Conservation Blog

After the film showing the children went back to the school for the workshop. It was decided that we would work with a group of 40 pupils of 8-9 years old. Artist Daniel Taylor explained the theme of the art workshop, the Cross River Gorillas, as well as the use of materials like brushes, water and paint. For these children it was the very first time that they were using paint and brushes.

Daniel demonstrated on the blackboard how the children can draw a basic gorilla face, step by step, so that the kids could follow his instructions and make a drawing on their own paper. He then invited the children to use the paint in any way they want to colour the gorilla.

Some children were using the primary colours just like that, others were mixing them and in that way got different colours. All the kids were enjoying it, and some were working very devoted. We walked around to each child helping, commenting and complementing their individual work. One of the teachers was eager to give it a try and painted a gorilla as well.

An art contest was part of the workshop, but it was not easy to choose the 4 best paintings. Some of the paintings were really standing out and we selected paintings of 2 boys and 2 girls.

Daniel handed out the different awards. The 4th prize was a set of pencils and sharpener, the 3rd prize a pastel set, the 2nd prize a stuffed giraffe and the first prize was a gorilla t-shirt. They all had their photographs taken with the artist. First prize winner Christopher was very happy with his gorilla t-shirt. We were impressed not only by his painting but also by his devotion. A young conservationist?