Flamingo Crane
2023 | 12 × 16 in | Micron pen, gel pen
Our landscapes have changed over centuries to invade animals’ natural habitats. A flamingo combined with a construction crane lifts the weight that is contributing to the invasion of its own home, in an otherwise empty landscape.
Nothing is natural about this invasion. By elevating the flamingo and shrinking the humans to an almost imperceptible size, we might consider how we affect other living creatures from more resonant and relatable perspectives than written words alone can express.
When I first posted this artwork on Instagram, I had a rather blunt opinion about this artwork. The caption read “The prompt was to combine an animal with something mechanical. So my flamingo is a tower crane that helps with construction that has no business being in the flamingo’s habitat (tidal flats in this case).”
Since then, it has become one of the most popular and recognizable works of mine.
I documented the entire process of this artwork in a TikTok video, and it was very well received. It actually has 999k views at the moment.
That video holds up as one of the most comprehensive explanations of my entire process.
process and viral TikTok
Although it took a few days to come up with ideas, find references, and create the first drafts/sketches… the actual inking was done in one night.
This timelapse shows a bit of my crosshatching process
