Oakland Museum, Too

Taxidermy animals

Viola Frey's Pink Lady, c. 1965

Oaklanders love the Oakland Museum on First Friday--there's reduced price admission, a DJ, live music, food trucks, a bar and lots of revelers!

I sketched little kids dancing and their parents living it up (alas, results are not blog-worthy), then retreated to the quiet galleries in search of motionless subjects.

Pencil is the only medium allowed in the galleries. Taxidermy animals were drawn in water-soluble pencil (I snuck out the water brush for dramatic effect).

Here's Viola Frey's ceramic Pink Lady, drawn under the watchful gaze of the security guard.  Relegated again to the use of pencil . . . could not depict Frey's rich colors so desperately needed here. I prefer not to alter urban sketches after leaving the location, so use your imagination and see a pink lady in a yellow sunsuit holding her blue pet monkey.