i (heart) odd-toed ungulates

Live Animals at the RISD Nature Lab

I periodically make my way to Providence, RI - it's only just over an hour from Cambridge, and it really is a special little city where (as a RISD alum) I have plentiful good memories. This past Sunday I found myself not only strolling the sidewalks of Providence on a brilliantly sunny Ocean State afternoon, but attending an event held on the RISD campus itself, in one of my all-time favorite buildings - the Edna Lawrence Nature Lab. Established in 1937 by Edna Lawrence, a RISD graduate and faculty member, the Nature Lab is housed in a studio building at 13 Waterman St., and it holds an absolute mountain of natural history treasures, many of which are available for handling and investigation, and some are even loaned out to students. From the RISD website: "Its hands-on natural history collection and studio environment offers the opportunity to examine and explore the patterns, structures and interactions of design in nature." And that it does, in spades. 

This past weekend, the Nature Lab also made a perfect venue for a live animal drawing workshop organized by the New England chapter of the SCBWI. Amongst the taxidermy, skeletons, and other artifacts, RISPCA Humane Educator Laurelin Sitterly kindly coordinated the transport and set-up of 6 live companion animals for an excited group of illustrators to sketch: a dog, cat, rabbit, ferret, tortoise, and African grey parrot - all rescued critters, and all impeccably mannered. Huge thanks to children's book illustrator Christina Rodriguez (RISD '03) for arranging such a terrifc afternoon, and to RISD and the RISCPCA for their generous sponsorship of the workshop. 

I Heart the MCZ Week (day 7): Farewell to the Beasts

After seven pretty fantastic days full of complete MCZ indulgence, my week of natural history museum love is finally at it's end. My last sketches were made in my favorite room - the great hall of mammals - in front of some of my favorite beasts - horned ungulates: a downy Mountain Goat, a sweet-faced Takin (also known as a gnu goat), and a great Gaur (below). End of an inspiring project? Unfortunately so... Best ever way to start a brand new week? Most definitely: Best. Ever. And to anyone currently in the Boston area, or planning a visit - do yourself a favor and open up an afternoon in your schedule for a visit to the MCZ - it'll blow your mind... I promise. (while you're there, wave a little kiss to the unguates for me...)

I Heart the MCZ Week (day 6): Big Cats

A technical glitch kept me from posting yesterday's session at the museum - boo. Rest assured, I was there for a spell, spread out on the floor in front of the African mammals. A friend asked me how I was selecting my daily MCZ-love themes, and the truth is, I let the particulars of each visit choose my focus for me. On this day, the big cats had particular draw... especially when I took some time to investigate the toes on the lion skeleton below - check out the incredible structure of those retractable claws!

The sheath of keratin that covers feline claws (not included in this display) is the same material that makes up ungulate hooves - both structures being modified mammal nails. Claws are attached to the terminal bone of each toe and all cats have the ability to retract them, making them essentially disappear into the paw. Thechnically speaking, the resting position of the claws is in retraction, and by constricting muscles in the toe, a cat is able to straighten them outward when needed. Cheetahs, who rely so heavily on traction during high-speed land pursuits, are one of only 4 felid species in which the claws do not fully retract and are always visible (a nugget of information I learned when I was researching cheetahs for a National Geographic assignment years ago).

I Heart the MCZ Week (day 5): Mollusks

In addition to the reliably amazing permanent exhibits at the MCZ, there is a hallway gallery space for special exhibits that rotates a handful of times each year. I was saddened to see the last exhibit, titled Head Gear, taken down - it was a phenomenal exploration of horns, antlers, and other bony noggin growths across the animal kingdom (including insects, birds, and fish)... heaps of stunning taxidermy and the most beautiful skulls... BUT, the new exhibit that has been quietly coming together all week - unveiled last night - does not dissapoint in the slightest. Mollusks: Shelled Masters of the Marine Realm takes visitors through a tour of the evolution, ecology, and diversity of this phylum of invertebrates that make up nearly a quarter of all known marine species. A sampler of snails, clams, oysters, octopus, and squid, it's a small but densely packed exhibit - and rounding out all the wild specimens collected in the field is a gorgeous case of glass mollusks, masterfully created by the renowned Rudolf and Leopold (father/son) Blaschka - the magicians behind Harvard's world-famous glass flowers.

