It's been a long time since I have posted anything on the blog so I thought it time I take five minutes from the madness of work and write a small entry. I say madness at work due to the fact that exhibition season is approaching fast, which always means a massive work load. It is always tricky trying to think up new ideas for pictures that are genuinely inspiring. It would be easy for me to knock out tens of pictures with a heavy commercial value but it would very leave me filling very unfulfilled. It never ceases to amaze me that just when I think I have drawn everything, some new idea for a an animal never brought to my attention before takes priority place on my drawing board.
I don't like giving to much away before exhibitions but it is always nice to give people an idea of what to expect. All I can say is that this year is Servals will feature, a feline I have not payed enough attention to in the past.
Alongside my exhibition work I also have my constant stream of commission work to contend with. One commission in particular that has been on the starting blocks for some time now, has finally started to come to fruition. The piece in question is that of an alligator. Many of you will know of my love for all things from the kingdom of herpetology and drawing them is nothing short of heaven for me. A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to go on a reference searching trip  to the largest private collection of crocodilians in the UK. It was in all honesty one of the best days out I have had in a long while and it reminded me why I do this job. When I am working on this type of project it no longer feels like work. The chance to get up close and personal with a huge selection of crocodilian friends was magical, especially without the confines and restrictions normally created by zoos and aquariums. I also hit it off very well with the owner and I am very keen to work with him again in the future raising money for conservation projects close to our hearts.
One species in particular that grabbed my attention was the chinese alligator a smaller and rarer version of it's only other direct cousin the American alligator. This species is highly endangered and is bordering on becoming extinct in the wild of theYanze river basin China. Despite its precarious wild situation it was nice to see captive bred hatchlings for new breeding work helping to keep the worldwide population from diminishing. This animal is a perfect topic for drawing as like so many of the other animals I have focused on in the past it highlights the need for people to sit up and take note of fast disappearing creatures across the globe.
Watch this blog for news of when I get closer to completion of this really exciting new project.



Copyright David Dancey-Wood 2010

        

Two very rare White Lion Cubs where born recently at Belgrade Zoo in Serbia. Here is one of the first videos of the newborn cubs.

White Lions are extremely rare with only 200 known examples. (Repubblica 2010)

These two lovely newborn cubs are being very carefully looked after by staff at Belgrade Zoo.

White Lions are regarded as sacred in their homeland, South Africa, and due to their pale coats, they're also more susceptible to attack from other predators.

Information gathered from the Repubblica.it website. (Italian Daily Newspaper) 19/8/2010

They're stunning really. I've seen several YouTube videos about White Lions, but the one below is about these two: They are apparently called  Dussel and Yellena (my spelling might be wrong).

Belgrade Zoo has had great success over in the recent past with newborn White Lion cubs, and their family now number seven in total. The Zoo say they would like to see their number continue to grow.

So, now for the video:

        

Here's the latest article from Jon Isaacs. This one's brilliant as usual, and Jon has even added a comment from Jeremy Clackson about Honey Badgers. Jeremy's comment is Hilarious!

.......................................................

Don’t corner a sober Honey Badger.

I love quirky animals, and they don’t come much quirkier than the Honey Badger of Africa and Asia. For a start, it is neither a badger, nor does it primarily eat honey. So how did it get its name? European settlers  thought that its colours of black below and a silvery grey above reminded them of the badger we all know, so that’s where the word badger originated. In actual fact it is a Musteline, related to otters and weasels. Settlers also saw that it raided wild bee nests and assumed it was after the honey. Not so. It was apparently primarily after the bee’s brood but hey, we all make mistakes!  The Afrikaans gave it another name of Ratel, this possibly coming from the rattle it gives during vocalization.

Now we know what it’s called, I hear you asking what it’s like. Well, according to my mammal books, it cannot be confused with any other species. It is about a metre long, 30cm in height and can weigh up to 14kg. The Ratel is incredibly strong and solid, especially at the front end which it uses for digging, and its skin is really loose which means predators and humans find it impossible to grab. Its ears are enclosed in the loose skin, which has an opening which can be closed when it digs.

