There were far more children there today than I expected mid-week, but I had forgotten about school parties. It made seeing the more popular animals rather a more crowded experience.
I had taken a few pastels this time to see if it made capturing movement easier. Certainly, whole body shapes were done in moments. Thinking about it in the quiet of the evening, the matter of scale is important – using pastels, I should have attempted bigger shapes, easily possible, and also easier to add form and some detail. My best attempts were a 3 minute elephant and a two minute buffalo. Taken as animal sketches, they were just about adequate, but I would have been happier with a larger 10 to 15 minute effort. So size in relation to medium was lesson number one today.
From about 3.30 pm onwards, as the school trips and families went home to tea, the Zoo became quieter and the animals showed themselves more readily. Rhinos stood proud on top of the hill,
an elegant crane paraded along the fence,
and the red panda had a good scratch.
Since I have a season ticket, my plan is to drop in about 3 pm occasionally and try for a larger, more careful drawing.
Scale of stitch and thread is one of my obsessions – I hadn’t quite expected to find it popping up here, but scale of medium and drawing is clearly something to be considered, too!
Yes, a good idea since the primary parties keep school times. Extraordinary how menacing even charming little girls can be when you are at eye level with them in a wheelchair, particularly when they are tired and a bit stroppy. An afternoon stroll might well work perfectly for humans and animals. Perhaps a good time to practice with a mobility scooter. At RHS Tatton Park these are lethal weapons.