Juxtaposition Penguins

As a student of art, drawing is the basis of ALL successful results. We spend a great deal of time drawing the human figure. The class with a naked model is called something like "life drawing" and although the title is cloaked with encryption, the model is not. Now you would think that modeling for artists is an easy job. It is not! The professionals (and, yes, there are aging models who indeed make a living taking the bus around town to drawing co-ops to disrobe) suffer from a multitude of maladies including hip problems and nerve damage from standing motionless in a variety of awkward positions for up to 20 minutes for the love of art.

That brings us to plein-aire painters who cannot comfortably paint in temps below 9 degrees F. We seek an indoor experience in these sorts of temperatures and what could be better than the Como Zoo? After a tour of the zoo, it was decided that the models for the day would be penguins (puffins with wild-Einstein-hair moved too fast). At least it seemed like a good idea. They were unpredictable, they needed frequent swimming breaks, and their shape is unlike anything I have ever drawn in "quick-draw" style before. Think about it: bird skeletons in a bag. But there were no animals harmed for science and they certainly did not suffer the ills of nerve damage like their human counterparts.