Honey Badger, Copyright J Isaacs 2010

The Ratel has got a neat relationship with two birds. The Greater honeyguide lures it to a bees’ nest by calling to it. The Ratel then breaks open the nest for the brood and the bird eats the beeswax, eggs and larvae. Should the Ratel get stung by large numbers of bees it will die, so I wouldn’t imagine it hangs about! The other bird is the Pale Chanting Goshawk which follows the Ratel  and eats any insects or reptiles the Ratel disturbs and doesn’t eat itself.

Most Honey Badgers are solitary although it’s not impossible to see two hunting together or playing, mating or fighting, possibly all at the same time! They have large home ranges with males travelling over 500sq km whilst females tend to stick to 100sq km. The dominant male will sire young from up to a dozen females in his home range, quite a busy boy!

So, what else makes the Ratel unique? Basically it’s not frightened of anything. It will drive lion and leopard off prey, and occasionally will have a go at buffalo and elephant. It will eat anything from insects to snakes and even small crocodile and medium sized mammals.  Bee keepers regularly wage war on it. The Honey Badger even got a mention in the Guinness Book of Records, holding the title,”Most fearless animal in the World”. It will kill snakes and appears to be quite immune to their poison. Because of its fierce disposition, the Ratel  has an infantry fighting vehicle in South Africa named after it.

I’ve only sighted the Honey badger in the wild twice and obtained precisely one photograph of it!  Even though it is relatively common, it’s rarely seen because it tends to be nocturnal, especially during the summer months.

The first time I saw one was at a distance of about thirty metres. The guide took great delight in telling me that they would attack humans if cornered and that they always jumped for the groin and just held on, no matter what you did. He then waited for my reaction. I think I turned grey quite quickly and took the position of a soccer defender in a wall about to defend a free kick. He seemed suitably amused. I’ve witnessed the same reaction with other male tourists who have been told about the Ratel by their mischievous guides. Indeed, in this respect, the Ratel achieved even more fame by being mentioned by Jeremy Clarkson in his Top Gear Special from Botswana. To roughly quote, “A Honey Badger does not kill you to eat you. It just tears off your testicles”. Very succinctly put Jeremy!

The Ratel is thus a creature held in awe throughout Africa. Myths are told and embellished and it has almost become a cult figure. My own favourite story was told to me by a guide called Aubrey in Zambia, and his fellow guides swore it was true. Their seasonal camp had an open air bar. In fact it was a plank wedged between the forks of two adjacent trees. On the plank were a range of drinks including a bottle of port. One night a Ratel shinned up the tree, bit through the cork and consumed the entire contents. It was found sleeping peacefully at the foot of the tree the next morning. The bar man was so annoyed that he picked up the Ratel by its stubby tail, swung it round in the manner of a Russian hammer thrower,  released it, and watched as it sailed out into the bush. Landing with a thud, the creature awoke and, with a distinct hangover, lumbered off. I have no idea whether this story was true, but I do know that during our stay at the camp, we were awoken one night by the most fearful crashing and clanging of saucepans from the open air kitchen. The next morning the cook explained that breakfast would be late as a honey badger had raided the kitchen, eaten supplies and wrecked the place, so maybe it got its revenge.

In wildlife art I have rarely seen Honey Badgers depicted in any form. They are such charismatic creatures that I know they would be a brilliant subject for an artist such as David, so here’s hoping he feels the urge to draw another weird and wacky animal, and that it turns out to be the holder of the title, “Most fearless animal in the World”.

In the meantime, if you want to see a Honey Badger in action, have a look at You Tube which has a whole section on them and in particular “Kleinman, the Reckless Honey Badger,” which I think is absolutely brilliant.

Jon Isaacs.

.................................................................................

Great animal Jon. Thanks for telling us about it.

Below is that YouTube Video Jon mentions in his article.

        

Here's another great story from one of David Dancey-Woods Fans, Sandra. She kindly sent me this story to share on this blog. It's a lovely story, I'm sure you'll agree.

