In March 2022 I decided to start producing a drawing each week on something that had struck a chord with me in the news. I wanted to use it as an opportunity to think outside the box when it comes to content, composition and to challenge myself.
Some weeks i'm more inspired than other, but regardless, a drawing is created every week, and the blog is updated every Sunday. This is the year so far:
June
A few weeks past we had a drawing called Arctic Wine, this weeks' is Antarctic Ice...
This is following the devastating news that microplastics have been found even in some of the most remote parts of Antarctica. When scientists melted snow and ice from areas far away from any civilisation, a depressing amount of microplastics were found. What will it take for us to learn??
This drawing was also inspired by a piece of work created by three visual communication design students from Taiwan, Hung Yi-Chen, Guo Yi-hui and Cheng Yu-Ti. Check out their work on water pollution on the guardian's website...
Antarctic Ice
Pencil on recycled paper
June
This week's "In The News Drawing" 📰 had to of course be about the Jubilee.
I'm not a royalist, so it was quite hard to not be a little cynical about the pomp and ceremony at a time of financial uncertainty.
But it looks like everyone has made the most of a lovely sunny few days of national holiday, enjoying the company of friends and family, and for that I'm happy. If you're anything like me you might be nursing a bit of a sore head today!
Hope you are all familiar with the phrase "storm in a teacup", so hope you enjoy my:
"Storm in a Jubilee teacup"
Pencil on recycled paper
May
There has been so much in the news this week… shootings, missile launches, monkeypox…
But for me, the biggest news was the devastating loss of Caroline Drummond on Monday.
If you are part of farming/environmental circles you would have seen the tributes paid and an industry in mourning. CD was the most incredible woman. She revolutionised British farming through her organisation LEAF, which has gone from a small team to a globally respected organisation, making farming more eco-conscious and therefore sustainable for the future. She was awarded an MBE and is a giant in her field. CD made such a huge impact to the world.
But her loss won’t just be felt in the industry. I am fortunate enough to have known CD all my life, and she will leave an enormous hole in our small group of families. I am thankful for the burns weekends, the ski trips, the Edinburgh meet-ups, for the time we did have with her. My heart is breaking for Phil and Gabby, and for all of us who have been extremely hit by her loss.
So this week’s drawing (and I'm. Sorry I only managed a quick sketch as I was finding it too hard to spend longer on it), is the wonderful, inspirational and desperately missed…
Baroness Horningtops
pencil on recycled paper
May
This week's one is inspired by the fact that the taliban are banning female faces from TV. All their female TV presentors will now have to cover their faces.
Women are still struggling for equality, still struggling to be heard, still struggling to be seen... All over the world. This isn't an issue in just one place, it is still everywhere in varying degrees.
We cannot be silenced
Pencil on recycled paper
May
So this week's "IN THE NEWS DRAWING" 📰 is a bit different.... Because it's about what's NOT in the news.
You can't miss the overwhelming media coverage of the Russian Ukrainian conflict, gripping the attention of the world, rousing support and funding. But what we don't see are those suffering from ongoing war crimes and human rights abuses elsewhere, and appear forgotten by our media.
So this week's drawing came as a request from my incredibly talented sister.
She had this to say:
"Man-made, conflict driven, severe food-insecurity grips many families living in countries such as Yemen and Ethiopia’s Tigray region. The Ukraine conflict has not only reduced the limited attention that these conflicts have received, but also poses another threat to those starving in conflict-affected countries. Ukraine’s role as the breadbasket of the world is at risk. The conflict is disrupting food production and exports, much of which is acquired by aid organisations and used to respond to food crises such as those in Tigray, Yemen and Afghanistan. With less media attention, and less food available within the global food system, the fate of many remains unknown."
There are serious issues happening all over the world... Serious war crimes like mass slaughtering of Tigrayan civilians. How this isn't more in the news baffles me. My second ITND was about the war on Ukraine, but this week's drawing is for those in Yemen, Afghanistan, Tigray and all the other forgotten wars.
Stand up for the Forgotten
Pencil on a4 recycled paper
May
On Thursday, 5th of May, it was the international day of the Midwife✨
Despite midwives or their equivalents being around as long as childbirth has been, so ya know... Forever... the modern midwife we know today only really became a thing with the Midwife Act of 1902... Which seems insane!
Childbirth is one of those life's greatest miracles... We are all born. This undeniable history and Universality of it makes it possibly the most natural thing about us. But despite it being innately natural, it is steeped in cultural history and differences, and thus make midwives a huge cultural touchstone for us all. From an anthropological perspective they are absolutely fascinating.
A midwife is at the start of all of us, a widwife was at all of our beginnings in existence, they are the ones who support parents before and after birth, they are the ones that assure that both mother and child made it through childbirth as safely as possible, they are the first ones who ever touched us.
And yet in the UK, our midwives are unappreciated, undervalued, and overworked within our NHS. We are so incredibly fortunate to be supported by the NHS and have that free care. But it does mean that people like my incredible mum, are snowballed with work that doesn't allow her to be as supportive and as present as she'd like with the mothers she cares for.
