Project VII-Day Three: Archon Centaurus

My favorite past time in all of the world is visiting, photographing, and drawing directly from off-view specimen collections. Usually these collections are tucked away in quiet, cavernous rooms within the museums and institutions that own them. It's an opportunity to come face to face with animals, insects, and plants that you've only heard of or seen in pictures. You get to experience their scale, which gets lost in photographs, and understand how delicate or robust they truly are. And most importantly you are getting to know one specific specimen.
Day Three's drawing, an Archon Centaurus, isn't just some random beetle - he is an individual that lived and breathed. I will never be able to look at him simply as a countless member of an incomprehensible army of other beetles. He has his own story to tell. He now resides in Fort Worth Museum of Science and History's off-view collection. I took his photo May 6, 2013 and I had the good fortune to spend more time with him again today as I drew him. Good to know you little guy.

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Project IV Day 18: Turkey Vulture (again)

I can't stop with the Turkey Vultures. I think I might have been one in a past life. Is that why I'm such a dirtbag ?

Project VII-Day Thirty: Grass

And that is a wrap! Day Thirty's photo was taken at Oliver Nature Park in Mansfield, TX earlier this summer. The labeling of each drawing evolved during the project. In the bottom left-hand corner is the sequence number of the drawing within the 30-day time frame and the location of where the reference photo was taken. My take away from this particular project was having the opportunity to spend more time with a special moment I had in nature. It allowed me to marvel at the intricacies of the plants and animals around us.

Project IV Day 25: Hoatzin Nestling

Yes, this guy does indeed exist. He is a Hoatzin nestling. One thing you should know about these birds is that they are born with two claws on each wing. They are clumsy in flight and use these claws to climb about in their native swamps of Venezuela and Guyana. Once they reach adulthood, they those their claws. Dinosaur times-style.

30 Sketches Projects I-VII

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