Zoobooks

Does anyone even remember Zoobooks? It seems they're still around.  I loved them as a kid.  Between all those back issues and actually going to a wonderful zoo during breaks and field trips I had a love for animals take hold early.  They've always fascinated me so I was pleased to have a chance to draw them for an assignment.

Hit the Oklahoma City Zoo last week with a good friend of yore.  Fun trip but I wasn't happy with my output that day.  Decided to take the opportunity to dive into full marker and gel pen use on top of my drawings.  I've been holding back so that my actual sketching was the star, but needed something to experiment with. 

All of these were drawn from life with the exception of the male lion, Aslan, who was put down due to illness in early 2012.  He's drawn from my personal photographs of him roaring and if you've never heard a male lion roar in person...add that to your list.  It's an amazing display of power that you can FEEL all through your core.  This was my tribute to him for letting me hear his declarations of territoriality.