Art Field Trip - Zoology Grant Museum London

 Art Field Trip - Zoology Grant Museum London

~ Creating an Art Portfolio whilst studying for the Arts Award Bronze Level


GORE WARNING !!!!!

Grant Museum of Zoology Field Trip to London

We planned:
We had planned to go to the Grant Museum of Zoology in London to study some of the animal anatomy, especially different types of wings on different species of animals.


What we did : 

We met up with our artists friend Judy and went to the Grant Museum of Zoology together.  

When we did it:
17th October, 2012


Where we did it:
Euston Square, Grant Museum of Zoology , at the UCL London


Why we did it : 

Judy suggested that the Grant Museum might be a good place to find inspiration for animal anatomy and we all thought that was a good idea.


Who did it:
Me, my Mum and our Artist Friend Judy



What I saw today :

Me and Judy looking at an interesting specimen in a cabinet.

One of the top 10 weirdest and most desirable things to se in the Grant Museum according to their leaflet is a jar of moles. 

" Case 12, shelf 3 , near the museum door,one of the most bizarre objects in the museums collection is a large jar crammed full of whole preserved moles" 

source Grant Museum UCL Leaflet

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• Several exhibits of Mammals , a baby deer, a loris and a cat. 

exhibit of a baby deer fawn preserved in formaldehyde 

exhibit of a loris

exhibit of a pet cat named " Little Nicky" 

This cat is a cloned cat from the original pet called " Nicky" . A lady paid quite a sum of money to have her cat cloned after the death of her beloved pet.

my drawing sketches 

I found the deer so pure and cute I just had to draw it. Also it was good anatomy practice as you can barely ever see fawns in the wild. I was pleased with the way the legs turned out. It was difficult to figure out where the top of the body was as it was crammed into its jar.

The loris I drew because I had never seen one or drawn a primate before. I did not want to draw the intestines because they creeped me because it was a little baby.

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• This is a  taxidermy cuckoo . I chose it because it was one of the only birds that I could see which had the feathers still on and a clear view of anything but the bone structure.

exhibit of a cuckoo bird

my drawing sketches of the cuckoo, I did not finish the drawing as my view was cut off from where i was standing.

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•  We asked the curator whether we could get one of the dragonflies out of the cabinet so we could get a closer look for sketching. Our artist friend Judy was very excited because she loves drawing and painting dragonflies. 

me and Mama sketching the dragonfly

exhibit of dragonfly close up

my sketch of a dragonfly

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• This is a particoloured bat on the right hand side. I find bats interesting because they are the only mammal that can in fact fly. That intrigues me. 

exhibit of particoloured bat

My  drawing sketch of the particoloured bat which I was extremely pleased with. 

I thought it looked lifelike which is what I am hoping to improve on.

picture of me sketching the particoloured bat

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• some other interesting stuff I saw and heard on the day

 A lady was showing me baby baboon calls and what they meant. 

She was a researcher explaining things to the people visiting. 

another bat exhibit

a butterfly exhibit 

a bird skeleton exhibit

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REVIEW Of My Day

What I liked/found interesting:

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I found the whole visit exceptionally interesting because I love looking at dead animals and studying from them. My favourite exhibit was the baby deer/ fawn because it was so adorable  . Also it was a challenge to draw because of the positions the animals were in but I learned a lot by being able to look closely. In nature animals usually don't stay still for very long and this gave me an opportunity to study in more detail.

What I learned:

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I learned a lot by looking at the way mama and Judy were drawing the exhibits and compare it to my way of drawing. I did learn a lot about animal anatomy and the way wings function.

What I disliked:

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I did not like looking at the intestines of the loris. 

What I hope to try out in my artwork:

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 I'd like to try actually giving some of my animal characters a bone structure so that they actually look like realistic-ish animals. I am trying to get proportions right on my cartoon animals.

How I applied what inspired me today 

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 I have made sketches  of the various exhibits and taken photographs for later reference and inspiration to apply to my artwork.