WHOA-HO! So I mentioned I went to Collingwood on Friday, and it’s preeeeetty unlikely that I would go on a long trip like that and not do any sketching. SO! Why not have a look-see?

This was part of the harbour in Collingwood. Ooooh. Ahhhh.

Aaaaand then I found this place called the Osprey Wetlands, just south of Collingwood… Lemme see if I can explain. I THINK it’s a little wildlife reserve kind of area, and I know you can hike and stuff through it, but I couldn’t really find an entrance. At least not in the traditional sense. I found a few access roads that I’d be weary to take a pickup truck down, let alone the small Toyota I was driving. Anyhow, the place is PACKED with wildlife and is RIDICULOUSLY beautiful. Really glad I stopped there. Yes, I did manage to pull over for a good SKETCHING.

But my sketch really didn’t do it justice or turn out that great, so I redone it, I did! Yeah! Why not check them both out…

This is what I did while I was there...

Much much much much much much closer to what I really saw. Hahaha, big difference.

Pretty cool. Collingwood is a really nice place, too. I had a killer coffee that some kid made for me. Alright.

Well hey now, I thought I didn’t have anything to post last week, BUT IT TURNS OUT I had this page of flamingo sketches… how about that?

Let’s see, it’s from the Toronto Zoo, straight out of my sketchbook, and includes decoded flamingo speak.

Fun for the kids: try and find the duck.

Coming up? I have a tribute to the Queen of England. Go ahead and look forward to THAT.

SO! While we’re on the subject of the Canadian Museum of Nature, check out this drawing…

FEATHERS!!!

Ok, so he wasn’t in the bird section specifically, but that’s not his fault. Oh WOW, I was excited when I found out they had Dinosaur models with SKIN. And then I found the ones with FEATHERS! So cool. Dinosaur models with flesh attached are pretty rare from what I’ve seen, and nothing is cooler than a feathered dinosaur.

Anyhow, this little guy is obviously a theropod dinosaur. But specifically which one, I don’t actually know. Now, I’ve been kicking myself for not labeling a lot of the drawings of birds that I did, which is my own stupid fault, but this guy just plain wasn’t labeled (or at least not that I saw). I’d guess Deinonychus, EXCEPT for that fact that other Deinonychus models I’ve seen were much larger, so I really donno.

BUT that brings up an interesting point; the labeling system at the Nature museum wasn’t that great. In a few different sections there was the odd thing, like this dino, that wasn’t labeled. But what they were really good for was providing extra information about what you were looking at (some of the labeling came from the information panels, but wasn’t specifically lined up with the exhibit… which is fine if it makes you THINK about what you’re looking at, which was certainly a strength of the museum, but why were some things completely unlabeled?). And this is also where the ROM falls pretty woefully short. The ROM is extensively labeled, but specific information on the specimens is far too scarce. Mostly very general and very brief background is displayed there.

For the most part, anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I love these places, I just thought that was a fascinating parallel. But it just goes to show that no one’s perfect… and neither am I, so I better go do some more drawings.

See you next week!

WHOA-HO! Hello! Man oh man, have I been bottling up some sweeeeeeet stuff to post. Lots of good stuff coming for the next few weeks, THAT is a promise.

Anyhow, gotta start somewhere… My girlfriend, Jessica and I just discovered this CRAAAZY museum in Ottawa, THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATURE! Wow. Wow wow wow. I honestly can’t stress enough how cool this place is. Sorry to say it, but it puts the ROM to shame. Terrible shame. Except maybe in the prehistoric department, in that case the ROM wins and as far as I’ve seen is second only to The Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, which is badass like NO ONE’S business. But back to the museum at hand…

The Nature Museum? I love it. I recommend it (especially if you’re a museum-drawing-kind-of-weirdo, like me, then I know you’d love it). As sad as it is though, nothing has gotten me THAT excited about drawing in a long time… possibly since 2007, when I was in Italy.

So at the Museum I LEARNED that I weigh the equivalent of:

5 Wild Turkeys, or…

42 Ducks, or…

633 Blue Jays, or…

18 623 Red-Throated Hummingbirds.

Which is fascinating if you compare me to each of them… because really, 5 wild turkeys could pretty easily kill me. You know, in a battle royal, Godzilla vs King Kong kind of a deal. 5 of those things, pecking, clawing and flapping? No more Corey.

Also it’s pretty clear that 42 ducks could kill me, too. 5? No chance. 15? I might make it out with both eyes. But 42? I lose.

And 633 blue jays?? They could just wear-me-out-to-death from having to fight off 633 crazed blue jays, one by one. Phew.

And come on, 18 623 hummingbirds? Can you even imagine that headed for you? I could, and it would be TERRIBLE. There is no question in my mind that they could kill me.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be morbid, or even funny for that matter… I’m just saying that pound for pound, birds are cooler than me.

Here’s some sketches!

I laughed out loud after I drew that kingfisher... look at his head!

A Blue Jay and Stellar's Jay. Jays are so cool!! Look at them! HA!

This was an awesome setup... it's 3 different species of Candian bird of prey, male and female. Hmm? COOL!

This was a lot of fun cause I rounded it out at the ROM the other day because they just happen to have a Great Blue Heron skeleton!

There’s also a Great Blue Heron that lives in Waterloo Park. This should help the next time I try to draw him from afar. MORE NEXT WEEK!!

Well, ever since the reinstatement of the Flatlanders BBQ (click it click it click it), I’ve been dipping into the gouache like nobody’s business. It feels strange though, I have to say, to pick up a paint I used to LOVE about 3 or 4 years ago and haven’t used since.

I can’t say our relationship hasn’t changed, that would be naive, we’re both different people (or y’know, inanimate art supplies) now. Life has taken us down different paths only to have us find each other again. And I have to believe it was for a reason…

Recognize two of these birds?? (Hint: I don't mean from bird watching)

Anyhow, fate aside, to get back into gouache and also for an excuse to paint some birds, I painted some birds. For some of them I used some really simple sketches and a few notes on colour that I had made at the Zoo a little while back. So they’re kind of half made up, which is something I don’t do enough. Good old gouache.