........................................

Hi Vince

I'm happy if you want to share this on your blog. 

I've attached a photo of one of my pictures 'fascination'.  I wanted to share it with you because 1) it's not one that you sell and 2) on the David Dancey-Wood fan site on Facebook you wanted to hear about which was my favourite print and you were trying to find a jpeg of it.  Hope this helps!

This is one of my favourite prints for many reasons.  It was one of the first prints we bought (and like you, it wasn't planned, we just happened to walk past Lockwood Studios in Bournemouth and we were drawn into the shop by David's work and have become 'addicted'!). 

We've had it hanging in our living room for at least eight years and believe it or not, my Dad only just noticed the frog sitting on the blade of grass very recently!

Fascination By David Dancey-Wood

We have been collecting David's work for quite some time and until I found your website we had five prints (Fascination, A Free Ride, The Clouded Leopard , Contemplation and First Charge ).  Now that we've found your site and since I have had a big Birthday recently (which we won't mention!) we are now proud owners of two additional prints, Eddi and Tranquility which are being framed and will soon be hanging in the living room with the rest of them!  I think I will need to move house as we are running out of wall space!

Thanks again.

Sandra

...........................................................................


I can just see the scene now: your Dad carefully looking at the print, then suddenly noticing the Frog!

And I remember fondly, The Lockwood Gallery which used to be in Old Christchurch Road. They used to display David's Prints in the window, and I remember seeing " Family Day Out " with all the Elephants, in his window. As you know the first print I ever bought was "Snow Cub " and I bought it from Lockwoods.

Also, I know at least one other collector that has a problem with not enough wall space! He's planning an extension.

If you'd like to see more of David's prints please click the banner:

        

Rainforest Concern buy and protect Rainforest.

"Rainforest Concern was established to protect threatened natural habitats and the biodiversity that they contain, together with the indigenous people who depend on them for their survival" You can join their Facebook Group: Rainforest Concern Facebook

Please watch this YouTube Video, It's brilliant, so why not add it to your site?

........................................

......................................

        

        

This is a video David sent me some time ago. I wish I'd put a link to it on this blog earlier. It is so relevant!

This is a very moving appeal by Robert Bateman, a brilliant artist, whom David has said is one of his main inspirations to becoming a wildlife artist.

Robert Bateman says in this video "Accidents Do Happen"




This short video is all the more relevant given the recent events in the Gulf of Mexico.

        

        

Many of our readers may remember a great article from Jon on this blog some time ago. He told us how he had become a collector of wildlife art and about his travels in Africa taking photos of the wildlife there, and how he's planning to build an extension to make space for some more art.

Well, Jon has been kind enough to agree to write some more entries for this blog and that's brilliant. So here is Jon's latest article about one of his favorite drawings and how he came to ask David to draw it for him.

......................................................

African Squirrel Quest

Some readers might think that some of my quests to photograph animals are rather bizarre. My wife certainly does, so they must be right! The quests are rarely planned. Many just seem to evolve, ensnaring me through a series of situations where I end up just having to get that animal on film, or nowadays, memory card. The squirrel hunt was one such quest.

It all started one day in the Luangwa valley in Zambia. It was early morning and we were trundling along a dusty track looking for Thornicroft giraffe. They are the smallest and most attractive subspecies, and one localised to that area. Suddenly, a small furry creature, with tail bolt upright, hurtled across the track in front of us. The driver ignored it and so I asked him what it was.” Squirrel” was the answer, but it wasn’t like the squirrels I was used to. I asked him to stop if another one was sighted. Sure enough, further on, another furry missile launched itself across the road and skidded to a halt behind a fallen tree. The driver also squealed to a juddering halt and I swung into action with my camera, just as the squirrel’s head appeared above the trunk. Umpteen clicks later I felt that a reasonable photo had surely been obtained.

Upon returning to camp I had my first chance to look at my squirrel photos. Great shots of wood, sand, rock and the occasional tail followed. The quest to get a decent squirrel shot was on.

