Chester Zoo Visit and Thomas Bewick and Drawing

Chester Zoo Visit

In order to take more photos of animals who blend in with their environments but are still distinctive, I visited Chester Zoo during the Easter break. It was a sunny day so the light was great for taking pictures, and the colours and patterns of the animals stood out really well. My colour palette will be formed from a combination of these photos, those from Manchester Museum and my drawings of the animals and specimens there.

From Left to Right: an Okapi is a hybrid of zebra an deer/horse,
a colourful fish blends with rocks, cheetahs' coats are highlighted in sun,
a lizard hides amongst foliage and a snake's skin provides camouflage

Thomas Bewick


Teresa suggested I had a look at Thomas Bewick's woodcuts, and I find them really interesting; he creates shapes and textures just by using small line strokes, and draws animals as if they are made up of segments rather than looking at them as a whole. I have started to do this with my research material; while at the zoo I was looking for patterns and shapes rather than at the whole animal. I would like my designs to have this slightly segmented feel, as it adds movement and keeps the viewer interested.

Even the name given to this print of a giraffe is a mix of different animals - the way Bewick sees it, camel and leopard are brought together to form a giraffe, and this thinking is evident in his work. This also reminds me of the Okapi from Chester Zoo, that seems to be a strange hybrid of different animals. I prefer the cameleopard, because of the space at the top of the drawing; it allows closer inspection of the detail, that seems to just get lost with the woodcock below. I need to incorporate such space into my designs to stop them feeling claustrophobic, but still have that sense of having to search out the creature or pattern from amongst the undergrowth.

'Woodcock' and 'Cameleopard' 

I started experimenting with texture using watercolours, as a way of providing a background and quickly making a range of marks. It was difficult to be accurate in terms of shape and colour with the paints, as they are a different colour why dry to when wet. This turned out to be a good thing, as it provides a contrast to the sharp line drawings.

Left: cheetah and bee orchid colours combine with fish patterns
Right: scales from snake skin painted in chameleon and fish colours

To build up interesting patterns and produce marks in a clearer way, I rubbed with crayon, pastel and pen onto different surfaces. These rubbings have been scanned in so I can develop motifs and designs using them in photoshop. I tried to achieve variety in the marks, some larger scale and some smaller, from natural forms such as wood and from walls and concrete. They have a good movement to them, but their use may be limited to motifs for screen and photoshop as the rubbing effect only works with very thin paper.