Wild Life Drawing Online: Baboons

We are delighted to be collaborating once again with wildlife sanctuary N/a’an ku sê, in Namibia, and this time it's all about brilliant Baboons! We will begin by meeting little Oscar, an orphaned baby baboon that was brought up by the team at the sanctuary. We'll have the opportunity to spend time with him (live!) as he winds down for his bedtime, then we'll switch to sketching from a glorious pack of reference images and videos for the rest of the class. As we draw, we will be chatting with Naankuse's Head of Fundraising, Colette Massier (and Oscar's "mum") who will be joining us from Namibia and telling us all about Naankuse's important conservation work as well as plenty of facts about the particular baboons they are currently caring for.

Omnivorous and at home in almost any habitat, the baboon is the most widespread primate in Africa, and we will be focussing on the Chacma baboon which is the only species occurring in Namibia. Baboon populations are currently stable in most African countries, but human-wildlife conflict, the illegal trade in animals and loss of habitat are the main threats to the species. Namibian wildlife sanctuary N/a’an ku sê (AKA Naankuse) help to protect the baboons with their rescue and rehabilitation work and their programs with the local communities that provide employment and education, seeking to reduce human-wildlife conflict. 

To begin animal artist Laura Cuppage will take you through the basics of drawing baboons, working both from life and the reference images to give a demonstration of the shapes, proportions and anatomical features to identify as well as being on hand to feedback or dish out creative advice throughout the whole session. We also encourage you to ask questions throughout the classes, so we can all learn more about the animals, the issues facing them and what we can do to help improve the situation.

A downloadable Reference Media Pack containing images and videos of baboons will be supplied with the Zoom link. The basic materials you need to take part are paper, a pencil, eraser and sharpener, but of course you are more than welcome to work in whatever materials you enjoy or have to hand. Please get in touch if you need advice on materials, we’re happy to help! You will be emailed the media pack, instructions and the Zoom link to join around 48 hours before the event is due to start, or in good time if you booked last minute. If you haven’t received the email, do check your junk mail first and then get in touch and we’ll make sure you have it before the event is due to take place. You just need one ticket per device, not per person.

50% of the ticket profits will be donated to N/a’an ku sê.