Camels

Today I watched a film called The Story of the Weeping Camel. The setting was in Mongolia, in the Gobi desert. I thought it was beautiful and interesting. I loved the visual richness and contrasts. One of the most striking things was how plain the tents were on the outside, and inside a blaze of color and gorgeous decoration. And of course, I loved watching the camels.

I really enjoy sketching animals from films. It has the advantage of being able to pause for closer study, yet you can still observe the movement and gait of the animals. Sometimes I don't even pause, but sketch while the film is running. The camel on the left here was drawn on pause, the one on the right while it was playing. I work pretty swiftly, either way. Of course, the experience still doesn't beat drawing from life, but it's the next best thing when I can't go to a zoo all the time.

These Bactrian camels have wonderous long wool on their necks and big tufts of it on the upper forelegs. Here is a very young one.