A Great State Fair

The Iowa State Fair has come again in Des Moines, and I've had the chance to sketch some of the happenings, as last year. The Fair is the largest single attended event in Iowa, with over a million visitors every year, and so far this year is set to exceed previous records. Friends have come from as far away as Virginia and Seattle this year, just to attend the Fair.

Yesterday was pleasant and sunny, high temperature only about 80, and low humidity. I spent an hour sipping coffee and sketching the Master Gardeners' Discovery Garden, on the fairgrounds. It's a lovely quiet spot for a morning's sketch. After that I wandered through the Agriculture Building next door, then outside again and encountered one of the signature offerings at the Fair: the Iowa Pork Producers' famous pork chop on a stick. After eating one of their specialties, I spent a second hour sketching the booth. 

"The Discovery Garden," watercolor and ink, 5.5x9.5

"Pork Chop on a Stick," watercolor and ink, 5.5x9.5

Our fair was the basis for a novel by a native Iowan named Phil Stong who had ample opportunities to attend the Iowa State Fair during his youth. The novel was adapted into a Broadway musical and one movie; later further adapted for a movie in the 1960s.

Sketching at the Fair is a great chance for studies of animals--everything from pigs to alpacas and emus to elk are there. Horses, goats, chickens, rabbits, cattle, too. Anyone who wants to sketch animals will be happy there, and so will people sketchers.

I'm going back two or three more times and will post a few more plein air watercolors.

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2018 State Fair Posts
The Iowa State Fair
Friday at the Fair
Saturday at the Fair
An Evening at the Fair
State Fair Finale