Saturday, April 15, 2017

Sketching from virtual life

Giraffe resting I

UPDATE:  Giraffe calf born 11:25am Newfoundland time Saturday April 15th.  Gender: male.

If you haven't heard of April the expectant giraffe by now, you're one of few.  She's a captive bred giraffe housed in the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, NY.  Her enclosure is on a live feed on Youtube and if lucky you may be able to catch the birth of her 4th calf in the very near future.

I won't say I'm addicted, more curious perhaps, but I do check in most evenings to see how she's getting on.   Apparently giraffes need between 30 to 120 minutes of sleep a day, so its rare to see them napping.  The other night I was looking at the live cam feed as she folded her impossibly long legs underneath her to rest.  A resting animal is a perfect sketching opportunity and as I'd never sketched a giraffe before I thought I'd try.

Giraffe resting II

She changed position once more, almost cat like, curled around herself with her head on her hind leg. It was like a complex yoga position and didn't look comfortable, but she stayed there for about 5 minutes giving me another chance to do a quick sketch.

If you don't have an exotic animal close by to observe from life, a virtual view is just as good. Testing sketching skills with moving animals whether from life or a camera provides the same results.

Check the cam and see if the calf has arrived yet.  She was showing signs of something happening last night, so you never know.  Next, sketching a baby giraffe!

4 comments:

RH Carpenter said...

Wonderful sketches - great opportunity to do this since she isn't exactly moving at the speed of light! And this morning, EST time, we were seeing the legs coming out = baby is working it's way out but it may take hours. I love to watch the live bird cams (hawks, owls, etc.) hosted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I contribute to them each month and get to see the goings on but I think anyone can watch - the Barred Owls (in Indiana) just hatched 3 little ones and the Ospreys are in Savannah, remodeling their nest to get ready for egg-laying. Check it out = more opportunities to sketch fluffy little things!

Jeanette Jobson said...

There are endless opportunities to watch nature at work in the spring using technology. This little giraffe is like a mini copy of its mother.

The birds are wonderful to watch too. I'll have to search for more.

Jennifer Rose said...

a lot of news sites are saying the calf is a male now
i missed the birth by about 5 minutes lol but saw him stand on his wobbly feet (and do a face plant that really looked like it hurt lol)

Jeanette Jobson said...

Yes, the calf is male and beyond cute. The birth is available for viewing ad infinitum and he's definitely found his feet, skipping all over. I peeked in this morning and he was working on how to remove a lock from a door.

He'll be a handful I think...