Artistic Origins: Endangered Animals

Drawing a Giant Panda

This was the front picture I chose to recreate in pencil.

The first drawing I drew using the grid. Here I didn't really take up texturizing the fur of the panda but in my future drawings I was sure of to take up the challenge.

This was my second drawing except without the grid and on a larger paper. I took a few closer glimpses at the drawing and concluded that it was not formed correctly and cartoony so I made the choice to do it again.

I first sketched the form with a HB-4B pencil.

Then I decided to have a little fun with the type of textures, I could make visible. Using a 6B-8B pencil, so thicker, darker lines would appear.

After a long 2 hours of drawing the textures and trying my best to perfect the form I finished with a product I am proud of. Some things I would love to improve on is the placement of the jaw and the paw.

I also drew the Yangtze Finless Porpoise. I decided not to go on to a large scale photo because I thought it was too cartoony.

Information about the Endangered Animals

At least 10,000 species go extinct each year. With a extinction rate of 0.01% each year. It may be a small percentage but 0.01% of the 100,000,000 different species there are on Earth can add up to a huge amount of species non-existing. I chose the Yangtze Finless Porpoise and the Giant Panda because I believe we could save these two species and the many others connected to them.

The Giant Panda

The Yangtze Finless Porpoise

With a population of only 1000-1800 and a close cousin functionally extinct, these Porpoises are desperately in need for help. FinlessPorpoises are one of the few animals with a quite high intelligence rate. This species needs an abundance of food crucial for their survival. Finless Porpoises live in the coastal lakes and rivers of Asia, because of this they are very open to human disruption. Overfishing, takes away a huge amount of the food they eat, with a lack of food, majority of the Most Porpoises die of hunger. Male Porpoises can live up to 33 years, and reach sexual maturity at age 4 to 6 for male and 6 to 9 for female. Baby Finless Porpoises are reported to be about 72cm to 84cm in length. Unfortunately most of the Porpoises don’t live a full life, either dying of hunger, eaten or hit by passing water traffic. However World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and The Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) are doing wonders to raise and take care of this dying species. One of the reasons why this Finless Porpoise should be saved is because it contributes to the aquatic habitat it lives in

Giant Panda

Giant Pandas are an endangered species with a population of less than 1,600. Pandas play a crucial role in the bamboo forests where they roam by spreading seeds and facilitating growth of vegetation. With a large vegetation rate it benefits to the other animals that feed on bamboo and some of these animals are found to be near extinction as well. China’s Yangtze Basin region, which holds the panda’s main habitat is the geographic and economic heart of this enlarging country. Some people also hunt Giant Pandas. These Pandas are very large omnivores, they only eat bamboo and they eat a lot of it. They take up to 12 pounds of bamboo everyday for a daily satisfaction. Giant Pandas are one of the many high priority animals to keep alive. World Wildlife Fund even has its own symbol as a giant panda.