We are all born, some of us have had kids and some will one day want kids, midwives are essential, they are the pillars of culture, and are the threshold between womb and the cultural world. So this week's drawing is for the midwives, for your Universality, your history, your future, your hard work and dedication, for keeping calm for the mothers who might be terrified, for helping each and every one of us come into this world safely. We owe you so much.
International Day of the Midwife 🌸
Pencil on a5 recycled paper
May
Happy first of May!! 🌸 Anyone else feel like that came around really quick?
But anyway, here's the first In the News Weekly Drawing 📰 of May.
This week's one is in response to reading about vineyards opening in Norway due to the changing climate. Some may argue that more wine is never a bad thing... But I'll let you decide where you stand with that.
I have visions of vineyards in the "Arctic" in 50 years... Arctic wine... Bottles with polar bears on.... A memory of an extinct species, a nod to the lost Arctic ice and the changing Arctic circle. Let's hope it doesn't get to that!
Arctic Wine
Pencil on a4 recycled paper
April
Earth Day 🌎
Pencil on A5 recycled paper
April
There was a lot in the news this week I could have chosen, but, as the news so often is, it was all very negative... The war, climate change, sexual abuse among so so so much more... But it's Easter.
HAPPY EASTER 🥚
And whether you're religious or not, I think it's important to know what Easter is about. It's about hope. About rebirth, renewal, second chances... A time to reflect and to do better.
This week's drawing is inspired by the easter egg, not the chocolate ones that seem to fill our supermarket shelves straight after Christmas (I mean really this is consumerism gone mad) but the symbolism of the egg.
Our world is literally dying around us. This is a storm in an egg, but like with so many things...something beautiful can come from disaster. There is hope, like that of the blossoming of the fire lily that only flowers after a forest fire... There are still signs of life, there are still signs of hope. And that's what we need to move forward, hope of new beginnings, new mentalities, and a positive approach to dealing with the world's issues.
From The Ashes
Pencil on A5 recycled paper
April
Greenwashing is so prevalent just now that we expect it... Going green, bio, sustainable, responsibly sourced, eco conscious.... these buzz words are EVERYWHERE. but how much are companies, organisations and governments actually doing?? When they say "15% less plastic" in this PLASTIC bottle... Cool... That's great... But what about the other 85% that's still going to take 450 years to decompose!?
This greenwashing is such an issue that the UN has now put together a specific team investigating promises made, and the subsequent actions to meet this. Thankfully it seems the wool will begin to lift from our eyes.
Preistley's experiment is the inspiration behind this drawing... Make of that what you will but every decision has been made to build a story, so I'm interested to hear what you think.
Greenwashing
Pencil on A5 recycled paper
April
This week's drawing is in response to the final plenary session in Geneva last Tuesday. These sessions were negotiations regarding crucial biodiversity and the mass extinction we are facing. But as more and more information gets released as to the outcome of the meetings, the more it feel we are yet again getting nowhere.
Empty promises, greenwashing and just denial seem to be the general themes. Thankfully the UN has now put together a board of 16 people who are looking into if governments and organisations are even trying to meet their targets, or just greenwashing.. But this is a drawing for another week.
This week's drawing is for the mass extinction we are facing...
Time is running out
Pencil on a5 recycled paper
March
Yesterday the National Trust announced that over 80% of British orchards have disappeared over the last 100 years.
The loss of our orchards to housing and farming isn't just an end to the fruit, but the beauty and the magisty of the british countryside in bloom each spring. It results in a huge impact on local flora and fauna, and the loss of support for our bees, bats, butterflies and birds 🐝🦋
With less than 20% remaining, out landscape is changing quicker than ever.... And not for the best in my opinion... Soon this really could be the "Best of British".
Best of British
Pencil on a4 recycled paper
March
This week's one couldn't be on anything other than the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
I've been reading the news like so many other people, feeling totally helpless, not knowing how to help or even if I can in anyway. To be honest I'm still in shock that in todays day and age this is still something we're having to deal with... No one has the right to take another's life... Especially when innocent civilians are targeted.
Yesterday's bombing of a MATERNITY HOSPITAL is disgusting. I cannot believe that someone thought that it would be acceptable and this is a war crime on a horrific level. To target pregnant mothers in a time when they are most vulnaruble, innocent babies, children, and unborn fetus' that will never get a chance to see this earth.. Not to mention the midwives and medical staff who give their lives to helping others. HOW IS THIS OK.
My drawing today is in memory of those people affected by this atrocity... The families who have lost their loved ones, the partners who have lost not only their partners but their child too... To all those who are caught in the cross fire, this isn't fair, this needs to stop.
"We don't target civilians"
Pencil on a4 paper
March
This one is my thoughts on deforestation after reading that we reached a record HIGH of trees cut down in one month in January 2022....AFTER COP 26! AFTER the population has been made aware of the crisis we're in, AFTER hundreds of species are facing extinction, AFTER huge amount of protests... Its still happening... So here's the finger to those who still think its OK
FU to Deforestation
pencil on a5 recycled paper
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