Strandbeests in San Francisco: see them before they’re gone!

[Group post by the San Francisco Bay Area Sketchers] Drawing above by Cathy McAuliffe

Theo Jansen’s Strandbeests have been at the Exploratorium in San Francisco all summer, and if you live anywhere near San Francisco and haven’t seen them yet, go now before they’re gone…in just another week! Below are sketches by a few Bay Area sketchers, some of who put their experience of seeing the Beests into words and others who just leave you with some sketches and hope you get to see these amazing creations in person.

Cathy McAuliffe

The Strandbeests really are amazing to see in person and I would love to see one walking across the sands! I loved seeing all the pieces of recycled pvc that they are made from and how all those parts become a very life like Beest that can “walk” on it’s own power.

 

Susan Ford



Ceinwen Carney 

The Strandbeest exhibit was a magical treat to experience and a mind-bending exercise to draw!

Mark Simmons

I was very taken with Theo Jansen’s conceit that these are living animals with their own evolutionary lineage. When I was drawing his Strandbeests, I tried to look at them as if they were relics of biological creatures, pretending that I had no idea of their artificial origins. The “reanimation” that wrapped up the evening event definitely felt like an occult alchemical ceremony!

Suhita Shirodkar

We’ve all seen videos of Theo Jansen’s Beests walking on the beach, and they are totally mesmerizing to watch. What really surprised me is how different the experience of seeing the Beests in life was. I was totally fascinated by the feet of the Beests and how they lumbered along, in this endearing, rolling, almost clumsy motion. And walking a little Beest was quite a magical experience.

Catherine Mackey


Laurie Wigham

Cathy McAuliffe lives in Berkeley, California. She is a member of San Francisco Bay Urban Sketchers. She posts her sketches to her Flickr site.

Susan Ford enjoys plein air sketching/painting when hiking in the Oakland hills and urban sketching with her local chapter.  You can see more of her work here.

Ceinwen Carney is a blissfully retired college english teacher experiencing the gift of free time and the joys of hiking, novel reading, traveling and sketching–ideally all of them in the same day. . . every day.

Mark Simmons is a San Francisco-based cartoonist and comic artist. His favorite things to draw are animals and construction machines! You can follow his latest sketching adventures here.


Suhita Shirodkar lives in San Jose and loves drawing all things urban, but especially loves the challenge of capturing moving things and fleeting moments. You can follow her sketches here on her blog. 

Catherine Mackey’s work explores everyday urban life and an inadvertent beauty often arrived at through time and decay. You can see more of her work here.


Laurie Wigham is an artist and former graphic designer who has lived in San Francisco for 30 years. You can see more of Laurie’s sketches here on flickr.

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