Entitled “Lost”, my drawing of the Scimitar Horned Oryx (SHO) will be one of my submissions for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year competition.
Identified as extinct in the wild in 2000, various groups, including my local zoo at Marwell, have been working to reintroduce the species back into its native North Africa.
I have drawn Lost in a way to hopefully make the viewer reflect on the fragility of the wildlife we have on the planet.
I tried to portray an ethereal and ghostly presence through the light touch of the pencil work to give a sense of extinction and loss.
I was struck by the anthropomorphic, forlorn, Lost look in its eyes and I hope to capture this to offer a sense of unease and disquiet at the unnatural scenario of it being outside of its native habitat.
It is to the huge credit of places like Marwell and their conservation work, it is just sad that it is needed.
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