging to meet with other artists and exchange ideas.

I have been working in the Strathmore sketchbook that I altered and prepainted on New Year's Eve (follow link for photos and information on the process). I choose to use a longer accordion style page for Thursday night, so I could group all my birds together as one spread (photo above, book standing).

The woodcock drawing closest to the spiral binding was the first drawing of the night and it took me the longest to do, about an hour and fifteen minutes. I got really caught up in all the tiny feather detail and by the end of the drawing I was sort of bored and frustrated with speckles and feathers and ready to draw a few things with less details. I did not intend for the drawing to extend through the wire binding but I gauged the beginning size for the base and bird feet incorrectly and through the binding the bird's beak went.

I moved on to a pile of parts and got three drawings done in the last forty-five minutes of the night. The head and the leg/claw combo are both from an American bittern. The egg is a crow's egg.
All of my drawings begin with a sketch using a Sharpie pen, followed by some watercolor, and finished up with additional details with a second round of Sharpie pen.



The journal page spread flat. When folded closed, only the woodcock shows as a page. Being the beak of the woodcock extends to the next page, I may try to continue with another bird or something bird related on the following page.
Looking forward to next month - plants and fungi.

Sketch Night at the Bell

Tonight was sea creature night at the Bell Museum sketch night. I honor of the sea theme I drew a shell. They had a wide variety of shells, coral, couple of things in jars, and turtle shells available for drawing subjects. But, what I really wanted to draw was the owl I had seen on my way in last month in one of the dioramas. So after greeting the ten or so people there last night, I went back to draw the owl that I had been thinking about since last month.

After working on the owl for about 45 minutes or an hour, I lost track of the time, the best part about drawing. I returned to the touch and see room at the Bell and drew the shell.
We really do have a great time drawing together on the sketch nights. Conversation last night ranged from spies to unorthodox funeral services. It is also always great fun to explore everyone's drawings and see the many different approaches and mediums used.
Next month's theme is birds and feathers on January 6, 2011 from 6:30-8:30. If you live in the Twin Cities and like to draw it is well worth the admission to the museum. Bring a sketchbook and I'll see you there.