"Milking the Rhino"

This is a drawing I made while watching a documentary called "Milking the Rhino" which discussed the ways in which conservation of wildlife has intersected and butted up against industry for local people.

Going to Africa to reportage is at the very top of my "bucket list", so this was a really fascinating thing for me to watch. The idea of "marketing" the wilderness, such as in National Parks, has always felt like somewhat of a double-edged sword. Obviously it's better to have them protected than open to poaching and complete destruction. But turning nature (and the people of rural Africa) into a commodity is unsettling as well, and often has the result of making it feel like a theme park. I can't pretend to know where the happy medium is, but it was interesting to see many different sides of the issue presented. I highly recommend it! (Plus it's on NetFlix instant watch!)

Breathing: Part 2!

So! Here is the finished animation from the earlier post for an animation about using your own energy to create and change the world around you.



Hopefully it helps you slow down and breathe for a few seconds, which is something I often have a very hard time doing!

Kitties!

So after last post, I feel like I need to re-establish myself as a cat person. These are some drawings I did of my two kitties back in Colorado...and since I won't see them for a few months, this is my ode to them!

This is Stormy:

She's the older of the two, I think she's about 18 now, and is surprisingly hard to draw because she's just a tiny wisp of fluff. She's very quiet, has a tiny head, and weighs about a much as a kleenex.

And this is Athena:

She's only about....6? I can't remember. She's a lot more substantial (although still pretty tiny), but at the time I drew these around Christmas, she had recently been shaved into a fashionable and not-at-all-ridiculous lion haircut.

UPDATE!!!!: The cats' PR Rep (my mom) has released the following statement: "I am writing this response on behalf of the two afformentioned kitties. Stormy wanted to assure you that she weighs as much as two wet tissues (she has been working out). Athena is highly insulted and wants everyone to know that most of her hair has grown back and now she looks like the ferocious tiger that she is."

City Hall Park

I went drawing today with my friend Jackie in City Hall Park in lower Manhattan. It was so pretty with all of the magnolia trees blooming.

There was this sweet little miniature schnauzer there who came over and sniffed my art supplies for a while. What a hilarious little animal! I'm still a cat person, but dogs are slowly winning me over...

Is it spring yet?

Much to my dismay after last week's post about the 70 degree weather, New York has revisited winter again for this week. It's very confusing. I sat in on my teacher Ronnie's location drawing class today and got to draw in Union Square for a couple hours. I decided to make one drawing to show the bleak depressing winter....and one to show the hopeful (and hopefully soon-to-come) spring! Hopefully you can tell which is which...

Sunny Day in Washington Square

Last Friday, we had a wonderful, 70 degree day. I was on Spring Break, so I took the day to go drawing in Washington Square Park. I wanted to just play around and try to draw the park in as many ways as I could while still enjoying the sunshine and fresh air!

The magnolia buds have already started blooming on my street corner, so I'm hoping we can all begin to emerge from our caves and go outside again soon.

Breathing

These are a few drawings, thumbnails, and storyboards for an animation I'm working on that focuses on using your energy as a way to change the world around you.

Stay tuned for the full animation!