Spiny blue lizard start

Monday 24th
It was my birthday at the weekend and so as somewhat expected I came in to find my desk decorated. This happens to most staff in the Learning Department for their birthday... 

This week I get properly started on the blue spiny lizard; I went up for another look at them and took a few more pictures which I then uploaded to the computer sorted, resized, cropped, adjusted and placed another group on an A4 document to print as reference. We had problems with our printer this morning... it refused to take up any of the double sided paper that Anna needed to be printed for a job she was doing and then it refused to take up any paper. So a lot of fiddling, resetting, gentle man-handling and frustration was spent on the darned thing. Still it wouldn't play ball... so it was switched off and 'put in the naughty corner'. We have a photocopier that we can print to but the quality is not as good as the Epson. However beggar's can't be choosers and so the photocopier stepped up to the mark and took over the few bits of printing today.

In the afternoon I started the drawing of the blue spiny lizard. I am doing the male and female but putting the female mostly behind the male so just her front legs and head are showing. Basically I just need to show a bit of the body and throat so that the comparision can be made between her and the male. The male has a blue throat and patches of blue on his sides as well as a rose sheen to his back... the female is a much duller colour with no blue. So they look different colour wise (sexual dimorphism) which is why I need to do them both.

Tuesday 25th

Finished off drawing the lizards this morning and now need to think on background setting. 

They like to  bask on rocky/wall surfaces or fence posts... to fit the shape of the picture format for this ID it needs to be oblong in composition... so I opted for a rocky surface.

Next I had a short discussion with Phil about the size of the painting. I was going to be facing the same issues I had with the great plated lizard.. small complex details on a small sized illustration. So we discussed the options... taking a photo of the finished work was out as that didn't give the quality we needed for the digital image. Painting to fit an A4 scanner was what I had done before but this was now giving me problems with some illustrations (eye strain working on small illustrations. So we discussed painting larger and then scanning in sections and photomerging them in Photoshop. This last option was opted for as a trial... if this works out better for my eyes and can be successfully joined without the shadowing that sometimes occurs, then this would be the way to go. Phil did also mention that as this was going to be a problem that continues maybe we would need to invest in an A3 scanner now.

So I start the painting at an A3 size.. which after all these years of working to A4, or less, is strange.


Wednesday 26th

Apart from changing the text on the blue spiny lizard ID sign to incorporate the fact that they are also called fence lizards... I was pretty much tied to my desk painting the rocky background. So nothing else to report...

Week 17th - 19th June

Monday 17th

Having cleared the job of replacing signs last week it was time for another illustration, the blue spiny lizard... this one I am not really looking forward to, as I foresee the same problems I had with the great plated lizard. But it still needs to be done and now it was next on the list. I looked over the reference images I had taken of the animals previously... checking that I could get the details I shall need from a combination of the various photo's noting where they are lacking and then went over to the reptile house to try and get more photo's and get a real good look at the animal before I start drawing. Unfortunately the lizards are a smallish species so the animal I could see towards the back was not helpful to me as itwas too far away for close observation. There was an animal close to the front... but just as I was starting to look him over it decided to move on and clambered down to hide under a rock. Darn! I waited but it jever resurfaced.. so my mission had failed. I will come back another time to see if I can get a better view. In the meantime there was always the internet. 

Back in the studio I did a search and was surprised that there were relatively few images of this species. I wanted in particular to get a better idea of the blue colour the males have. I shall have to chat to Tim to see if the colour is enhanced in breeding condition and dull the rest of the time.

The few photo' I had I uploaded and cropped, deleted, adjusted as necessary and then printed a seletion from those that I have now accumalated.

I did a few other little jobs around the studio and also went to check on the progress of the Round Aviary alterations. Nigel (Curator of Birds) ad said that there was a possiblity the aviary may be completed and the birds in over the weekend or on Monday (today). But a check revealed that there is still some work to be done before the birds go in. 

