Extinction And Conservation In Progress

While others are busy poaching and killing rhinos, elephants, pangolins and other endangered species; there are others who are busy dedicating their lives, working, donating financial resources, sharing their expertise and knowledge, teaching their children and fellow men to be kind to animals and protect them in order to save the species.

2013 nearly 700 rhinos were killed in South Africa making it the bloodiest year for rhino poaching. Meanwhile, Nepal had zero poaching of rhinos, elephants and tigers, the second year in a row. This is remarkable considering that Nepal is close to Vietnam and borders China. 

This is maddening and blood curdling: "A survey of 720 people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, published earlier this month, found that typical buyers were "educated, successful and powerful individuals" and use rhino horn as currency in networking."

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Ophiocordyceps sinensis or Caterpillar Fungus

Whoa! A blog post. I have been absent from my blog since I became engrossed with gardening. What an awesome activity. I get to plant something and watch it grow. It is a great test of patience but I am learning. I did start a Moleskine journal consisting of mushroom illustrations and have been posting them on Instagram. I like Instagram. It is lazy and impersonal. Oh yes, I have been studying mushrooms, though it has slowed down because of June. June is the last month of our fiscal year and so many of my projects at work are being implemented. Hope you are all well and safe.

Ophiocordyceps sinensis or Caterpillar Fungus, is a fungus that infects and parasitizes a species of ghost moth caterpillars found mainly on the Tibetan plateau. This fungus is highly valued in Traditional Chinese Medicine and its high demand and price have caused ecology issues in the Tibetan plateau and Ophiocordyceps sinensis to be considered a threatened species. 

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Grasshopper

Grasshopper. Pen and Pigment ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board. This is an entry to the 52-Week Illustration Challenge art group in Facebook, to which, I recently found out, I was added by my dear friend Andrew Finnie. Thank you, Andrew. I like this group because they have all the fifty-two prompts posted. One cannot post ahead of the weekly scheduled prompt but one can post anytime on past prompts. I like that. I can skip prompts that don't interest me and jump right on to the future prompts. This is for next week's prompt "Insects". I will post it on Facebook next week but for now, here it is. I do not like it. It does not tell a story. It is just a grasshopper.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed drawing the grasshopper because it allowed me to read more about the insect that I decided to start a new project, a collection of anatomically correct illustrated insects.

I wonder if I should have posted this for IF's "Toy" prompt.

When I was a kid, I used to play with grasshoppers. My brothers, sisters, friends and I used to catch them in the field in front of our house. They were plentiful and they were HUGE!!! During certain times of the year there were swarms of grasshoppers, praying mantis, beetles and dragonflies, though not necessarily at the same time.

It has been cold and dreary here these past several weeks. Sunny days have been few and far between. The sun has been obscured by grey clouds and it has been cold and windy. Today the sun is out. Yay!!! Thank you, Lord!

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Old and Slow

I cannot draw fast enough. I am getting old and slow. Not long ago I could finish a 20"x16" pen and ink drawing with the entire board filled with ink in just a few days. Ideas for another project come to me when I am drawing. I have this image in my head but cannot begin to sketch it because this grasshopper illustration needs to get done. I suppose I can start the new drawing but I have this need to finish before I begin... I am afraid that by the time I finish, I would forget the image or my hands will draw something else.

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Talking-Nonsense Heads

“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”  ― William F. Buckley Jr.

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A Head

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One Year Later

November 8, 2013, a year ago today, Typhoon Yolanda AKA Typhoon Haiyan made landfall and devastated the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. No sooner did the world come to the aid of the Filipino people when reports of corrupt politicians and their representatives misappropriated the aid for themselves and their political campaigns. Today, many poor people who survived the disaster still live in tents while politicians continue to be under very long investigations for corruption while living in their numerous mansions. 

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Intermission

This was a an intermission drawing to relieve myself of CTS from too much stippling.

Dancing Cranes. Pen and Ink on 11"x14" Paris Paper.

If you have a mobile device, follow me on Instagram 

where I will be posting WIP, new work and revisiting old work everyday.

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What's The Point?

