The Burke’s Irresistible Skeletons

 

1/4/26 Columbian mammoth, Burke Museum

I’ve sketched at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum many times, both at the old building and the current one, and I never seem to tire of the paleontology area. Who could resist the skeletons of huge creatures that have been extinct for literally eons? Apparently, no one: The prehistoric animal skeletons were by far the most-sketched artifacts at today's USk Seattle outing.

Although I’ve sketched the Columbian mammoth nearly every time I’ve visited the new building, it’s not necessarily because it’s my favorite (although it is one). Many of the smaller skeletons are backlit by the Burke’s floor-to-ceiling windows, which makes them harder to draw. I really wanted to use my black sketchbook, so I walked around to get the lighted side of its skull and amazingly enormous tusks (top of post).

Walking down to the lower-level entrance where the Burke’s mascot mastodon greets visitors (another favorite exhibit that I’ve sketched many times), I looked up at the Baird’s bearded whale skeleton hanging high above us all. I didn’t scale my sketch very well to accurately show how huge it is compared to Andika, who was sketching the mastodon on the floor below.

Baird's beaked whale's tail and Andika

In the time remaining before the throwdown, I needed something I could capture relatively quickly. From the stairway landing below the third floor, I looked up again, this time spotting the Elasmosaur replica hanging from the ceiling.

A record-breaking number of sketchers turned out for this winter weekend outing at Seattle’s gem of natural and cultural history.

The Burke Nearly to Ourselves

2/14/24 Mastodon replica, Burke Museum

2/14/24 Columbian Mammoth

The last time USk Seattle met at the Burke Museum was right before the pandemic hit, so it was high time for us to visit again. I started on the top floor where all the paleontology labs are and some of the museum’s best specimens, like the Columbian Mammoth. I’ve sketched it from the other side before, so this time I focused on the skull and those incredibly long tusks (at left).

Next I looked through one of the lab windows to sketch a grizzly bear skull (below). A former Woodland Park Zoo resident, the bear was being cleaned and preserved.

2/14/24 Grizzly bear skull

My last stop was the Mastodon replica. The first time I sketched it was from the staircase above. Spotting Janet in a corner, I went to the opposite side of the gallery so that I could capture her in the composition and show the scale of the enormous beast (top of post).

On most visits, the museum has been filled with young students on field trips. On this Wednesday afternoon, we sketchers had the place nearly to ourselves, which was an unusual treat. The Burke is back on our list as a winter-weather standby!

New Burke

Yesterday, Sunday, January 19, I joined Urban Sketchers Seattle at the newly re-opened Burke Museum. The old museum had been torn down and in it's place was this 3 story, massive building.

Since I wasn't sure when I might be back, I spent a good deal of time looking through the exhibits. It's almost overwhelming.

At end we were quite a large group.



As I spent most of my time wandering, I only did one sketch. Though there was no information about this specific canoe, all the types of paddles were identified.

Mastodon

1/19/20 Mastodon replica, Burke Museum

Somehow the mastodon always calls to me. I’ve sketched it at the Burke Museum numerous times, but I never seem to tire of it. At the old facility, the big guy stood at the end of a dark, narrow exhibit area, so it was difficult to get any angle but head-on. In the Burke’s new digs, the replica of the 10,000-year-old skeleton guards the museum’s lower-floor entrance flooded with natural light. Looking down from the lobby stairway, this was my first attempt at sketching its entire length and girth in profile.

I love drawing all those bones, for sure, but capturing the sheer scale of this formidable monster is the real challenge: I used a full spread in my sketchbook this time, but I still didn’t have room for the tail. But at least I managed to get Suzanne and David in.

The mastodon made a great throwdown location as well as a popular sketch subject!

Mastodon and Elasmosaur Redux

11/24/17 Mastadon, Sage and Tina

The Burke Museum is one of my favorite indoor places to sketch. Full of dinosaur skeletons and other natural and human history artifacts, it’s a treasure trove for any sketcher. Yet, as many times as I’ve sketched there, I seem to gravitate toward the same few artifacts over and over. They never cease to be challenging, and I apparently never tire of them.

