Wild Animal Safari

Quick report from the road!: As I mentioned last week on Discord, I have been away on vacation doing some on-location drawing. Today I wanted to share a few shots from the last leg of our trip, where we have found all the hoofed mammal reference an artist could ever possibly ask for. 

Look at those faces!! I love them. Whiskers and horns and weird tongues. These are going to be outstanding reference for monsters!!

Most of these friendly herbivores didn't hold still long enough for any kind of proper sketching, but we were able to capture the essence of them here and there in between snorts and bellows. And what they lacked in stillness, they made up for with an absolute disregard for personal space. We were able to get up close and personal with them. (Maybe too close. Does giraffe drool come out of fabric?)

Apart from the vast array of hoofed mammals we encountered, they also had a few actual dinosaurs:

We were told not to feed them as they may eat your hand. (You don't need to tell me twice buddy. I've seen how Jurassic Park ends.)  

They also had a Great North American Thundergoose:

Which had a stern, "Do Not Feed the Thundergoose," sign next to it. 

"Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about your car's insurance policy?"

For those of you wondering, yes that is a car that I am driving through this park, and that animals are sticking their heads into. No, it is not my car. I rented it, and yes I got the full insurance, so the sheer volume of Giraffe drool on the floorboards is not my problem. 

All together it was a great trip and I look forward to doing a lot of drawings based on the reference we got there. If you ever have a chance, check out Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia. It's Jurassic Park, but with hoofed mammals. 

But this was only part of the trip. We also had the chance to visit some aquariums and explore many tide pools while hiking along the coast. I was able to do a lot more drawings in these places, and I talk a bit more about that experience and share my approach to surviving on-location drawing in this month's Tutorial Guide "Drawing from Sea Life" which just posted earlier today in the tutorial tier.