At 5pm there was a small gathering in the Maintenance workshops for a member of staff from that department who is retiring. Richard has been at the zoo about 15 years and is a very well liked man. He is always cheerful and ready to help however he can. A real ray of sunshine. So there were drinks and cakes on offer and a little gathering with speeches and a display of photo's of Rich past and present. It is very sad to see him go; I, along with many others will miss him greatly.

Tuesday 18th

An email from Jonny from the Aquarium has added a few more fish species to my 'to do list'. One being the pot bellied seahorse. This is a species we have had before at the zoo only back then, in 2002, it was referred to as big bellied seahorse. Many species have different common names, depending on the area they are found or who is referring to them. There is only one scientific name and that changes rarely - only when changes are made to its taxonomic classification. So a quick check of the old ID sign showed the smae scientific name but no image on file. It was some years ago and very likely done as a copy trans before we started producing images digitally. However a look through my illustrations of fish brought the worrying fact to light that the illustration is missing. I spent some time looking in all possible places but could not find it or indeed another species of seahorse. They were possibly used and have not been put back where they should be. I did find the copy trans (positive colour film) and so scanned the illustration from that. It took some tweeking to get the settings to scan it well but eventually got there.

The background was black of course but not 'pure black' so I needed to change that. This time instead of using the mouse to guide the pen tool in photoshop, I got to play with the new tablet and pen. Unfortunately as my operating system on my computer is older than the specs need, I could not get all the functions to play with and learn, but I could do a straight trace around the illustration and change the background. It took longer than normal as it was all new and different to handle, but great fun and I should think once I get used to handling the tablet and pen it wil be quicker. I followed a tutorial on YouTube to et to basics which was very handy and helpful to do.

I compuled a new ID sign document for the seahorse, putting in the info Jonny had given me and placing teh illustration on to it as well and then printed it and laminated it. Although it is made in the format for backlit signs (as all the fish signs are) there is no light box for the display tank that these fish will be in. They are in a tank in the undreground area of Seal and Penguins Coast.

Last week I had suggested to Phil that maybe we could do something a little more interesting with the 'blanks' we use to fill spaces in ID holders where there is no ID sign to go. These have up to now been plain pieces of paper, either white or a salmon colour (for birds), but I thought it might be more asthetically pleasing to have a subtle pattern on them. The zoo logo has a lovely design of the letters being made up of a jumble of interlocking animal and plant images. So Phil put a copy of the logo image file onto my computer and I took a portion of it and placed it onto a new template for blank signs.... I then played with some colourings and degrees of tone until I got two versions (one on white and one on salmon) and then printed a small supply. I had a few new blanks to go up as part of the sign replacement I have been doing., so I put up the first of the new style blaanks today.

I finished the day continuing with my backup of files to the zoo's server. I managed to get all the fish and herps(reptiles and amphibians) done.

Wednesday 19th

I have a half day today. This evening I am off up to Gloucester to do a painting demonstration to an art group in my capacity as a wildlife artist. So I took the afternoon as holiday.

As Phil was out at the Hollywood Tower Estate this morning I went to the Ops Meeting in his place. Anna,the other designer, usually goes in his place but she is on holiday this week so that leaves me. It's been some years since I have gone to an Ops Meeting. I had nothing to report from the Graphics Section but wrote a few notes on what other sections had to report so Phil was aware.

I had seen Nigel and after a brief chat about the status of the Round Aviary alterations and bird moves I had two more ID signs to print ready for the white winged wood duck. These will be going in with the black hornbills (their signs are ready and waiting to go up) The birds should be in very soon.

Whilst I was out I cleaned off some graffitti from an ID sign, luckily it came off easily with some lighter fluid.

I finished the morning by continuing and finishing my back up to the server.

Finishing the Sweep

The days of this week are all pretty much the same so little point doing each day separately.

