Sketching at the Fair

I spent some time sketching at
a county fair this week.

The Fulton County Fair is

 one of the largest county fairs in Ohio.

With all the traditional arts and crafts exhibits,

animal barns, several ride and food midways,

and big name entertainment, it usually has 

excellent attendance.  'Styx' was playing

at the grandstand the night we were there.

I spent an hour of my visit sketching

a few of the animal exhibits, as inspired

by Roz Stendahl of Roz Wound Up.  I

can't make it to the Minnesota State Fair,

but got a good taste of 'sketching 

in public,' with minimal preparation and

not too much anxiety!

I think the 'dairy cow,' above, is

the best one of the four that I did.

Not sure if the head is large enough in

proportion to the body, but felt that I

did ok with it over all.

Roz sent me a lovely little sketchbook (pages

about 5"x6")  that she made and

 it was a good size to sketch in while

standing up. I used a Sharpie pen and 

watercolor pencils for these drawings. The

plumage on this little rooster was so beautiful,

but he simply moved around so much that I

had difficulty capturing him. He had those 

great tufts of feathers on his feet (there's 

probably a proper term for that but I don't know it)

and marvelous black and white feathers.

In retrospect, I wish that I had drawn just

a single feather detail to show how
one feather looked. Next year...

I first focused on the pen sketch, then added

bits of colored pencil in areas where I

wanted to add color or shading. I don't 

own a 'water brush' so I thought this

would be an acceptable alternative.

I was able to place the little sketchbook

on top of the metal watercolor pencil box

as a drawing surface. I used water on the 

pencil sketches when I got back to

a table and a glass of water.

Some challenges and things I learned:

* Animals MOVE. A challenge in itself.  Even if you choose

a sleeping animal to sketch, fair goers may come along

and pet the animal and cause them to move.

I do not ever try to touch animals I don't know, 

unless the owner is nearby and says it's ok.

Even 'little bunnies' can give you a serious 

bite or painful scratch! Fair goers don't always

keep this in mind.

Sketching a moving subject can be a bit difficult for me.
Although, when the animal moves, you can sometimes
change your vantage point to compensate.

The cow was the least inclined to move, the rooster

the most active. (and he had a loud crow for a little guy!)

It was amusing though, that the animals were quite

aware that I was standing there longer than most.

The goats came looking for a 'snack' or a scratch

on the head. The cow turned its head and gave me

a questioning look like "what are you up to?"

*People may want to look at what you've drawn.  One 

older couple told me the dairy cow was "pretty close."

I'll take that as a compliment. It's not always easy

to ignore interested passersby, or reply to their

comments. As an artist, it's easier for me to show

finished work rather than 'work in progress,' so that

was a thing out of my comfort zone. Though 

attendance was good the day I was at

 the fair, it wasn't so crowded as to 

have people bump into me. That would have been

another challenge, but as long as I kept the drawing

'loose' it wouldn't be a huge problem for me.

*Drawing while standing is not a problem. Not having

a table or area to lay my tools was a learning experience.

Roz's suggestion is a Fanny Pack or lots of pockets.

I can see how cargo pants would be terrific to sketch in.

But I don't own cargo pants or a Fanny Pack. I do

own a back pack, but having to get it down off my

shoulder to get stuff out was awkward.  I found myself

sticking the watercolor pencils in my mouth while

sketching in pen. Probably not the best idea. I know.

But it served. Next time, I'll choose

 clothes with more pockets.

The hand made book from Roz, above, a gift for 
participating in her 'Fake Journal' challenge.
 The Strathmore 500 mixed media paper was 
a wonderful paper to work on. The black cover has a 
bit of sparkle with copper metallic paint brush strokes.

*The smaller sized sketchbook was easier to handle

than my larger spiral bound journals would have been.

A larger book would have been too heavy, and

difficult to hold in one hand while sketching

with the other hand.

*I'm allergic to most animals. And hay. And dust.

So I did wear jeans, steel toed boots and socks.

From experience, I know my ankles will break out

from the dust and animal dander, and this year was 

no exception. Benadryl cream is helpful. I'll live.

I don't go visit the horse barn, though. Horses are quite

beautiful, but asthma is very unpleasant. I did take a 

quick peak at the miniature horses getting lined up

in preparation for their show in the arena, but I didn't

stay long, or try to draw them.

I enjoyed my sketching experience. I only

sketched for about an hour.  With more time I could

have drawn pigs or flowers or people. There is a 

wealth of subject matter at the fair!