Smithsonian Sketches

This Friday the first year students in my program were taken to the Smithsonian Institution Naturalist Center in Leesburg, VA for the day to relax--before Anatomy class starts--and sketch from the animal specimens they have there. The Center itself is not all that big, but there are so many types of animals and bones and minerals to look at that it was pretty overwhelming. Anyways I made several sketches throughout the day:

The first drawing I made was of a skull of a Smilodon californicus (sabre-toothed tiger), which I picked both because I was still used to drawing bones from the hipbone project, and because I really like prehistoric animals, a lot. This probably took about 40 minutes, and is done in pen.



Next I drew a few much quicker sketches, probably about 10-15 minutes each, if that. They are of Martes foina (beech marten, top), Colinus virginianus (northern bobwhite, left), and Ondatra zibethicus (muskrat). All done in pencil.



After those I felt like doing another long drawing, so I drew an armadillo because they have really interesting anatomy (and they're related to the extinct glyptodons, another prehistoric mammal). Drawn in pen, and shaded with graphite.



Lastly, I drew one of the two giant polar bears they have on display. This one stood probably 8-9 feet tall, and was really impressive to look at. Another quick pencil sketch.



That's all the sketches I have, because I spent a lot of time mesmerized by the collection. It was definitely a worthwhile trip.