🐾 Wild About Animals 🎨

Animals have been part of human lives, stories and cultures for thousands of years. They share our homes, work alongside us, inhabit the wildest corners of our planet and, perhaps unsurprisingly, have found their way into our art too.

So, with World Animal Day celebrated on 4 October, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to get Wild About Animals.

But why 4 October?

The date has an interesting history. It coincides with the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, who has long been associated with animals and the natural world. The first World Animal Day was held in 1925, before the event moved to 4 October a few years later.

Today, World Animal Day reaches much further than any one tradition. Its focus is all animals — from the pets who share our homes and animals in human care to wildlife across the world. At its heart is a simple idea: raising awareness of animals, their welfare and the responsibility we have towards the creatures we share our planet with.

And what an enormous animal kingdom we share it with! Scientists have identified more than 1.5 million species of animals, with many more thought to be waiting to be discovered. They range from some of the tiniest creatures imaginable to the blue whale — the largest animal known to have ever lived.

Animals have adapted to live in almost every corner of our planet — on land, underground, high in the trees, across frozen landscapes and beneath the ocean. Some survive in scorching deserts, others in freezing conditions, and some spend almost their entire lives in water or high above the ground.

Then there's the extraordinary variety in how they look. Fur, feathers, scales, shells and spines; spots, stripes and elaborate markings; brilliant colours designed to attract attention and clever camouflage intended to do exactly the opposite. Nature certainly hasn't been short of ideas!

Butterfly wing patterns. There are around 20,000 species of butterfly worldwide, with an incredible variety of colours and wing patterns. Photograph by Willard Culver | Source: National Geographic

Perhaps that's one reason animals have fascinated artists for thousands of years. They appear in some of our earliest surviving artworks and have continued to inspire drawing, painting, sculpture, illustration and many other forms of art ever since.

Some artists have looked very closely at the real thing. German artist Albrecht Dürer's Young Hare, created in 1502, is famous for its remarkable observation and detail — right down to the individual hairs of the hare's coat.

Beatrix Potter was another keen observer of animals and the natural world. Long before Peter Rabbit and her other much-loved characters became familiar around the world, she was making careful studies of animals, plants and fungi. Her animals may have eventually worn jackets, carried baskets and found themselves getting into all sorts of trouble, but they grew from a real fascination with nature and close observation of the creatures around her.

Bird on a stalk, singing. Chromolithograph. Fidelia Bridges, 1883. Source: Library of Congress | httpswww.loc.govitem2016652336

And then there are artists who decided that animals didn't necessarily have to exist at all!

More than 500 years ago, Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch populated his extraordinary paintings with wonderfully strange imaginary beings. He combined recognisable parts of animals — and sometimes humans — to create peculiar hybrid creatures unlike anything wandering around in the real world.

Hieronymus Bosch — detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights, c. 1488–1490 Source: The Public Domain Review

There are so many different ways we can explore animals through art. We can look closely at animals as they really are, take inspiration from their incredible colours, patterns and surroundings, capture something of their character — or borrow Bosch's approach and let our imaginations create an entirely new creature.

So whether it's an animal we know and love, something wild we've never encountered, or a creature that exists only in our imagination, there's an enormous world of inspiration to explore.

It's time to get Wild About Animals! Choose an idea below, combine a few or follow your own animal inspiration. 🐾 🎨

🎨 A Favourite Animal – Choose an animal you love and draw, paint or create it in your own way.

🎨 Into the Wild – Create a wild animal in its natural home — jungle, ocean, woodland, grassland or somewhere else.

🎨 Fur, Feathers, Spots & Stripes – Explore the colours, patterns and textures of animals. Think fur, feathers, scales, spots or stripes.

🎨 Which Animal Are You? – What animal is most like you? Choose one that matches your personality and create your animal self!

🎨 Mix Up an Animal! – Combine parts of different animals to invent a completely new creature. How wild can you make it?

🎨 Your Choice – Not feeling this week's theme? That's absolutely fine! Carry on with your own artwork or create whatever you feel like today.

We can't wait to see what you create. See you on Wednesday at 7:30 – 9:00 pm (UK time)!

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