Artist's Statement of Michael Felber

My main interests are animals and nature, so when I am not out observing animals, I spend a lot of time drawing them. Drawing animals is my way of studying them and helps me to more carefully observe the animal. The only way that I could spend a week or two looking at one insect is to draw it, and when the drawing is finished, I am extremely familiar with that insect.

I start with a line drawing in order to get the composition just right before I put in the details, and keep my drawing’s colors as close as I can to those of the original animals. I usually keep the background very simple, and suggest each creature’s environment with a minimum of drawing.

The facial expressions of the animals are crucial in my artwork, and I draw them filled with emotion. I compose my drawings to bring the viewer close enough to get to know the animal as an individual, because I believe that it is harder for people to hurt an individual animal than a vague distant group of animals. It is my hope that my drawings will help the viewer to learn about the animals that I depict and to value their lives.