Sketches from "Nature: Niagra Falls"

We're back in the Viral Sketchbook; darn thing is so big, I feel like have an entire Sketchbook left to fill while being more than halfway through this one.  But I got into something of a groove this time (the trick is a really soft, dull pencil it turns out) and I hope to keep it up.  

"Niagra Falls" was a surprisingly good episode; I like the ones that focus on a whole ecosystem and a wide variety of animals.  This one also had interviews with local scientists, including Paleoartist Jenna McGuire, and that was incredibly cool.

(Hey, WNET, are you planning an episode on The Maine Lakes and Mountains Region?  Because if you want help from a local artist... 😅) 

Sketches from "Nature": "A Fistfull of Talons"

 While I'm aching for a rerun of "Raptor Force" some day, this was an outstanding episode.  Secretary Birds!  Seriemas!

 

Sketches from "Nature: Dogs in the Wild"

 This was a really good multipart episode because it focused on rarer, lesser-known canines.

Sketching from Nature - "The Elephant and the Termite"

I promised you charismatic megafauna didn't I?  You can't get more charismatic than elephants; I honestly don't know what we humans did to deserve living alongside them.

And this episode helped me get right into my next Sketchbook!  I just happened to pop into a Five Below for the first time ever and it turns out they have a good selection of art supplies.  I got a really nice, really thick watercolor Sketchbook that's seen me through most of this year; an HQ Fine Stroke. I got two because they were, in fact, below five dollars each.  And that was a good move because they're every bit as good as the old reliable Strathmore Visual Journals.  Anyway, back to elephants!

Sketching from "Nature" - "Woodpeckers" and "The Egg"

I of course like the episodes of "Nature" that cover the big famous Charismatic Megafauna (and I happen have an episode like that coming up for you later).  But I LOVE the episodes that focus on the little guys; especially animals I think I know by heart.  The delightfully entitled "Woodpeckers, the Hole Story" is just such an episode.  Turns out our little treekeeper dinosaur friends are at least as important architects of the ecosystem as beavers and termites.

 

I'm pairing this episode with "Sir Attenborough and the Egg, Nature's Greatest Invention".  This was an incredibly good episode.

Sketching from "Nature" - "Santa's Wild Home"

 Happy Christmas in July!  As you know, I enjoy sketching from nature documentaries and I have a big backlog of sketches from "Nature" episodes to share here.  Today, we're going to Lapland in these sketches from... last Christmas.  Yikes.

These and the next few batches of sketches are from a nice little handmade Sketchbook I got at a New Agey store ages ago.  I'd love to recommend it but I think it's one of a kind.  I liked it, though, and it was a lot of fun to draw in.