Last week I had printed a new black and white ID sign for the imperial scorpions which are going in the underground area of Twilight World. I needed to double check that the size and shape of the sign fitted the position it was to go in, so I took it over to . This is in a themed area and the underground area is made to look like you are in a hole in the ground... hence the walls look like soil with roots coming down through. The ID Signs are positioned in cut-away holes in the walls and backlit with light, so the ID's just show the white text and silhouette of the creature. All was well with the size and shape, so I printed the full version (I had only done a 'rough' copy on economy setting) trimmed and lined it up (two separate A3 sheets needed to make it) and then stuck it together ready for when the display needs it.
Then over the next three days it was a case of printing, trimming, laminating, trimming again, taping or hole punching 45 individual ID signs. Some had to be converted on the computer from old Quark and Freehand documents to Illustrator ones so that slowed the process up a bit.

The signs were all put up too, over the course of the week. Now it is done and I don't have to do this mammoth ID replacement again untilk the beginning of August when my next 'ID Sweep' is due.

Apart from that I also uploaded and sorted out the photo's I took of the wrinkled hornbills - Aceros corrugatus last week  - adjusting, cropping and deleting until I have a selection of reference photo's ready for when I come to do the illustration. In my research on the species... as both the birds we have are a year old or less so have not yet got their full adult colouration. I did a google search of images for this species and soon noticed a number of variations. I contacted Nigel (Curator of Birds) to ask his advice. My problem was that I had noticed on the lower mandible of the male the brown area that the wrinkles form in varies in the amount of the mandible it covers.. some only a third of the way along from the base , some it almost reaches the tip at the other end. was this age related or just an individual variation? Next .... they have an inflatable pouch on their throat... was this always inflated or only to display etc? Also the colouration varied from white through to deep yellow. Again was this an individual thing or related to age or breeding condition? And lastly... the casque shape on the top mandible... it varied in size, shape, colour and number of notches - ranging from none and being smooth to having four or five deep notches or from being short or long in length, being pale or deep red in colour and being anything from very 'oblong' in shape to being very curved. Again.. individual, age, breeding condition etc? This might seem over the top in my research but as these birds have yet to mature and colour up and form these features fully... I can't just guess when I know nothing about what I'm trying to guess on. So Nigel was able to give me my answers that will enable me to be able to paint the illustration as close as I can to what is typical for the species.

This is our young male and below is a mature male (photo taken off of google search) which he may or may not mature to look like!

Here's a few photo's from this week at the zoo...

This is I think a Lady's slipper orchid. I found it by chance in one of the flower beds by the new aviaries round behind the Herbaceous Border lawn. I have never noticed them before.. and they are quietly sat down in the shade of one of the bird houses. Beautiful blooms.

The baby Southern pudu was out in the sun... this species is the world's smallest true deer and is very cute with its smartly spotted back.

One of the lion cubs taking a breather in their play fighting session.. he stayed in this position for several minutes... think he was practising his yoga!

The handkerchief tree is in bloom and starting to drop its large papery white petals...standing under the tree gives you the best view of the blooms as they hang from the underside of the leaf laden twigs and branches.

Recently hatched greater flamingo chick following one of its parents to the water. incredibly silly legs... huge feet and joints on the legs... but very cute with it.

Roulroul partridges - Rollulus rouloul are inquisitive birds 

and whenever I am in the Forest of Birds exhibit, putting in new ID signs, they come over to see what I am up to.. no doubt hoping I may have some tasty morsels like mealworms to feed them like their keepers put out for them. Most people walk quite quickly through this exhibit so they are not used to people hanging around, especially when they get down close to their level (as I do when I am undoing or doing up the nuts and bolts on the ID holders)

Sketching in Blackhorse Wood

As I have mentioned before... as part of my in-house training at the zoo, I have a half day sketch session about once a fortnight. In this time I can sketch whatever I want to sketch on zoo property. As I now work just three days a week at the zoo for nine months of the year... I have to get each illustration done as quickly as possible... I rarely allow myself luxuries like spending time sketching an animal unless I deem it absolutely necessary. I wish I could spend time to sketch each animal but it makes each job too long and it's a struggle to keep on top of my 'to do' list as it is. But  sketching is important as it is easy to loose one's 'hand and eye', so regular sketching sessions help me with observation and my art skills. 

