SketchCrawl: Graves Park

In was an especially productive day for me last Saturday, when we did a SketchCrawl, so much so, that I've split the drawings into two posts, and this is part 2...

We sketched animals in the rare breeds, city farm area of Graves Park in the morning then, after a picnic lunch in unexpectedly glorious sunshine, we headed down to a series of large, tree-lined ponds:
 

I was half way through this painting, when suddenly there was a rumble of thunder and it started to rain. I was under a tree, so sheltered for quite a while and able to finish my sketch, but eventually had to make a dash for thicker foliage. I joined a huddle of other SketchCrawlers down by the edge of the pond:

It wasn't an especially prepossessing spot, so we all drew each other for a while...

A passing girl and her mum were curious about what we were up to. Les lent the girl his A3 sketchbook and a pencil (how kind is that?), so that she could join in. She rewarded Les by drawing a portrait of him: 

I had a go at the rain splashing into the water:

Some people decided to call it a day, but the rest of us waited for a lull than made a dash back to the park's cafe and snuggled around a suitable sticky table to pass round the sketchbooks and share our day's endeavours (I will as usual put other people's drawings in the gallery as they come in, if you fancy a peek).

I had left John at home for the day, digging up a dead tree in our back garden (I think I got the best end of the deal...), but he said he would come and pick me up so, while I waited, I went back into the animal area and had another bash at the donkeys:

The sun was back in force and, for some reason, the recent rain had brought dozens of pigeons into the enclosures. They were perched on all the pig pens and were pecking around the donkeys:

Just as John arrived to take me home, I turned the page to discover I was at the end of my sketchbook. Perfect timing, though it felt a bit sad, so I did a quick sketch of some pigs inside the back cover, one of whom was now wallowing contentedly in a massive pool of gloopy mud:



You can my sketches from the morning here, and some of the work other people did in the Picture Gallery.