Susan and her goat model

I wasn’t having much luck at capturing the likeness of this sweet goat lady, who along with her sister (I think they were girls! but they had goatees – does that make them boys??) charmed me with their sweetness. The workshop attendees all met at the famous Wild Flour bakery in Freestone, California where there was a traffic jam this morning with all the people grabbing breakfast on their way to the beaches.

[Doesn't this make you drool?!]

We sketched amidst the hustle and bustle inside, then outside in the garden and by the road. Here’s some student sketches:

by Beth Bourland (Beth’s website)

by Jewell Scanlon

Next we moved on to the Rose and Thorn Gift and Garden shoppe where we spent the rest of the day in the land of chickens. They were everywhere, in their fluffy boas and saucy hats, for these are not the legghorn variety of chickens – these are designer chickens. So have you ever sketched a napping chicken on a warm day when your stomach was full of Shitake mushroom cheese bread? You pick the napping ones because they’re actually sort of posing. They melt into a lump on the grass and then the only thing moving on them is their head, which very slowly droops until the beak disappears into the feathers. At this point, if you’re not yawning, then you weren’t paying attention. I actually think the memory of those chickens might work as well as a sleeping pill! Here’s the ones I sketched just before falling asleep. And yes, the chicken’s name is Susan Hayward.

by Susan

by Lorna Schreck

I’m missing pictures of some other student work I wanted to share – oh well. I hope you feel you were there with us! Next time maybe. . .