It's three weeks since my last sketch half day  and this time I thought I would head up to the Hollywood Towers Estate that the zoo owns and is currently developing into a new visitor attraction. They have owned the land, some 120 acres, since the 60's and it has had planning permission to build another zoo attraction there. For a few years I have gone up before any big changes are made as new buildings are added and old ones renovated as new facilities and enclosures get put in. Pathways and access roads built and the land 'tidied up' ready for visitors. 

Having had the privilege of wandering the fields and woods over a couple of years on occasional visits I am sad that things must change there... it is a beautiful wood and I loved the feeling of discovery and exploration, no other people around (except for the gardeners and a few animal keepers - but they kept to certain areas) So the freedom of wandering the woods spotting roe deer, foxes, many birds and insects... and seeing the naturalised seasonal plants.. like crocuses, snowdrops, bluebells, daffodils, ramsons, cyclamen were a delight.

The new attraction is called 'Wild Place' and it has the first phase opening in July... so this is the last month that I could visit and experience it as I know it.. quiet, peaceful, without the hub bub of visitors and staff. I haven't been for a year myself as I had a frozen shoulder problem last year and it would be silly to tackle the steep slippery rough animal track pathways whilst in pain or unable to use both arms for steadying myself or picking myself up when I slip.

Hence I was really looking forward to my visit...

The changes are already happening and the sound of workmen can be heard around the central area where the 'model farm'  and big barns are.

I signed in with the site manager and picked up my Hi Viz jacket that I was to wear. I asked if I had to wear it in the wood as I wanted the chance to see wildlife and wearing a flourescent yellow jacket was not conducive to that aim. Today luckily there was no work going on in the wood, so I was told there was no need to wear the jacket whilst in the wood, but I had to put it on at other times. 

After signing in I drove back alone the track to the Greenhouses. I parked there and went to see the bird keeper who was looking after the hornbills I had come to photograph and view. These birds are in quarantine so I needed to don wellies, quarantine disposable overalls and disposable gloves before going in with them.

Some of the greenhouses

After spending about an hour with them I had a quick snack lunch and then walked across the fields and from there down into the woods.

From the greenhouses to one of the entrances to the wood

Track down into Blackhorse Wood

I was saddened to see 'no entry' signs on posts stuck in the tracks on a few of the routes through the woods and the track way that led to the Wild Place forest learning camp was wider, cleared and well used... my sense of 'escape' was extinguished.  

I walked down to the camp and beyond it to the high fence that follows the bottom edge of the wood. When I last used this track along the fence line it was so thick with plants that to follow the deer track you had to push your way through nettles and other vegetation... now there was a clear pathway - it was a trail now for the Forest Learning groups. Now and again along the trail laminated signs were hanging from the trees or fence asking questions about British wildlife. A great idea, but again... totally ruining my sense of exploration and discovery of the place I once knew. I have to get used to the fact that this is now a different place... and it is great for those who visit.

Track along the fence line

 I took a lot of photo's again, recording what I see; some of the changes, beautiful scenery that inspires me....

I sat in my foldaway chair where the view beyond the fence looked out across the bottom fields on out to the estuary. Here I did my first sketch of the day...

I was there about an hour... I saw no deer but heard lots of birds, including a few buzzards overhead. Once I was up and moving on I disturbed one buzzard as it sat on the top of the fence... it flew off quickly on hearing my approach. I tried to walk softly and quietly but with so many dried twigs and leaves on the track it was difficult not to be noisy.

Not a great photo of the buzzard, but I was pleased to get that. 

I followed the fence line right along the base of the wood and followed the adjoining fence as it went back up the escarpment cutting through the line of trees. At this point I am now right round the other side of the curved expanse of woodland covering the escarpment. I scrambled up across the undergrowth off the track to emerge behind the clock tower.

I wanted to get back to the fields about halfway along the woodland's line. So I skirted the field trying to find the deer track that I had used many times before to get back down into the trees. I couldn't find it! I pushed through the undergrowth where I thought it should have been and came out vaguely near, I thought, to where I wanted to be in the trees.. But on trying to negotiate my way down the steep bank covered with the slippery yellowed dead leaves of a swathe of long gone bluebells I realised the track was now gone, overgrown and I couldn't find it. So I carefully and slowly made my way back up to where I had been as I knew there was a track skimming the edge of the trees there somewhere. 

