Chubby unicorns

“If we can teach people about wildlife, they will be touched. Because humans want to save things that they love.” 

~Steve Irwin~

It's hard to believe over 7 years have gone by since I was in Africa and yet I have never drawn one of the rhinos I saw there! I guess the elephant (I've drawn 7...so far) was the animal I deeply connected with while on safari...and then the lions (drew 5 of them)!

It wasn't until my friend Shaney told me how much she loved them that I took a closer look. So I began following a few Rhino Conservation pages on Instagram: Rhinos in Africa Foundation, Rhino Man the Movie, Save the Rhinos and Rhino Republic, and I fell in love with them too, just as my friend had. 

So, of course I now have about 3 I want to draw!!

I started these white rhinos for a demo I gave last weekend at Blicks Art Store in Pasadena, CA. It's not the typical way I start a drawing, but since it was for a demo I wanted to have various parts started so I could talk about my technique. But now that has come and gone and I can really get cracking...in between my commission work that is...and get them done for a few upcoming exhibitions. And if it sells, as always, a portion will go to one of the groups below to help in their fearless efforts to save the rhino.

And here is the educational portion of this post!!!

The white rhino is the largest of 5 different types of rhinos. It's mouth is wide for grazing and is the friendliest of all of them. Once thought to be extinct, they now thrive in protected sanctuaries (we saw them at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy) but still a fraction of the estimated 100,000 that existed in the early part of the 20th century are now gone due to loss of habitat and poaching.

Several conservation tactics have been taken to prevent the rhinos disappearing from the earth. The northern white rhino have guards 24 hours a day watching over them at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Image from: https://imgur.com/gallery/Q1xuD

If you feel moved to help, you can give to Lewa Wildlife Consevancy or Ol Pejeta Conservancy. And if you give $50 or more I will send you a matted print of my rhino drawing...just send me the proof and I will put you on a list when it's done. Thanks!

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Neighborhood Watch

I started this drawing of the Three Cheetah Brothers exactly 3 years ago, but for some reason I didn't continue working on it after the initial lay out. I thought perhaps I had a commission and then never got back to it, but maybe it was just meant to come to fruition 3 years later!!

 We saw these fine fellows resting under a young acacia tree in Lewa Downs Conservancy, our second camp in Kenya. It was a beautiful day but the nights were very cold in early August.

This "coalition", we were told was very unusual as male cheetahs are territorial, but they obviously got along just fine. We only saw single cheetahs after that throughout the conservancy.

The Cheetah has nearly 2000 solid black spots on him! That's a lot of spots to draw!!!

So happy now that I finally finished drawing Daryl, Larry and Larry as they were so much fun to work on. They are now entered in the Pencil Art Society, 2016 International Open Juried Exhibition...wish me luck!!!

Trodden Path

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.

~William Shakespeare~

Trodden Path    Kathryn Hansen   (c) 29014  9x14

Trodden Path wasn't an easy piece to draw, there were lots of challenges in it for me as I was trying to get it done quickly (because it's a commission) which just added to my frustration. A woman named Mary M, from my FB business page told me to just slow down, so I did, and I actually enjoyed the next few challenges I faced with it...so many thanks to Mary...sometimes stating the obvious to me really works!!

Why are elephants so wrinkled?

This dynamic duo are up next on my drawing board. 

After combing through hundreds and hundreds of photos from my Africa trip, I mashed these two elephants together. Lorelai, the mom is actually from Amboseli National Park and her baby Rory is from Samburu but in my small drawing they have always been mom and baby! 

Not sure if I will add any birds to this one as I want the emphasis to be on Rory's turned head, looking back at the viewer. 

I am hoping to have it done in time for the TAG Gallery Open California Exhibit in August, which means it needs to be completed by mid June. Not sure if I will be able to make it but I am going to give it my best shot!

(They take too long to iron!)

Elsa's story

Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon we saw 4 moms and a little over half a dozen chubby cubs high up on a rocky ledge, gazing out over the land. They were very active, getting in some playtime before the heat set in. We sat and watched their activity for well over an hour.

Elsa is inspired by the magnificent lions we saw that day in Samburu while on safari in 2010. 

I am loving the challenge of drawing Elsa, and as I nail each difficult section I feel a little triumphant, knowing I am expanding my skill level a bit more! As a high contrast drawer, and lover of black and white images, the eventual black background will be very dramatic with the lighting on her face! Can hardly wait to finish her!

Long Live The King of Lewa Downs

The King   Kathryn Hansen (c) 2013   8x8

and it's a wrap!

Whistling Thorn by Kathryn Hansen (c) 2013 7.25x10

it feels good to finish this puppy up after all the commotion with it! and now i am slowing down a bit for the  summer months to attack some miscellaneous projects on my to-do list and just have fun playing with my kids!! this weekend we're hitting the dog beach, with a picnic lunch, boogie boards and camera in hand!

see how my drawing got mooned and then branched out from there!

i didn't create my usual monday post this week because i was still working out my acacia tree dilemma.

last thursday night as i was just finishing up the eagle on my acacia tree drawing, i looked up and notice a blue ink like mark on the paper...omg! after picking up and examining every single object on my drawing board i tried in vain wetting and rubbing the paper with a q-tip, then scrapping it with a razor, but to no avail! that mark was deep in the paper. i was sooo bummed, all that work for nothing!

so i took the problem to my facebook fan page and got some interesting suggestions. first i decided to try barry's suggestion of a moon. but that received a few nays.

so back to my branch idea...i went to my hard drive and perused through my african photographs, looking for an acacia branch i might use.

i'm still not happy with the results, so i will have a bit more work this week to get it just right! and just when i wanted to start my zebra drawing...hmmmm!!! i guess the zebras will have to wait!

Maasai Mara and a lone acacia tree

this is the newest drawing in progress on my board...an acacia tree with a brown snake eagle perched on a stray limb. 

the terrain at maasai mara is open grassland with a few solitary acacia trees dotting the scene. it is best known for the annual great migration. you can get a better feel for the grassland area in my sampling of photos than any words i could ever write!!

“When you have caught the rhythm of Africa, you find out 

that it is the same in all her music.” 

~Karen Blixen, Out of Africa~

a song of africa (c) 4x20 kathryn hansen 2013

Harry's story

my drawing of harry is inspired from my plethora of photos i took while in kenya in 2010.  it was the last camp on our itinerary, tucked away in a riverine forest in the heart of the masai mara game reserve on the banks of the olare oruk river. it was a mobile camp and the most primitive of the 4 camps we stayed at, just plain ordinary tents with bucket showers! after the last 3 amazing camps i have to say that i became quite spoiled! but hearing those hippos at night and seeing the great migration the next day helped ease our stay there!!

our tents dotted the bank of the river where loads of hippos lazily floated in the brownish blue water.

directly across the bank from us was a ginormous crocodile...i could barely look at him as he unnerved me!

these crazy looking river horses are quite dangerous, so once we were in our tents for the night we had to stay put, which was fine by me as i was out like a light every night...only waking once in awhile to their unfamiliar songs!

harry's progress