All the specimens on display are surprisingly lovely, but my hats off to the HMNH's exhibit designers, who heightened the intensity of the experience through clever presentation, bold signage, and a magnificent use of color (the walls and all display cases are a delicious shade of deep peacock blue - the perfect compliment to an abundance of glossy tangerine and peachy-pink seashell shades - my photos reeeeeally don't do it justice). Much like the insects that held my attention yesterday, the broad array of simple, sweeping shapes in Mollusks was enough to keep me focused for hours this afternoon...

I Heart the MCZ Week (day 4): Bugs & Birds

I've written about days when impromptu sketching feels like second nature - smooth as sailing through a conversation with an old friend, where every word is perfectly timed, and even more perfectly chosen... today was decidedly not one of those days. So be it. But it does make working on a personally imposed deadline a bit of a challenge. After struggling with colored pencils and water color in front of a display of handsome pigeons for a good hour, I abandoned ship and decided to relocate. As I passed through the invertebrates exhibit, I stalled in front of a case of coleoptera: beetles - jewel-toned, patterned, and pinned in an orderly arrangement worthy of a meticulous philatelist. Despite the rainbow before me, I took out a Micron and let gesture override adornment - thankfully, the result felt 100% better than my previous exercises that afternoon, and if I had had more time, I would have drawn every specimen on the wall. There's something so pleasingly mathmatic about drawing insects - like sketching architecture or bicycles - they are a perfectly orchestrated collaboration of geometic shapes - a spray of hinged line segments, anchored by some elaboration on the shape of a pill... and symetry - at least when viewed dorsally over the head of a pin - is king.

I Heart the MCZ Week (day 3): Skeletons

My great appreciation for anatomy starts from the inside out - under all that hide, scale, or fur; bearing ounces, pounds, or tonnes of flesh; and protecting vital organs and precious brains - the supporting architecture for all vertebrates is the magnificent skeleton. As an animal artist, I can't epress how useful it is to understand these structures in order to accurately render a creature: every pose starts with a mapping of anatomy, and a knowledge of bones and articulation provides critical insight into limbs that may be obscured, or in motion. Plus, bones are simply some of the most breathtakingly beautiful forms in the natural world, exhibiting the most fascinatingly graceful strength and efficiency. My eyes happily glaze over staring at taxidermy... skeletons, on the other hand, require intense and limitless investigation. After a wander this morning through the paleontology rooms, I did find myself back in the great mammal hall, though my subject was not - as promised - an ungulate. Today I found a much more curious muse - the skeleton of a Giant Anteater...


*And if you're wondering - the middle right photo in the block of images above is of Right Whale baleen!! Craaaazy amazing stuff, the edges of which more closely resemble splinters than soft "hair". Also known as whalebone, this strong but flexible keratin-based material was used for centuries where we might use plastics today: hoop skirt supports, corset stays, bone folders, ladel handles, and the like. I personally think it looks much better inside the mouth of a whale, where a row of between 130 and 360 plates descends from the upper gumline on each side of the mouth, creating a sieve-like mat used to filter krill from ginormous mouthfulls of seawater... cetaceans are just cool like that.

I Heart the MCZ Week (day 2): Ungulates

I can't very well devote a whole week to loving a natural history museum and not give a special shout out to the ungulates... my heart and soul. The mammal halls will always be my default location upon any visit, but there's just something about hooves... from 20ft tall giraffes, to dainty duikers and gazelles - the grazers and the gallopers have me rapt from the tips of their pricked ears to the soles of their even or odd-toed feet (horns and antlers are cause for additional delight). Today's visit had me parked in front of the bovids, where a young Mountain Anoa stood dwarfed by specimens of Guar, Yak, and American Bison (see drawing at bottom of post). The Hartebeest above was sketched this past Sunday... I will do my best tomorrow to explore a different corner of the exhibits, though I'll tell you right now, it won't be easy. Ever and always, I heart ungulates...

I Heart the MCZ Week (day 1): My Valentine

I've spent so many heaps of Valentine's Days expressing affinity, affection, and honest adoration for so many much-loved humans. I've celebrated sweet Oscar-dog. I've baked and I've crafted, I've dined and I've gifted... But this year I'm going to do something different - this year I'm going to give good St. Valentine a whole week's worth of lovin, and rather than direct it all at one heart, I'm starting with my own extravagance and inviting anyone who cares to follow. The twist - my crush this year is actually a place, and in an effort to honor it (and indulge in it's most inspiring effect on me) I will devote a little time out of every day this week (through Sunday) to pop in... and love the stuffing out of it. I'll share a taste of each delicious visit right here. It's going to be great... you see - I heart Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, and from what I can tell, it hearts me right back. Let the natural history love-fest begin!