The Iowa State Fair ended last Sunday, but my last day sketching there was Saturday. Although Sunday was on the agenda, a downpour in the morning and heat and crowds in the afternoon ended my visits prematurely. The Fair had another record number of visitors--nearly 1.5 million in 11 days--and featured the usual array of fascinating exhibits, oddball food, nostalgia, and great opportunities for sketches.
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| "Restored Deere," wc/ink, about 3x5 |
The watercolor and ink sketch that is first in my smaller pocketbook is the one to the right. Every year in one of the exhibit halls a restored tractor is displayed, either in the midst of reassembly, or sometimes already put together. I sat and sketched this restored tractor while fiddlers kicked up a great line of melody onstage at the other end of the building. This particular model was over fifty years old, but looked new.
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| "Discovery Garden," wc/ink, 5x9 |
One of the fine spots to draw is in the Discovery Garden, a demonstration garden planned and manned by Master Gardeners. Happily, there are Adirondack chairs in the shade, so I nearly always spend some time there. This year there was enough time to do a watercolor of a part of the gardens. The Master Gardeners are an enormously helpful resource and as docents they provide innumerable people with advice.
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| "Rooftops on the Grand Concourse," graphite and ink, 3.5x7 |
A few days later while indulging in one of my favorite activities of sitting on the deep, shady porch of the Administration Building and watching people go by, I drew and inked a panoramic view of the two food buildings just across the street (known as the Grand Concourse). Just beyond loomed the big Ferris wheel and other "thrill rides" on the re imagined midway. The day was fine and the crowds were small that morning.
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| "Yearling Rams," graphite, 4x5 |
On my last Saturday I spent some time in the sheep barn, watching judging. These animals are pampered and groomed and trained to become champions, and it shows in their poise, their beautiful lines, and their handling. Sketching moving animals requires careful observation and recording of what is seen, mostly after the animals have moved on. At least during the awarding of ribbons they stand still for a few more minutes. The exhibition I saw was a competition among yearling rams, and I had a chance to get three of them holding still at once.
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| "Jalapeno Pete's" wc/ink 3.5x5.5 |
Because the Grand Concourse provides the most people-watching, I often sketched there during this edition of the Fair. One of my favorite spots was Jalapeno Pete's, a food and beverage business with crazy bright colors and an upper deck. You can see a corner of the roof in the drawing of rooftops above. This time I did a small but colorful watercolor. Some of the graphite drawings in my sketchbook may come in for color washes, or sometimes I use computer programs to work them up further and leave the originals pristine. Regardless, these sketches provide great information for future works.
Overall, this was another fine year at the Iowa State Fair. Besides the drawings and watercolors shown I did a number of others during trips to the fairgrounds. And although sketching one's interests can lead to larger studio paintings, I also took the opportunity to shoot a lot of reference pictures. This fall and winter they will be fodder for the work.
For sketchers, why not try your own fair? I'm going back to mine next year.
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2019 Fair Posts
A Great State Fair
A Fair Friday
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