A Little Trip to Hidden Villa

I had a wonderful time observing animals and humans interact at my favorite local farm. Pigs are my favorite subject there, and I can always count on a few meetings with them. And this time there were some amazing chickens and goats, and the sheep were great too. I used my flexible nib fountain pen and my pocket printmaking tool here. Very small kit - enjoyed it a lot! 

Drawing pigs (and goats) with friends!

There are quite a few gems in the Bay area but some have a special place in my heart - one of them is Hidden Villa with its trails and animals. Somehow I feel like time runs on a different plane there and I can transcend all sorts of worrying thoughts while I listen to the sounds sleeping pigs and piglets make while I draw them - especially in good company :)

Thank you for making a trip, Suhita! I loved the colorful and fuzzy pig sketches you created so much that now I think we should go there again soon so that I can make more colorful observations!

And we got to see the goats! This time none of them were interested in chewing our sketchbooks - many were super small - but all had a character! 

And this quick landscape is how we closed the sketch outing - by sitting under an olive tree and trying tempera sticks in a bunch of new ways:

You can see (and more importantly - HEAR) some of the process at these two links:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CxOqViKPxZ1/?img_index=1
https://www.instagram.com/p/CxQv2jFPUsS/?img_index=2

A trip to Hidden Villa

Hidden Villa sent an email with some pictures announcing baby animals, and Suhita and I decided to go sketch them. Our search for baby animals was futile, but we found some glorious adults to draw:

The grounds were calling for an exploration of greens yet I ignored it all and ended up working mostly with one color.  I used sepia in Pentel Pocket Brush for the animals (some gouache on the sketch of the pig) and black and white ink for the landscape. Some of the photos will give you a glimpse into the February California spring. 

Not pictured - soundtrack: snoring pigs, chewing goats, clucking chickens, and endless songbirds in a tree above us while we painted the barn. A great day!

Sketchbook #109: Everyday Life.

Visiting pigs, running, taking relative to see a doctor. Drawing :)

The book proof is here!

New Project: Book About Tolerance.

Sketchbook #94: Hidden Villa Farm

I made myself a special flex-nib pen and was trying to work through some kinks while drawing chickens and gave up when I came to pigs. I learned a lot since then and re-made the pen anew - so I would not give up today for sure - but then I switched to something more predictable :)

Catching up on previous sketchbooks

August 2014: Hidden Villa

Hidden Villa is an amazing place where I can draw any time of the year my old friends - chickens and pigs! But I also find new things every time I visit - like this tree log on the side of the hiking trail.