Elephant Herd. Pen and Ink on 11"x14" Paris Paper

Quite frankly, I don't see the point of pointillism. 

Lots of dots.

It's a dull and boring process to draw an image full of dots, periods and points.

It's okay to prove that one has the patience to just keep on making a point after point after point.

At a certain point,

one loses the point of pointillism.

If you point and click your cursor on the images below,

you will have a better point of view.

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Koalas on a Eucalyptus Tree

Koalas On A Eucalyptus Tree. Pigment and India ink on 11"x14" Paris Paper. 

This was a drawing gift for an Australian friend.

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The Empire Eukaryota - Pretenders Among Us

I don't really care much for just a bit, slowly, subtly, indirectly, slightly...I believe in overwhelming, preponderance, overabundance and overdone. Too much. We're talking about ink here, what were you thinking? Pffft! The Empire Eukaryota - Pretenders Among Us. Pen and Ink on 17"x14" Paris Paper.

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Empire Eukaryota

I have decided to create a new series: The Empire Eukaryota. Just finished the 6th plate.

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The Halcyon Days of Childhood Summer

Movie Snap, Libertad Baybay. Pen and ink on 14"x17" Paris paper.

Who knew that today, my childhood friends and I would be recalling our summers at Movie Snap? The area was named after my father's photography studio which was also our home. Yes, I was born and grew up in a house with a name, but unlike the grand mansions of the rich, ours was a very humble abode made of new and old materials recycled by our father from our previous home on Smith Street which was burned during a city fire before I was born. I spent my first ten years of life in this place, the happiest childhood in memory. The home was my fortress, my refuge and playroom. In it, with my brothers and sisters, I felt loved, nurtured and protected which emboldened us to face together whatever the outside world offered. I could not think of a more idyllic and ideal childhood, yet I knew it was not easy because we had limited financial resources. My father worked long hours at his downtown studio and late nights in our home with my mother's help. I remember the dark room which was located in the middle of the house. A long dark passageway led to an even darker room which although without air-conditioning and considering we lived in the topics was very cool. The room smelled of chemical fixers. Sometimes my father let us go inside the dark room to help him. My younger sister and I did minor chores but he also taught us how to develop the negatives, use the blotter and trim the photo prints. Mostly we played with the film spools which ranged from miniature sizes to gigantic spools used in photostats. This was before the age of Xerox copiers and scanners, before computerized photo prints. This was during the time when each photo print was meticulously processed and inspected. My father had very high standards which sometimes made the chores tedious. Fifty-six years later, looking at the quality of my childhood photographs, I understand why he refused to take shortcuts.

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Free

Listening to the news yesterday, I just heard a commentary about artistic people in Hollywood:
"They are detached from reality and are juvenile. They create their own world." 

Free. 17"x14" on pen and ink on Paris paper.

I am having an absolutely fun and very pleasant time drawing these little characters which I adapted from Bella Sinclair's style after I saw her illustration which has now become my latest favorite. No wonder Bella always seem so happy and positive and her drawings exude mirth because there is something that evokes the joyful senses when I draw these little darlings. Granted, unlike Bella's illustrations, I toss and plunge these little creatures into and within threatening and unpleasant environments. I mentally infuse each tiny creature with personality and I root for them to survive those who want to harm them like some other little evil creatures that look like them too. Demons walk the earth with us, do you know that? That is why it is always good to have your angels. Such is life, you don't know who Satan pretends to be. I hope Bella forgives me for exposing these little creatures to danger and negative situations, but I am rooting for every little good freedom and liberty loving creature. Some details below.

Okay, my Apple Macbook randomly shuts down. Looks like the battery, which was replaced by a new one last year.  Oh, one more thing before I go. The Constitution is an awesome document that was written as the foundation for our republic. It is not some malleable document which liberals and progressives can interpret and change according to their whims. It was cleverly designed to thwart tyrants and prevent tyranny. That is why many liberals complain about it, even the current president once mentioned that it gets on his way. Think about that. 

Have a great week!

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Vanity

I don't know anybody named Vanity, do you? I know a couple of girls whose mothers named them Placenta and Vagina but not Vanity. Yes, some mothers are stupid.

