I’ve noticed people are often curious about illustrators’ workspaces. Illustrationmundo.com asked me to upload a photo of the area I use to create my work, so I figured it was worth sharing here too!
Here’s a general overview of my work area. I have a nice desk from Officeworks with real oak legs. An Ikea Markus chair – the fabric version, not the leather version (it is exactly the same chair but half the price).
Zooming in on my desk, you’ll see a softly-lit, well-organised work area. I have a nice view outside. It’s very important for me that I don’t face a boring wall. So I can just look a bit to the right and see straight across the road. VERY IMPORTANT I TELL YOU!!Read more →
I don’t normally like to show works in progress. But this is a special case because there are only about 250 of these left in the world!
Anyway, here is an illustration that I am doing of the Amani flatwing damselfly. It is currently listed as critically endangered and is on the IUCN redlist, because it’s habitat is less than 10km². I haven’t been able to find much information about this species online, apart from the brief wikipedia article quoted below. You can read more about ongoing conservation efforts here.
Amani flatwing damselfly illustration.
The Amani flatwing has a long, extremely slender abdomen, which is darkly coloured with a conspicuous white tip. Its wings are distinctly narrower at their base than at their tip, and the males have a broad brown band close to their wing tips. It is endemic to the Amani Sigi Forest of the East Usambara Mountains from Tanzania. The Amani flatwing population appears to be largely confined to a 500 meter long stream in the Amani-Sigi Forest Reserve, although a single male has been found outside of this reserve.
Amanipodagrion gilliesi is now critically endangered due to destruction and degradation of its habitat. There has been almost a complete destruction of the low-altitude forest across East Africa, mainly for conversion to agricultural land. The few remaining forests of the East Usambara Mountains where the Amani flatwing is found are under considerable pressure.[2] The main, viable subpopulation of Amani flatwings is relatively safe within the Amani-Sigi Forest Reserve, any other subpopulations within the vicinity are either already extinct or maybe on the verge of extinction as a result of human encroachment, deforestation and water pollution. Also the protected population of Amani flatwings leads a relatively precarious existence, containing fewer than an estimated 250 mature individuals.
This is a self-promotional artwork that is meant to raise awareness for domestic violence. I’m sure you all know what abuse is so I won’t even bother you with any statistics. I’m not even going to link to any websites, because they might not be relevant to where you are living. In fact, that’s all I am going to say about the subject because I am not really qualified to talk about it…Read more →
