Secret Walls

So tonight I got to go out and do something really fun with a coworker. A few people had told me about this, for lack of a better term, art battle that goes down in Prague/other European cities every year. Its called Secret Walls. Basically there are teams all over the world. Events crop up all sort of major cities and two artist battle it out at these events. They each start out with a blank canvas and then have 90 minutes to draw something. No sketches, no forethought. Black and white only. There are the pics I took at the event.

The place the event was held at was called Nod, and yes, that is a giant bone floating in the air outside the building.

Two blank canvases! 2 artists :D

After 90 minutes, the contest is over! Two judges are brought on stage and write secretly who they believe should win. Then they crowd gets to vote. They pull out a noise measuring device and have the crowd cheer and scream for who they want. In the end, the guy on the left won. Here is a better close up of his work.

I wonder if they have a US team! :D

Maned Wolves

A result of one of the drawings I did at the zoo. Decided to make a quick digital doodle of the maned wolves I saw :D

Praga Zoo

So recently in Prague the weather has been very meh. It seems to rain every weekend but today was really nice! Not a cloud in the sky and it was nice and warm out. So I decided to hit up the Prague zoo to see and draw the animals :D I hope to post some of the actual sketches soon but first I need a scanner : / For now, pictures will have to do :)

Coca Cola is the Leopards drink of choice...

The beautiful view from the top of the hill at the Zoo!

Ok, this guy above is so cool! It is called a maned wolf! But it looks more like a fox. Its legs are SUPER long!!!.

After the zoo, as I walk walking through central Prague, I ran across this big event! Lots of booths with food, beer, candies and gifts. Plus a band was playing. So of course I sat down to have some amazing Czech food and beer. :)

I also picked up these two magazines at the zoo. Has some good animal reference photos in them :) I hope to go back before the end of my trip. This zoo is huge and I was unable to make it all the way through. Completely missed the elephants :(

Belated update!

Oh man, I completely forgot to post my pics from last weekends trip out. Last weekend I went on a rainy day to walk around Prague, specifically the Jewish Quarter. Once again, it was on a Saturday. Because of this, everything was closed because of the sabbath. But it was still nice walking around :D We had lunch at this little Czech cafe and, because it was in a tourist area, we got completely ripped off. The food was good but they added a bunch of extra charges to our bill.

I also bought some new pens at this book store! So, of course I spent some time drawing, trying to make a new self portrait for my blog.

Gargoyles

   There are so many gargoyles in Prague. And there are so many different kinds. I have spent the last few days appreciating them and began drawing them in my sketchbook. This is one I did in photoshop and rather likes.

Green Thumb

   So, apparently I have to move to Prague to not kill a plant... My tomato and basil plants are growing just fine :D

A sketchy start to the weekend

   The weekend started out not so awesome. I have been fighting off a headache since Thursday. Woke up this morning and had to cancel plans to visit an animation festival outside of Prague. When back to sleep and rested a bit more to wake up to a nearly gone headache. Better late then never right? So I decided not to waste the day. I took a nice walk, caught the tram, and got off and headed to The Globe, an english bookstore and cafe. It was really nice and relaxing. I had some hot tea and just tried to get into a drawing mood. Seemed to work. I tied down some previous sketches, did a self portrait (2 actually) and enjoyed my stay.

After that, I walked around Old Prague and the Jewish Quarter. Most things were closed today (being the holy day) but I did get to see a few things. Found some Golem statues, found the graveyard, and found Spiderman. It was a really nice day and I hope to return to the Jewish Quarter tomorrow to visit the grave yard.

And, because I am a super dork, I returned home to play some Pokemon, and then to draw them. Not a bad day.

Witch Burning Night

I was very lucky and just happened to be in Prague for their version of Halloween! It was such a great experience. On my way to work in the morning, I saw some high school aged kids in costumes and running around with water guns. Once I got to work, it was just a regular day.

But at night is when everything fun started! On witch burning night, the people of the Czech Republic light bonfires outdoors and burn their old brooms to symbolize a clean start to spring. Some even create dolls in the form of witches. These too will also be burned. Most of the dolls I saw were home made, using old pillows and cloths and rags. They then parade through the street and toward the fire and festivities.

I went to a festival that was held at a park near the river. The walk there was really neat and we were able to see a new part of Prague. I was even able to find the fence with all the locks on them.

Once we arrived at the event, the sun started to set. We immediately heard lots of drums and singing. We followed the noise and found that there was a sort of mini-parade going and leading into the park. People were dressed as witches and skeletons, some were carrying their home-made sacrificial witches, but everyone was having a great time. The parade ended at the park and in front of a huge fire.

 

My favorite thing about any event is the food, and here in Prague, food is EVERYWHERE! At this festival, there were 3 major types of food stalls and there were several of each type to help meet the needs and keep lines small. First, and foremost, the beer stalls. Then there were the sausage stalls selling the most amazing and delicious sausages ever. Finally there were the stalls selling trdelnik, these amazing pastries pictures below. Basically, they are pieces od dough that and wrapped around these wooded sticks and then backed over hot coals. They are then drizzled with a caramel liquid, then rolled in sugar, cinnamon, and almond slices. When they are pulled off the stick, they are warm and delicious

As we were beginning to leave, I noticed one last thing that I thought was truly great. We walked past the bonfire one last time to see if there were any more witches being burned. Instead, we saw that people had brought long forks and were cooking sausages over the open fire.

With all the noise that was made, the fun that was had, the food that was eaten, the beer that was drank, and the witches that were burned, I think Prague is in for a good spring free of evil spirits.