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Orangutan, a miniature scratchboard coloured with watercolour. I wanted to try an experiment. I knew from bitter previous experience that marker pen on scratchboard bleeds when you spray it with varnish. It mucked things up before, but this time I wanted to see if I could make it work 'for' me. I went over the background with marker pen, then fuzzed it out a bit just to get the look of bushes (hard at this size) and then sprayed with varnish in the hope that the marker would bleed and create some bush shadow over the animal. I think it worked to a certain extent, though it's something you have no real control over.

 

Something a bit different for me, a clown in scratchboard with the goal to make him look a little sinister. I've used watercolours to colour where I've scratched.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Announcement** I am having an exhibition of chimpanzee works along with fellow Australian wildlife artist Leigh Rust at Monarto Zoo in South Australia. 70% of the proceeds will go to Monarto's new chimp enclosure and also to the wonderful Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone. This exhibition will open on October 5th, 2008, and will be opened by the legendary Dr Jane Goodall. The exhibition will also include some actual chimp art too.

 

 

Well, I think I'm just about there with the chimps for our exhibition. Leigh has done about 12 pieces too so it should all look pretty good. This latest is in scratchboard and is called "From the Darkness into the Light"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I remember a Time.." and "Penny for your Thoughts"

 

 

 

Meet Bruno, reaching out symbolically to us. This is what the tacugama website has to say about him. "As well as being the founding chimp of the sanctuary, Bruno is also a local celebrity and the former alpha male of our original group of chimps at Tacugama. Bruno is forcefully charismatic, spectacularly imposing and physically the strongest chimpanzee at the Sanctuary."

 

 

 

 

 

A larger pastel titled "Thinking Time".

 

 

 

"I've Tasted Better"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Tacugama website, "Zoyas is approximately 2 years old and is one of the youngest residents at Tacugama. He was rescued in December, 2005 from a remote village near the Liberian border. His mother was killed by a hunter and the infant abandoned. Zoyas arrived in a terrible state. He was wounded, dehydrated, weak and mentally traumatized. He had gun shot fragment wounds lodged in his head, neck and feet. He also had a deep infected wound around his ankle where he had been tied for days with a rope. The Tacugama team worked around the clock to mend the little infant. With excellent medical care and much love, Zoyas has completed his health checks and has joined an infant group of seven. All of them are orphans from the awful bush meat and pet trade, rescued from various parts of the country."

 

 

Another one for the exhibition mentioned above, Pinkie was the only known albino chimpanzee in the world. She came to Tacugama as a baby in 1999 and did quite well. She became known all round the world through documentaries, but one day in 2002, she was found dead and the cause has never been established. I'm sure she's missed by all, especially by the people that fight so hard to save chimpanzees.

 

 

 

 

 

Another chimp pastel and a similar one in scratchboard for the project.

 

For extra information and updates go to the Leigh's website and also have a look at Tacugama's site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't go past this lady as a subject to paint. I reckon she'd be everyone's favourite auntie of grandma, she's just so gorgeous. Pastels 19" x 15"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zebras have long been a favourite of mine and in this case, if you click on this link you will see a 'how to' about the making of this piece. What I really like about zebras, beyond them being beautiful animals, is that they offer endless possiblilities for the artist in terms of composition and design. Their stripes are so interesting and the way they interact with each other usually provides you with a great image. I've drawn, scratched and painted them many times now and never get tired of them.

 

 

 

 The plight of big apes is reaching tragic proportions now. Many are killed in the wild for the bush meat trade or souveniers, many for the pet trade (though when they grow up and are too big to handle they are often simply discarded and can't fend for themselves) and they are losing their territory at such an alarming rate it's going to be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse the trend. I'd like my art in some way to give something back to them and in this case, it's the chimpanzees' turn. Here I've gone for a fairly benign image in scratchboard, the typical chimp 'look', but in my pastel piece, I've gone for a much more disturbing look with the eyes in shadow. I want that look of glancing back at us and then turning to walk away from us. I know that's humanising things which is dangerous, but it's what I feel in this piece. Too deep? Maybe - but I rarely if ever get deep and their plight, along with orangutans and gorillas, really touches me. The third image is a young chimp looking very pensive, as am I.

 

 

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