Quick Sketches of Quincy the Quail
—Art Class Recap, Part 1
I recently took an art class at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum’s Art Institute. One of the benefits of taking art classes there is that, since ASDM is a zoo/botanical garden, museum staff can bring live animals, birds, and reptiles into the classroom for art and photography purposes!
During one of our class sessions, an ASDM staff member brought in one of ASDM’s birds: Quincy the Gambel’s Quail. The staff member laid out a long piece of cloth on a couple of art tables, sprinkled the cloth with Quail treats, and then let Quincy out of his carrying cage. For the next ten minutes we watched Quincy run back and forth along the length of cloth, exploring and discovering the Quail treats.
I took a few photos and then spent the rest of the ten minutes drawing gesture sketches of Quincy. Gesture sketches are very quick sketches meant to capture the essence/movement/pose of a subject, and are not intended to be perfect.
Here are my quick sketches of Quincy, drawn as he was running back and forth.
Are these sketches perfect? Heck, no! Do these look kinda Quail-ish? Sure! Did I have fun drawing these? Yes! The last question is obviously the most important question!
I want to mention how completely radical it is for me to do quick gesture sketches like these—I never do quick sketches. In general I like to take...my...time creating art. But making these quick sketches was fun! 🤗
Even though Hubby & I see and/or hear Gambel’s Quail in our yard pretty much daily, I enjoyed observing Quincy up close and having the opportunity to quickly draw him and to try to capture his Quail-ness.
The sketches were definitely good practice for me, and after all:
“You can never do too much drawing.”
- Tintoretto
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Great how you are trying different things and sharing your results. Thanks!
very cool! thx for sharing ever more aspects/directions-to-go!