Animal Portrait Study, Eastern Lowland Gorilla

 

Portrait Study of the Eastern Lowland Gorilla.

Quick sketch. Pencil only. This took maybe 20 minutes.

Researching this animal and its habitat, I can already tell, is going to make me smile. But outside of that, from what I already know, this subspecies is endangered due to loss of their habitat. This is disturbing and deeply heartbreaking on every level. How many animals out there are endangered? And endangered for what? What justifies this?

In the past people have asked me if I use projectors or the like, for portraiture. No. I think that with the unfortunate embrace of artificiality, and rise of using machines or computers to create things that attempt to mimic true art, people assume that everyone adopts the lazy route for creating. Those kinds of modern machines are pointless, from an artistic point of view. Art (painting) should be an individual expression from human hand to medium to surface. A raw process of messing up, correction and satisfaction from working with my medium. Therein lies a kind of freedom there. And what is more free than an animal​ (or plant for that matter) in its safe haven​; its natural habitat? It's incredible. From an artistic standpoint. a raw expression means more. Focus is important and sincerity through palette is important, to me but the imperfections add to the beauty of the portrait. I don't mean inability to correct mistakes, or silly embellishments, I mean perspective and style. When sketching or painting subjects, I do so based on raw reference and from an emotional point of view. Animals should be captured in a dignified way - a way that does not scream human possession, human projection or silly pop culture / halfhearted political trends forced onto their faces but respect for the animal itself and the great animal kingdom. I want to capture an animal, plant, something in my own way, with my medium — how I feel compelled to. That is the only way that it is meaningful to me.

This is my opinion. I *think* that people are still allowed to have opinions (?) but who knows these days. It's exhausting to be fair. If it's not everyone copy/pasting everyone else for temporary validation, being afraid to have their own ideas so they snatch up the ideas of others, then it's others attacking passionate people for daring to have their own opinion (that doesn't harm anyone else). I can only speak from my own experience and personal beliefs as an artist and relationship with art and nature. My opinion doesn't have to matter to anyone but it matters to me and as an artist being able to say ''i am passionate about what I do and i amm not changing it for anyone, including you'' is important. That, I would say, is actually a strength in this​ modern and digital age of ... whatever this is.