The Great Auk, now extinct

3 July marks the anniversary of the sad demise of the Great Auk. The flightless bird of the genus Pinguinus foraged and bred on isolated, rocky islands around the North Atlantic but the popularity of its down reduced its population dramatically. Its growing rarity meant heightened interest amongst collectors for its eggs and skins and the last breeding pair were killed in 1844 on Eldey, Iceland.

More pictures of the Great Auk can be found here. A great many more pictures of wildlife (some close to extinction) can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

Terra Nova brings Scott to the Antarctic. Illustrated by James E. McConnell

23 June is the anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty which, in 1961, was signed by 12 nations and set aside the Antarctic as a preserve for scientific investigation and banned all military activity. Eventually a further 35 countries signed up to the treaty.

Many illustrations featuring the exploration and wildlife of the Antarctic can be found here. Pictures of the Arctic are also available at the Look and Learn picture library, as are many illustrations by artist James E. McConnell.

The destruction of Atlantis

In 1783, the Icelandic volcanic fissure known as Laki or Lakagigar erupted and released deadly sulphur dioxide gasses. The eruption began on 8 June and by 22 June the cloud of poisonous gas had reached Le Havre, France; it drifted over Great Britain the following day. The fog and haze caused did not clear until the autumn and the general temperature drop led to catastrophic weather disruptions, drought and famine.

Our picture shows an imagined volcanic eruption that destroyed Atlantis. Many illustrations featuring real volcanoes and eruptions and other natural disasters can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

Hannibal crossing the Alps by Severino Baraldi

We have recently been creating a picture set comprising our best illustrations of Hannibal.  It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Severino Baraldi outstrips all other illustrators of this subject.  Above is his depiction of the iconic scene of Hannibal crossing the Alps.

Charles Darwin on the Galapagos Islands. Illustration by Andrew Howat

On 18 June 1858, Charles Darwin received the manuscript of an article by fellow naturalist Arthur Russel Wallace. Wallace had formulated similar ideas to Darwin’s on natural selection and wanted Darwin to pass his article on to Darwin’s friend, Sir Charles Lyell. Lyell and botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker read Wallace’s article and some of Darwin’s unpublished writings at a scientific meeting of the Linnean Society.

Darwin presented his theories in more detail in his book On the Origin of Species the following year.

More pictures relating to Charles Darwin and evolution can be found here. A great many illustrations featuring wildlife in all its varieties can be found at the following link.

The theme of January’s kids art competition is “World of one colour”. The closing date for entries is 8 February 2010.

Here, by way of inspiration, is a picture by Angus McBride of the famous Blue Grotto in Capri.

The themes of November’s art competitions are “My Ambition” and “Farming” (sponsored by Father Tim Stories). The closing dates are 7 and 18 December respectively.

One of the pleasures of the constant stream of wonderful art that is being added to the Look and Learn children’s art gallery is being able to compare the work of young artists with that of the professional artists who worked for Look and Learn during the 1960s and 1970s. In many cases – particularly when it comes to figure painting – the Look and Learn artists clearly win out. But sometimes the children’s art in astonishing in a way the professional’s art cannot match. Take this picture of the sun by Thaanu Akilesha.

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Today we are announcing the winners of the December 2007 children’s art competition on the theme of “Lion”. While there are some magnificent lions in the Look and Learn picture library – for instance this picture by G W Backhouse – generally, we think, the children’s art compares surprisingly well. To see the winning children’s pictures, click here.

It is not clear who nowadays would want an illustration of yaks, but I doubt whether there are many finer illustrations extant of these wonderful beasts of burden. The artist is sadly unknown.