New Gorilla Art
One of the most annoying things about COVID is how it affects my ability to go sketching in public places. They finally reopened in mid-summer but with restrictions. While I understand the need for them, it’s still frustrating. Especially when it comes to my favorite models, the gorillas.
Being one of the most popular animals in the zoo, the gorilla enclosure is always crowded. It’s almost a matter of principle not to stay and draw too long since it would be taking up more than 12 feet for more than five minutes. That’s not cool for all of the people without membership passes. In my perfect world, I like to find a spot to sit so I don’t come off as intimidating and the Gorillas start to take me for granted. I’m going to have to wait until we’re all vaccinated before I can do that again. To make matters worse, ever since Uzumma had her first child, Kitoko, there’s been an extra fence to help the new addition adjust to his new home. Perfectly sensible, but it means I won’t get a chance to draw him for a long time.
Fortunately, the last time I was there was a mostly quiet day. And I had my first good look at mother and child. Regrettably, Uzuma left before I finished it, and a zoo volunteer made people move along after a few minutes. All I had was a rough gesture sketch. Fortunately, it was thorough enough that my memory and a few photo references of Uzumma and Kitoko was enough for me to do a better version of it when I got home.
From there I was able to do a nice finished version on Procreate. So all and all, along with a handful of other good sketches, a very productive day.
You can find this and other of my images on my Redbubble page.