ZOO GRADS

About a month ago I took my first graduate level class (as a teacher) Advanced Expressive Life Drawing to Flyshacker Zoo here in San Francisco, otherwise known as the "San Francisco Zoo", or the ever-more-popular "Mass Media Mania Extravaganza" or the even-more-unjustified "Killer Bengal Tiger Teasing Retreat".

Yes folks, just days before the media would descended upon the helpless zoo after an escaped tiger got his claws into a few rookie antagonizers, my tight-nit group of animators spent a lovely afternoon on the zoo grounds capturing all the majestic qualities of life's beautiful creatures through our sketchbooks, drawings and paintings. And guess what... nobody got hurt!


Jacqui (left), Todd, Aron, Christiano and myself like normal intelligent primates on THIS side of the bars, enjoyed ourselves greatly, had lunch, had fun, did some drawings, learned a few things about the critters and returned home in-time for a 6pm class without antagonizing the kitties!!! Go Jacqui!!! Wooooohoooo!











We soon wandered into the rainforest building and drew the birds and the beasts.... Get'em guys, stay focused...



Christiano (above) would linger behind as we made our way back towards the front entrance hoping to catch one last gestural line of the magnificent polar bears that would look so sad (and hot) hanging out on the warm concrete.








Lets go Christiano... the park is closing soon... and we're cold!!!





We soon stand right outside the den glass window and draw the very same tiger(s) that would seek to score one for the animal-kingdom not days later... Here is some great work we brought safely home! Check it out... Enjoy

"R"... is for rompin' "Roo"












"P"...is for pretty peacocks... prrrrrr

















steady Todd... keep your eyes on the nice sharp gator teeth...











draw quickly... they move on ya! Especially when preaning for the Morgellon's...






In order to protect the identity of the alleged killer kitty, all drawings of the cats have been removed until further notice. Please forgive the inconvenience and enjoy the other animal drawings we brought back... (more to come)

The contributors to this website would like to send out a warm thank you to the men and women of Flyshacker Zoo for providing us with a great experience and a safe environment to learn and draw from these great creatures from nature. We know you work hard 365 days a year to preserve this controlled habitat for us to enjoy. We will be back!

Photos: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher
Likenesses of individuals have been printed here with permission

Artwork: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher
completed in graphite and gouache on watercolor paper

Artwork (where noted): ©Copyright Christiano Carvalho
completed in graphite and watercolor on paper

Artwork (where noted): ©Copyright Aron Shay
completed in markers on newsprint

GOODBYE AND HELLO

Let me apologize for the delay in this posting and my absence in the last month or so from this blog. My life has had several new changes in it recently (positive) that have kept me away from this journal.

The biggest change being that I have moved AGAIN. After moving last year, I was ready to stay in my comfortable lodgings on Sutter Street downtown San Francisco for quite an extended stay. I had a comfortable functioning apartment and studio in the heart of it all. But when a trusted artist-friend mentioned looking for a roommate to search the dicey San Francisco housing market for a live-work space, I couldn't pass up the potential for more creative space!!! A tough thing to find in this city for sure...

BUT I am pleased to announce I am in an amazing new live-work space that is even more satisfying and inspiring than before... YAY!!!! Something I wasn't sure I could ever find.

Another delay in this posting has been due to having problems with my scanning driver software (Microtek) not working with my new system upgrade into Leopard. I am awaiting a new driver update that will allow me to operate my scanner again. I have many entries and imagery waiting to be scanned... so keep checking back.

But with every change, there is the fond and sometimes sad reflection looking back, where you've come, what it took to get there and the personal sacrifices you endured that you are now leaving behind. Kurt Cobain once said...

"I miss the comfort in being sad."

As an artist, looking back can be as encompassing and educating as looking to the hopeful future. I have always felt looking back is something I resonate more with. Looking at history, the past, the great accomplishments and the failures means knowing one's "self" and moving forward with greater foresight, contextual understanding and the potential for growth! Like the saying goes...

"Knowing where you are going means knowing where you have been."

Image: "Sutter Street"
©Copyright 2007 Trey Gallaher