Win a Week at Summer Camp While Making Great Gifts for the Holidays!

Arctic Fox at the San Diego Zoo, Sun., Nov.20, 2011

Photo by Perrin Weston Coman

I enjoyed another awesome animal drawing class at the San Diego Zoo Sunday with Watts Atelier Instructor Tom Babbey. This gorgeous little Arctic Fox lives in his enclosure near the Polar Bears.

As a reminder, Carlsbad Art Farm is holding Art Farm for the Holidays during the first three weekends in December for students currently enrolled in Grades 2-8.

Students are invited to come to Art Farm to make gifts for the holidays, visit with our farm animals, indulge in sugary holiday treats and hot cider, and enjoy being at Art Farm during this beautiful season of the year. The recent rains have brought much greenery to our 10-acre woodland preserve making it a perfect holiday setting.

All paid students attending Art Farm for the Holidays open studio sessions will be put in a drawing for a chance to win a week at Carlsbad Art Farm Summer Camp 2012 (value $400). Camps begin in June and continue through mid-August. Camps are one-week, Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. The drawing will follow the last open-house session the third weekend in December. Note: Students must be entering grades 2 or higher in fall 2012 to attend summer camp.

Polar Bear at the San Diego Zoo, Sun., Nov. 12, 2011
Photo by Perrin Weston Coman

Carlsbad Art Farm is located on Sunny Creek Road near the Village of Carlsbad. We are known for our wonderful sold-out summer camps and year-round studio art, visual literacy and natural science enrichment classes for youth Grades 2-8. Students study drawing and painting technique in our outdoor studios, often using our farm animals as live models. Our habitat is riparian, with a year-round running creek which we use to educate students about conservation and respect for the natural world. This November, we welcomed two wonderful groups of Kelly Elementary School second-graders who came to Art Farm for a field trip to study pond life.

Art Farm for the Holidays open studio times and dates are detailed in our previous post (see "Art Farm for the Holidays" below). RSVPs are mandatory. The fee is $40 per 4-hour session per student. An additional fee of $5-$15 per gift made (cost depends on materials used) applies. Payment is by cash or check payable to Carlsbad Art Farm on the day of the event. We anticipate that students will be able to complete 2-3 projects per visit depending on what projects they choose and how long it takes to complete the project.

To RSVP for Art Farm for the Holidays, check dates and times on our previous post and follow link for contacting us. Questions may be directed to Owner/Director Perrin Weston Coman at director@CarlsbadArtFarm.com. Please type "Art Farm Holiday" in the subject head so we don't delete your email as spam.

Art Farm for the Holidays

An Indonesian Eclectus Parrot, right, and his unidentified

friend enjoy their lunch at the San Diego Zoo yesterday.

(Photo by Perrin Weston)

Carlsbad Art Farm is hosting six open house studio events for students Grades 2-8 over the first three weekends in December. Students are invited to come to Art Farm  to make presents for family and friends for the holidays while enjoying our 10-acres preserve in central Carlsbad. Please look at our schedule below for event dates and times (click headline for complete post). Attendance is by RSVP only. Space is limited so early reservations are recommended. Fee is $40 per student per session date, plus and additional $5-$15 per project completed. Parents enrolling siblings concurrently will receive a discount enrollment rate of $25 per each additional child. The per project fee remains the same. Depending on the projects selected, students will have time to finish 1-3 projects per visit.

In addition to making holiday gifts for friends and family, students will have time to simply enjoy Art Farm. Visits with our farm animals, time on our tire swing, walks down the creek-side trail (weather permitting), and sinfully delicious holiday treats are all part of the fun. And naturally, it's always fun to come with friends so don't be shy about getting the word out for us.

For more information and to make your reservation, please click here. In the subject heading, please type "Art Farm for the Holidays" (so we don't delete your email as spam). Provide the first names and current grade level of your student(s), and your preferred open house session date. Payment is by check or cash only on the day of the event.

In the event of rain, we will cancel or postpone an open house on any given date. We will email you prior to any cancellation so if the weather looks iffy check your email prior to coming out the day of your  reservation.

Open House Dates: Sat, Dec. 3, 1:30 PM-5:30 PM; Sun, Dec. 4, 11 AM-3 PM; Sat, Dec. 10, 1:30 PM-5:30 PM; Sun, Dec. 11, 11 AM-3 PM; Sat, Dec17, 1:30 PM-5:30 PM; Sun, Dec. 18, 11 AM-3 PM.

Drawing at the San Diego Zoo

I'm enjoying a 10-week San Diego Zoo drawing drawing class for adults with Instructor Tom Babbey through Watts Atelier (based in Encinitas). Tom is an awesome animal artist (link to his sketch blog at bottom of post). If you can find a class offered by him jump at the opportunity. Tips for Young students: Animal models generally move a lot (even the Galapagos tortoise pictured here), so animal artists have to develop a visual memory of their subjects so they can keep drawing while waiting for their subjects to strike a similar pose. 

One week we were drawing Grevy's Zebras (also pictured here), and for almost three hours these animals conspired against us artists by keeping their faces obscured in troughs of hay. Much of my zebra's head that day was drawn using my "visual memory" of what a zebra's head looks like.

If you are serious about learning to draw animals well, it helps to have a good camera with zoom lens and fast shutter speed so you can develop your own image library. If you don't have a camera or can't get to the zoo, visit the San Diego Zoo website and find an image there to draw. The images here were taken by me over a period of several weeks at the San Diego Zoo. I also took many close-up "detail shots" of different parts of the animal such as legs, hoofs, eyes, muzzles, ears, etc.

Tips for Young Students: Make a habit of keeping a daily sketchbook where you practice, practice, practice! When you go to the zoo or any other place where you can view animals, practice drawing them from life in your sketchbook. Over time, as you flip through your book, you will be amazed at your improvements. 

You are welcome to print out these zoo pictures and sketch them.

Students: With parent permission, we invite you to send a scanned image of artwork made by you of one of the pictures in this blog post. Send your image file to us at director@carlsbadartfarm.com. We just might exhibit your art on our blog! Remember to include your first name only and your age.

Tom Babbey Animal Sketch Blog