The quest continued when we moved to a tented camp, pitched in mopane glades. Within hours of arriving I noticed small shapes moving silently in the branches above our heads. Yet, even in the gloom cast by the large, leathery leaves, these squirrels looked different to the furry missiles which had earlier crossed our path. The guides informed me that these were bush squirrels. One guide handed over his well thumbed mammal guide and I mugged up on all the squirrels Africa had to offer. I learnt that the word squirrel comes from the Greek skiouros, meaning  “shade-tail” and that there are four main groups in Africa: ground, rope, bush and the giant and sun squirrels .Sub species filled several more pages. I digested their characteristics and behaviour, following the adage of know thine enemy and felt confident that the shot would soon be achieved.

I should have known better. Shot after shot of mopane leaves and bark followed. At best I was getting dark, blurred tails and parts of bodies.

Then luck seemed to shine in my direction. For some reason a male bush squirrel, with in my opinion a considerable attitude problem, took exception to my attempts at stalking and photographing them from every angle. Jumping up and down with rage from the branch directly above my head, he hurled abuse at me in a constant, vitriolic high pitched scream. I took shot after shot. The quest had been achieved. Well, that’s what I thought until I looked at the results, shot after shot of beautifully sharp silhouettes. Squirrels two, amateur photographer nil.

Years were to pass and further safaris enjoyed. Squirrels were pursued and photographed, all with the same sorry outcome. Then, out of the blue, a trip to Namibia offered me a chance to finally redeem myself and complete the quest. We were driven to a lodge, for a night’s break, on our way down to the Namib Naukluft Park to see the world famous dunes. The surrounding area was inhospitable, a mixture of sand, stone and apparently little else. I doubted there would be anything worth photographing. Upon arrival, we moved into our room and I gazed disconsolately out of the window. There, in front of me were little furry things, lots of them. In fact, they were all over the place; digging, fighting, sunbathing, feeding, rushing about with tails held high, plunging into and out of  burrows. I had apparently stumbled upon a veritable mecca for ground squirrels. I grabbed my camera and took off, unpacking and wife forgotten in the excitement. Could I please get just one good photograph? No I couldn’t! I got hundreds. The squirrels just didn’t care what I did. I photographed them in burrows, out of burrows, standing proudly on their back legs, using their tails as parasols, and even going cross eyed as a fly landed on their head. They even came up and bit my trainers, just to let me know they were there. Okay, I looked ridiculous in the heat of the midday sun, lying on my stomach with my floppy hat rammed against my forehead, squirrels hurtling passed me in all directions, but the quest had been achieved. It was the highlight of my holiday.

All photo's Copyright J Isaacs 2010

All photo's Copyright J Isaacs 2010

All photo's Copyright J Isaacs 2010

The following year I showed David some of my treasured photographs of Damara Ground squirrels, and asked him if he’d consider drawing one for me as we both like quirky animals. This he graciously did, and I am now the proud owner of a superbly drawn ground squirrel, which hangs on the wall in front of me as I write this article. It was a perfect way to complete the quest.

Damara Ground Squirrel by David Dancey-Wood Copyright Hawksbill Fine Art 2010

.............................................

Great article Jon. I can just see you there taking those shots, then checking them later to find the Squirrels were too quick again! I used to be a photographer and it's just exactly what happens with photography. Some of those Squirrels probably new they were giving you the run around. But that's why it's fun. The shots you did get are brilliant! What characters those squirrels are! Lovely! And some say animals don't have free will. They should try taking their photo's.

Thanks for allowing us to use your photo's.

By the way, how's that extension coming along?


Vince De Luca.
................................................

If you'd like to see more of David's drawings, please visit our web site: just click the banner to Wildlife Sketches

        

This is a great YouTube video showing Twin baby moose and mother playing in sprinkler in Anchorage, AK. June2008

I just love it, and the sound track works brilliantly!


I have some great photo's of a very rare White Moose also somewhere in the articles on this blog, so please have a look through the other articles.