Friday, April 16, 2010

"Looking Forward" for The National Zoo Zoofari Auction

A while back, I was contacted by The National Zoo to see if I would be willing to donate some art for their annual Zoofari auction. I'm a big supporter of The National Zoo so I was very honored to help them. I wanted to draw two of their Western Lowland Gorillas, Mandara and Kibibi. During my last visit to the zoo, I was touched by Mandara's nurturing instincts. I wanted to capture the feelings of hope and love that I felt watching them.

I decided to title the piece, "Looking Forward". It's 11"x14" created with colored pencil on Somerset paper. I love working in colored pencil! The medium can be time consuming to work with, but the results are very rewarding. It seems that even grey tones can become vibrant with this medium. (Please click on image for a larger view.)

Zoofari 2010 will be on May 20th. It's considered one of the best events in Washington D.C. featuring more than 100 of the area's finest restaurants. If you would like more information on the event, please visit The National Zoo's website.


6 comments:

Remington said...

That is beautiful! You are such a talented artist!

Erica Vojnich said...

Thank you Remington!

Beyond the Dog Dish said...

I really love this picture - those eyes and shoulder. I hope the auction goes well. Glad I also saw Remington his has one cute blog!

ocmist said...

I've always loved looking at gorillas... into their eyes! You've done a really great job on this pair. I've worked in graphite, pastel chalk and recently in Prismacolor Pencil, and appreciate the work that has gone into this piece. If you are interested in seeing a piece of my work, when you visit the Country Corgis, look in the sidebar. I did the cover art on my son's book, and the picture of Mango, the Mastiff that we used in the Mango Minster Badge, and the artwork that is on my CafePress items. Grammy from Country Corgis

Anonymous said...

I think eyes are very difficult to do, and you did them wonderfully.
You are very generous to donate to causes you believe in. We appreciate your help with the Doodlebug raffle as well. We are very pleased to offer your artwork and introduce you to a new audience.
Thank you again

Erica Vojnich said...

Thank you! I think it's important to spread beauty and love to everyone. I'm thankful that I'm able to find a connection in this world by expressing myself this way. By giving to causes that I believe in, it's giving thanks to the universe for being offered the opportunity to help. I'm truly grateful that people appreciate my work and allow me to continue to help!