I haven't sketched at a zoo for over a year so I was feeling rusty. I warmed up on the 'easier' creatures-starting with the elegant flamingos.
The capybaras, emus & wallabies afforded some great character studies; their feeding hierarchy, the strutting emus, the horny male capybara trying to get it on!
The lemurs always look startled with their huge, black-ringed eyes. The poor ruffed lemurs were so cold they sat with their heads tucked under their legs!
The coatis lead a perilous existence living in the bear pit. There were a couple of raccoons in there too. There were two grumpy black bears who, when not growling at each other, sit up on their backsides & beg for food .
The laid back wallabies were taking it easy, grooming & scratching themselves.
The goats were fun to draw & we could get into the pen & sketch them up close. True to their reputation they try to eat anything you leave lying around including my fold-up chair, plastic bag, coat & sketchbook!
The big-cats looked pretty miserable in their relatively tiny enclosure. The cheetah tucked his paws & tail beneath his body & stayed in a corner to keep warm.
The Mandrills were challenging to draw, they move around a lot but have great expressions & they all seemed to have colds! The male I drew above had no shame!