On my way I found this gully, where I sat down for a snack of a twix biscuit and some orange juice and then sketched the base of the tree just in front of me. It had bare ivy stems twisting up round its trunk, like a strangler fig.. and I thought this would be interesting to sketch.

Whilst I sat there I heard small steps approach slowly through the dried leaf litter. I stopped to listen and look to the right of me in the direction of the sound. I couldn't see anything as the land dipped behind the bank, but I guessed there was a deer there. It stopped, maybe it could see me or maybe it just heard or smelt me.... there was a few seconds of silence and then the sound of something running, betrayed by the dry leaves on the ground.

I finished my sketch... it was now about 4.15 and I had to be back at my car to get out of the gardeners yard before 4.45 as they would be locking up. Then I had to be signed out and off site by 5pm today.  So I slowly made my way along the track, heading towards the top fields. I had wanted to sketch there but time was running out fast. Other times I have been here I have been able to leave my car somewhere else and so not have to be so quick to leave. 

Me and a large fungus on the tree trunk

I had by now put my hi viz jacket on and was seeing the signs of development as I crossed the top fields... tracks cut wider and scoured out ready for permanent covering to make access roads, old animal buildings renovated and paddocks lined out with new fencing. To me it was all very sad... this secret haven was already vanishing. But that isn't to say that I don't like what will be here. I think it will be an amazing place to visit and learn in and I do look forward to seeing it grow into the eco park that will challenge and encourage visitors to change something in their life to benefit the planet.

The smell of freshly cut grass drying in the sun was  thick on the air, a farmer was cutting in the field I wanted to cross so I had to skirt round and go through Webb's Brake where the ponds are.

The  joining series of ponds have been cleared of excess plant growth, making them clearer to see, which was lovely. Yellow flag iris skirt a few of them ponds and duckweed covers the surface. I walked through the small woody glade they are in and emerged back out on the opposite edge of the field where I first entered the wood at the beginning of the afternoon. On my way back to the greenhouses and car I saw Jackie from the Wild Place Forest School putting up a teepee with a friend. I wandered over for a quick chat and tried to help as they were attempting to tie the canvas together at the top, a bit of a stretch up. But it was now nearing 4.45pm, so I left them to it.

I hope I can get up here again before it opens towards the end of July... it is a special place.

A week of sun at the zoo... yeehaa!

Monday 3rd

This week I am due to do my bi-monthly 'ID sweep', but first I want to finish the common chameleon.... I have only the tail left to paint.

I have brought in something to help me do close work... some magnifiers that I attach to my glasses. They make me look a bit like some crazy scientist, but they are just the job for allowing me to see the end of my brush when I'm putting on small details like hairs, spines or dots.

So I finished the chamelon in relative eye comfort. I have had these magnifiers for sometime but had forgotten about them... rather silly as I could have really used them when I was painting that great plated lizard a while back.

So the chameleon was finished and checked by Andy in the Reptile House and this time there were no adjustments to be made. Phew! So it was scanned onto the computer and the picture file placed onto the ID document. Once printed, I laminated it and trimmed it ready to take to the Reptile House later.

During the afternoon I went out around the zoo to do my 'ID sweep'. I have a set route that I follow taking me around all the enclosures and animal houses so that I can check the state of all the ID signage. I clean any that are dirty, restick those that are loose or peeling and make a note of all those that I think need replacing; such as faded, damaged or missing signs.

This took me about 2 hours today, shorter than normal as I didn't have time to get round to the bird house in the centre of the zoo or around the lake. It was almost 5pm and the animal houses close at that time, so I shall do that another day.

Back in the studio I wrote my to do lists up... one for the replacements and one for people I need to contact about different queries I had as a result of my walkabout. Things like.. plants needing cutting back so an entrance sign does not get obscured, checking with an animal section if a sign is missing whether the enclosure is empty or the sign has come off for some other reason.