That said, it’s been a good two-and-a-half years since I last sketched the mastodon (whose skull I had first attempted the year before). Like last time, today’s visit was with USk Seattle, and I finally caught the mastodon with a couple of sketchers nearby for scale. He’s a massive, formidable form.

Another favorite is the Elasmosaur, a marine reptile with oar-like flippers that are structured remarkably similar to our own hands. The last time I sketched his whole skeleton was three-and-a-half years ago, and that time I used a full sketchbook spread to capture his enormous length. This time I used a single page only, which may not seem like a big deal, but it’s a mark of growth for me because I have always been challenged by scaling large objects on a small space. Then, as today, I marveled at his tiny, tiny head compared to the massive yet most likely graceful body as he swam through the oceans in search of critters to chomp with his interlocking teeth. 

I had a feeling that sketchers would prefer the Burke to Black Friday madness, and I’m happy that I was right – we had a great turnout of USk Seattle today!

11/24/17 Elasmosaur

Not shopping on Black Friday

It would seem that sketchers don't care much for Black Friday shopping. Our Friday group is often just 8-12 sketchers. Today we had almost 30. It might also be that many working folk had the day off.

I arrived at the Burke Museum about an hour early due to surprisingly light traffic. I've always wanted to sketch the UW Observatory. Given that it wasn't raining and was also not too cold, this seemed the perfect chance to do so.  "The Theodor Jacobsen Observatory is the second-oldest structure on the campus. Built in 1895, the Observatory with its 120-year old, 6-inch refracting telescope is still offering celestial views of the wonders of the Universe."



My main goal for this sketch outing at the Burke was their new exhibit...exhibiting the staff at work! Last year the museum acquired a T Rex skull. I've been waiting for it to be on exhibit and now it is, in a way. In a room walled in glass a staff person works on preparing it for exhibit. When the Museum opened, there was no one there. I thought perhaps it was a day off. So I sketched the skull in the framework from a view I thought most likely to also show the worker, if they came in. And so, about noon, a woman arrived and began work. I hastily added her in to the sketch.






Meanwhile, I went outside again to sketch a view I'd noticed when I first arrived. In the foreground is the Northwest Coast Clan Pole. It isn't historic as it was carved in 2006. Just behind it is the new Burke Museum, still under construction. Further back and to the left is one of the neo-Gothic University of Washington buildings. I liked the juxtaposition of an ancient style of art (the totem pole), the brand new building and the older building.



Two large tables were needed for the throw down of sketch books.




As I wrote, we were a much larger than usual group today.

Burke Museum in the Morning and Remains of the Day

Sunshine and shadows this morning at the Burke Museum entrance

Seattle Urban Sketchers arranged an ad hoc meeting this morning to accompany Laurie W., a visiting sketcher from San Francisco. On a cold, frosty November morning, it was so nice to be indoors, discovering something to draw in the current exhibit. Kate sketched everything, both inside and out!

In the lobby, a woman in a white lab coat was seated at a small table holding jars of preserved snakes. She was counting the scales to determine which of three varieties of garden snakes they were.

We also shared the venue with a group of school children, some of whom gave encouraging comments on our sketches in progress.

Fossil Whale Exhibit

The first thing that caught my eye was the fossilized remains of a 30-million-year old baleen whale found on the Olympic Penninsula. I can't imagine the effort it would take to assemble this from pieces found in the mud. Other fossils, such as shells, were displayed with it on a bed of sand.

I used watercolor pencils while sketching fossils in the museum.

Since water media isn't allowed in the exhibit area, I used watercolor pencils to sketch, then went out to the lobby to blend the drawings with my water brush. The fossilized whale head, upper right, is how the pencil looks before adding water. The 180 lb. paper in my Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook works great for this.

THE REMAINS OF THE DAY

Afternoon sketches, parking ticket, lunch, etc. (tap to zoom)

Home in time to enjoy the sunset!

