A Fair Friday

The Iowa State Fair lasts eleven days and spans two weekends, and although the booths and rides and major displays--the butter cow, the Big Bull, the Big Boar, and all of those things--don't change, the animals being judged and shown change gradually from day to day. So there is always something interesting happening in the show arenas, from strength competitions among draft animals to sulkies hitched to miniature horses, to (yes) sheep-riding kindergartners.

"The Grandstand, 2019," watercolor and ink, 5x9

Today was one of my routine days at the Fair. There is no point in driving when you can ride, so I parked and took the bus--only fifty cents round trip--caught the free tram on the fairgrounds and rode around to my favorite food concession. Breakfast was the usual too. Then I did a 5x9 watercolor of a clock on the Grand Concourse, just across from the venerable Grandstand. The clock shows the time when I began, and I finished just under an hour later, in time for the ten a.m. singing of the national anthem. The view is the eastern corner of the Grandstand, behind a big food and beer business called Steer N Stein. At that time of day the air is cool and fresh and the crowd has yet to develop. There is plenty of room for observation and sketching.

From there I went up Pioneer Hill to the remnants of the farmstead that predated the fairgrounds. There is an old restored barn there at the top of the hill that was built in the 19th century. The view of the grounds below is wonderful, so I spent an hour or so sketching and painting from there.

Afterward I meandered down to the new horse arena where showing and announcement of champion percheron and clydesdale horses

"Clydesdale Champ," graphite 3x5

was in progress. The clydesdales that are used by a beer distributor are enormous, and so are these show animals. The grand champion was so tall its owner's head was at its shoulder. These horses were originally bred as sturdy draft animals, and these are certainly that. You could imagine these horses pulling stranded armored vehicles out of the mud.

After making several pages of sketches, it was time to call it a day, knowing I'd be back a few more times, and there's likely be lots more chances to sketch.

The opportunities for close observation and sketching are endless during an event like the Fair.