Kansas City Zoo Sketching

I think the last time I'd been to a zoo (before this past Saturday) was about 2 years ago.  I love zoos, I even used to work at one, so it seemed like a really long time since I'd been.  I was near Kansas City, MO house/kid sitting for my brother over the weekend and thought going to the zoo would be a fun Saturday outing.  I'm so glad that we went!  I was able to take some nice photos, get in some sketching time, take some video, and keep the kid happy~!

I don't remember what these birds are called, but they sure are neat animals!

 

The Polar Bear was just chill'n...

 Red Panda, one of my favorite animals!

Elephants are always entertaining! The elephant in this photo I took and the elephant I sketched below are in the same pose, but they are actually two different elephants.  The one I sketched was missing a tusk.

My favorite exhibit was the kangaroo exhibit. Once inside the gates, there were no barriers between the animals and the guests.  They were just free ranging!  I got to sketch them and also take some reference that would be great if I ever want to animate a kangaroo!

Keeping busy

I've really been keeping busy this month with lots of freelance work & collaborative projects.  I snuck in some drawing time to make a new Penguin & Peep piece this week, and spruce up one that I felt I could have done better on.

New Penguin & Peep piece- "Japanese Garden Stroll"

Fireworks: Version 1

Fireworks: Version 2

I wasn't sure the original version of my "Fireworks" print fit as well as it could with the other Penguin & Peep illustrations I'd done, because the colors are bolder and the strokes not as delicate.  So, when I went back to tweak it I softened the fireworks, made the sky more purple, and added flowers to the bushes.  I also enlarged Penguin & Peep a bit.  Looking at them both together, I still like them both, and I think version 2 just looks a little more girly. In the end, I'm not sure if the result was better, or just different.  What do you think?