After sharing our sketches at 12:30pm, some of us went to the University Book Store for lunch in the cafe and shopping in the art department. I sketched a sandwich and Tina sketched me!

Laurie brought her Moo Card collection of bird sketches (she let us choose one of the 50 in her series.) I got the hummingbird in its nest!

Exploring the New and the Familiar at the Burke

11/30/15 Rear end of 12,000-year-old giant ground sloth

The Burke Museum is one of my favorite winter sketching locations. Our thermometer read 30 F degrees this morning, and that’s plenty wintry for me. The Burke was an ideal place to meet up with Laurie from the Bay Area, who is visiting Seattle this week. (I met Laurie when I sketched with Urban Sketchers SF Bay Area a few months ago.)

Although I’ve sketched most of the Burke’s large skeletons by now, the one I’ve been missing is the 12,000-year-old giant ground sloth, which was discovered in 1961 during construction of Sea-Tac Airport. I’ve considered it several times, but it’s difficult to get a good angle on the whole skeleton in the relatively narrow space where the sloth is exhibited. Today I decided I would get behind the sloth, one way or another.

11/30/15 Iatmul mask

Next I went downstairs to the human history area. Because I’m usually so completely engrossed in animal skeletons, I rarely even make it downstairs at the Burke, but there are lots of fascinating human artifacts to sketch. Today I focused on an Iatmul dance/clan mask of Papua New Guinea, which has interesting fibrous textures that were fun to capture with colored pencils.

With only five minutes left before the sharing time, I went straight to my all-time Burke favorite: the “Terror Bird” of Brazil! I seem to sketch that scary guy nearly every time I visit. 

Most of us went to lunch later at the University Book Store (with art supply shopping there afterwards, of course), and Michele was the only one who had the patience to sketch her food before eating. (If you’re sketching, you’re at risk of being sketched yourself. J)

Thanks for joining us, Laurie!

11/30/15 Terror Bird of Brazil

11/30/15 Michele sketching

Thanks for joining us, Laurie! (back row, second from right)

Burke Saturday

Thanks to Tina for making the Burke Museum arrangements! Great place to sketch because of the setting and the variety of subjects and their challenges. I had a good time and it was good to see fellow sketchers again.

Sketching at the Burke Museum

It was fun going down to the Burke for a late morning sketch outing.  I focused most of my time on the Native American Mask that inspired the design of the Seahawk's logo.  I ended up doing several vignettes if that portion of the museum and caught the family whose is pictured with Kay a couple of times in the museum.  I used pencil which is not my typical medium and used it on Handbook watercolor paper which has a rough texture.  I think the pencil would have worked better on a smooth finish paper.

An Urban Sketching Event at the Burke

Kay Tyllia, right, sketching with a young participant.

Urban Sketchers Seattle enjoyed sketching at the Burke Museum so much in March that we went back for more. This time we were invited by the Burke to create an event that would encourage other visitors to sketch at the museum, too. The Burke provided sketching materials and a clothespin line where participants could hang their work.

It was tough competing with 65 degrees and sunshine outside, but the museum managed to entice a few visitors indoors. We all found new artifacts to sketch, and Kay was especially enthusiastic in encouraging young sketchers to participate.

Sketch by Tina Koyama

Thanks to Frank Bettendorf, Gail Wong, Kay Tyllia, Steve Reddy, Donna Allen, Tim Taylor and Mark Ryan for volunteering today, and many thanks to Eva Childers and the Burke for inviting us to this event! 

Frank and the big guys

Steve and Donna

Gail sketching the Seahawks logo inspiration

Mark sketching the Terror Bird

Tim

Sketches by Mark Ryan

Sketches by Kay Tyllia

Sketch by a Burke enthusiast

Sketch by Tina Koyama

Burke Museum on a Rainy Day

A great way to spend the morning on a rainy day with Seattle Urban Sketchers.  The variety of things to sketch made for a wonderful sketch crawl.