By ERIC LAGATTA The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — All eyes were on Luther as he entered the classroom, his mouth agape, tongue lolling to the side.
As the black-coated wolf hybrid sized up his surroundings and eagerly pulled on his leash, the crowd of roughly 50 students exhibited signs of both apprehension and excitement. For many gathered in the Cloyd Family Animation Center at the Columbus College of Art & Design, it might have been the first time they had seen such an animal up close — at least, without the barrier of a zoo enclosure between them.
But once the initial commotion abated — and the requisite Instagram photos had been snapped — near-silence enveloped the room as the students set about furiously sketching drawing after drawing of the canine (part dog, but mostly wolf).
Live animal models like Luther — a tame wolf ambassador from Ironwood Wolves outside Columbus — make their appearance often in this room, where animation students at CCAD congregate once a week to hone their skills. This semester alone, they have sketched drawings based on live bugs, owls, falcons and miniature horses.
Charlotte Belland, chair and associate professor of the animation program, established the class more than a decade ago to increase students’ “visual vocabulary” by challenging them to sketch subjects in motion. The name of the course, “Cafe Sketch,” is inspired by the notion of artists leaving the comfort of their studios for a nearby cafe to create observational drawings of people and animals in public.
Throughout the semester, students visit public spaces, such as the North Market, or sit in on rehearsals of BalletMet dancers to sketch the scenes they find. Belland also works with a variety of organizations — including Ohio Nature Education, a nonprofit outreach program that provides a home for injured animals that no longer can live in the wild, and Ohio State University’s Museum of Biological Diversity — to ensure students have access to live animal models.
Because the subjects the students sketch are not static, the course challenges them to capture a fleeting moment and commit it to paper. Erasing is forbidden; perfection is not the goal. Rather, the intent is for students to flex and build their illustration muscles as they create upwards of 100 sketches per session, Belland said.
“We believe drawing is a form of exercise,” she said. “You have to draw every day and for a sustainable amount of time, just like lifting barbells, and improvement will happen.”
The back-to-basics approach has taught students such as 20-year-old Ari Arnone that the goal of sketching isn’t always to produce a polished masterpiece.
“No drawing is precious,” said Arnone, a junior in the animation program. “You gotta go out in the field and draw as much as possible.”
The class recently attracted the attention of world-renowned concept illustrator Bobby Chiu, who invited Belland to Pasadena, California, in September for his annual LightBox Expo. At the animation convention, which targets artists and creators working in all sectors of the entertainment industry, Belland led a version of her workshop with an ambassador wolf named Journey and participated in a podcast with Chiu.
“It’s really amazing to have somebody of that stature validate both my own personal work but also the work we’re doing with the students,” Belland said. “We are making a difference in terms of educating the next generation of animators.”
About 30 students are enrolled in the class per semester, but anyone at CCAD is welcome to participate each week. Lauren Shrimplin, for example, decided to attend the session with Luther because a wolf-like demon is a character in an animation film she is creating for her senior capstone project.
“They bring some crazy animals that you wouldn’t expect,” Shrimplin said.
At 2 years old, Luther is the youngest of the four ambassador wolves owned by Ironwood Wolves, a federally licensed facility that has educational outreach programs. Ambassador animals are specially trained and promote conservation and better understanding, according to the group’s website.
“He’s still a puppy, so he’s still playful,” said Matt Emmelhainz, who founded and owns Ironwood along with Rachel Lauren. “He loves meeting people.”
Luther arrived at about 1 p.m. for an hour-long sketch session. As Luther alternated between pacing the front of the room and chewing on a toy, Emmelhainz and Lauren were happy to answer questions from the sketching students about the wolf ambassadors.
But what is work without a little play?
After some time passed, the moment had come for the students to put down the notepads and pencils and get up close and personal with Luther — and, boy, did they relish it.
Luther prowled the room, ambushing laughing guests with wet licks and playful bites — emphasis on “playful.” And if someone scratched the right spot, Luther couldn’t resist flopping on his back to reap more belly rubs.
Of course, the playful interactions provided lots of dynamic sketch fodder.
“When you don’t have that separation between you and the other animal,” Arnone said, “it makes it so much more real.”
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com