Below are images I incorporated on my recent drawing which I finished today. These are symbols of vanity and I wanted to post them for Illustration Friday but I did not meet the deadline. The images include Putto and wasted time, ostentatious display of jewelry, skull, blowing bubbles, Satan holding the mirror of vanity, bird skeleton and the Whore of Babylon. It was interesting reading about the symbols of vanity.

Yesterday, there was not much left to do with the illustration. In fact, I enhanced some of the details just to extend its drawing life because I need to be able to do something next week while sitting in the waiting room for some scheduled procedures. I realize I needed to start a new drawing soon. Anyhow, here is Vanity. 

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Tamarins

It's terrible how some ignorant, stupid and greedy humans treat wild animals mostly endangered and rare as resources for consumption and meet their insane desire to collect  rare animals. They do not mind if the animal species reach extinction. They poach rhinos for Chinese traditional medicine; steal tamarins from zoos and sanctuaries; they massacre entire communities of flying lizards in Davao and skewer and roast them to sell for pagan Filipino tribal medicine; they allow Chinese smugglers to invade their provinces so they can kill pangolins in Palawan, again, for Chinese traditional medicine. Lord knows what they will do with the stolen tamarins  in today's news. These two species of animals stolen from a London zoo surprised me because last week I was looking for bearded animals to incorporate in my drawings. I chanced upon the mustachioed and bearded emperor tamarins and the beard-less but hairy cotton-top. On the left is a Cotton-top tamarin. with her two babies. In the middle are  Emperor tamarins.  Cotton top monkeys are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment so these animals must be frightened from the ordeal. I can only think that these thieves and their recipients have no regard for humanity.

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Revenge

Remember when a presidential candidate asked you to vote for revenge? 

Did you? 

Are you feeling the revenge?

Alphabet Soup of Failure. Pen and Ink on 17"x14" Paris Paper

Unprecedented Concoction of Corruption, Distrust, Ineptness, Incompetence, Lies, Falsehoods, Coverups, Spying, Overreach, Political Correctness, Abuse of Power and Disregard for the People.

And here is my revenge: Life, Faith, Love, Liberty, Drawing. This is the Liars, Fabulists and Prevaricators Series. One does not have far to look for inspiration - here's what inspires me and how. These are pen and ink drawings on 17"x14" Paris paper:

  

Now listening to Doris Day and soon Ella Fitzgerald. 

Have you heard of Tuva and their throat singers? I love Huun Hurr Tu.

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In The Land Of The Perpetually Offended

I am trying to infuse the Land of The Perpetually Offended the symbols of vanity. I am not sure if I will be able to finish it in time of the submission deadline, but I am enjoying reading about the symbols of vanity. I sketched on this image the Whore of Babylon, Satan holding the mirror of vanity, Putto, and many still life vanity symbols. I also drew two naked fat women blowing bubbles. In the foreground, is a skeleton of a bird, another symbol of vanity and shortness of life. Have a great week!

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Alphabet Soup of Failure

Alphabet Soup of Failure. Pen and Ink on 17"x14" Paris Paper

Unprecedented Concoction of Corruption, Distrust, Ineptness, Incompetence, Lies, Falsehoods, Coverups, Spying, Overreach, Political Correctness, Abuse of Power and Disregard for the People.

To be fair, President Obama gets asked the tough questions from the American press. Seriously, give the man a break. He works so hard. 

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LOL! I Am In Love

(LOL) Lord Of The Lies 

aka The Fabulous Fabulist,  part of the Liars, Fabulists, Prevaricators and The Like series. These are details of a 14"x17" pen and ink drawing. Click on the preview slides to enlarge. I have fallen in love with detailed pen and ink drawing...oh wait, this is not new. Let us just say that I actually took my time and even stopped to draw something else for Illustration Friday, just so I can keep enjoying this. 


Thanks to Bella Sinclair who inspired me to draw little creatures. When I saw Bella's illustration for Space, I was stunned at how she accurately portrayed two friends, one who needs space but seems to have a difficult time escaping the other gesticulating, loquacious friend. I lifted the two and put them in this busy jungle of the Lord of the Lies.

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