Life Drawing with Wolves!

When I decided I was going to focus my MA on mythical creatures, I was unsure as to what creatures I would be looking at and thought werwolves may have been a possibility. So I booked myself a place at the CASS Sculpture Foundation Halloween Life drawing special! 
The twist was you were drawing wolves instead of people! (they were actually Lupine dogs)

I have always been an animal lover, dogs and wolves especially so this was going to be a no brainer for me even if it doesn't quite fit into my project now, as I'm focusing on mermaids. 
But even though my subject matter has changed, I still saw this as a way of researching. In one of my question of research lectures, we discussed in groups the different ways we research. One of the main points we focused on was going out into different environments, events, museums, galleries etc. and just experiencing the world, taking in information that way - this is my preferred method. There are many more ways to gather information than just reading. 

As I was drawing live animals, you couldn't ask them to pose so it was a great way to practice my quick, responsive sketching skills. This is a key skill that can be transferred to anyones practice, especially if drawing outdoors, trying to capture the moving environment. I want to attempt to paint some seascapes from life in Portsmouth for my project so this class was a great way for me to research these methods first. 

And I also got to explore the grounds, looking at some of the great sculptures too.
Thanks to @cass_sculpture and wildlifedrawing.co.uk for putting on a fun session!