I had met Mark and Carmen from Bug World in Twilight World on my walkabout.. they were just finishing sorting out a new enclosure in the underground area for some juvenile imperial scorpions... so a new ID sign would be needed. I had illustrated this species many years ago so it was just a question of presenting the illustration and text in a way that was suitable for the enclosure situation. In the underground area the signs are all white text on black... allowing for either the sign to be backlit or illuminated with 'dark light' making the white glow bright with a bluish colour. So I would need to adjust the illustration to be a silhouette, so that was my next job this afternoon and into tomorrow morning.

I started with a copy of the illustration on the computer and carefully went around the outer edge of the body, legs and hairs with the brush tool set to red colour (about 5 pixels width) in Photoshop. I couldn't do a mask because the nature of the illustration meant the boundary between the animal, shadows and background merged in similar colours that would confuse a mask setting. I did try it first, as it is obviously the easiest and quickest route, but it didn't work so I was back to manually outlining the wee beastie. This was quite intense concentration and so for a break I stopped to photocopy 30 ID guides for the butterfly exhibit.

Tuesday 4th

I carried on with the imperial scorpion outlining it in red as I was doing yesterday. Once the animal was outlined and the background a flat red, I then drew over the body of the scorpion with the brush tool (still set to red) marking in the body and legs segments.  (More photoshop blurb coming up..) I selected the colour range for the red and inverted it so I could, with a greatly enlarged brush tool (200+ pixels), sweep across the scorpion and change its colour to a flat white. Undoing the 'invertion' I could then sweep over the background and scorpion changing the red lines and background to black. This was then saved and ready to drop onto the ID sign.

Before I started on the text sign for the scorpion, I finished the butterfly ID guides by putting each one in an A4 laminating pouch. Anna helped by putting them through the laminator for me, as she needed an eye break from the computer screen.

I opened the old ID sign for the animal that used to be housed in the exhibit that the scorpions were going in. This was so that I had a template to work from as the text is 'wrapped' into an uneven shape. The ID sign is backlit and displayed in a shaped hole by the side of the tunnel system of the exhibit. So opening up the old sign gave me the size of text, the font, the shape etc to copy.

I ended up just changing the text to that which is on the scorpion ID and added the silhouette that I finished this morning. The finished size is slightly bigger than A3 (when it was design we were able to produce a sign on a transparent film the old way using a repro camera and fixer chemicals etc in a darkroom... so the size was not confined to A3. Now however I will have to print the sign out from the computer on 2 sheets of A3 and join them together.

In the late afternoon we had a treat as Dave, the Education Manager, gave a little show of some of his photo's that he took on a trip to Borneo. And after that I started printing out some of the replacement IID signs from my list.

Wednesday 5th

I carried on printing the list of replacement IDs and in the process had to convert a number of them from Quark files to Illustrator files. I'm gradually getting through all the outstanding Quark files. 

I also rang the site manager out at the Hollywood Towers Estate to find out what the new protocols are now for visiting, as since the builders and other contractors  have been there building and preparing the site for the opening of Wild Place this summer it's not so easy to walk around the site. I am planning to there this afternoon to do some sketching. It's my afternoon to sketch and I thought it would be good to get back to the estate again before it opens to the public and wandering around takes on a whole new aspect. Gone will be the times of wandering  around with no-one else around, enjoying the wildlife and place in peace and quiet. So this would be one of the last times I would be able to do that.

Also I had some birds to see and photograph that are kept there at the moment so I left late morning and drove out to the estate. Once I had spent a good time watching and photoing the birds I had some lunch and then set off into the woods. I shall do a separate post about my afternoon in the woods.

A few photo's from round the zoo this week.

Male Satyr tragopan

Kamran and Ketan play fighting

Livingstone's fruit bat chomping on flowers in their enclosure

Baby ring tailed lemur riding piggy back

The stunning wisteria plant on the front of the building that houses the Coral Cafe and Bug World