Take a walk on the "wildside"...Wildlife Art Prints with just a little touch of animal magic!

ets amble across the dusty African savanna, from treeless grasslands to open woodlands where we might find the largest living land mammal - the African Elephant.



Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about these gregarious creatures is their trunks, it's not only used as a nose and for gathering food but also as a hand, extra foot, for siphoning water, dusting and digging. An adults trunk weighs 400lbs and can spray five gallons of water at a time.


Sometimes they prefer a stronger tipple, and can end up a bit tipsy after munching on the berries of the marula tree.

"I love illustrating these impressive animals they are so full of character and have faces that show such emotion, it's easy to get so involved in the details of drawing their craggy and very wrinkly skin, and although their skin has a tough looking appearance it's actually quite sensitive, so the elephant keeps any annoying pesky insects away by rolling in mud, and flinging dust over itself - of course this is also useful for blocking out harmful UV rays from the sun".

The African Elephant can live for up to 60 years in the wild, and it's said that their ears are shaped like the African continent.

The Elephants trunk is about 7 feet long, they have very small eyes - their eyesight is quite poor and their ivory tusks are actually hugely enlarged upper incisors!

Elephants feet have four or five toenails and is spongy at the bottom to help absorb the impact when striding along.

lso better watch out for the Black Rhino - which is actually dark grey in colour but takes on the colour of the ground where it's living because of its habit for wallowing in mud after bathing in waterholes.



And don't be fooled into thinking its weight and size makes it a slow mover, it is in fact very fast and agile even when running at speeds of up to 50km/hr.

"Again I enjoy illustrating the Rhinos craggy folds and texture of the skin, with its clever pointed upperlip, adapted for browsing on indivdual twigs and leaves, giving it such an expressive face".



hen there is the amazing Giraffe - the tallest animal on earth, but so graceful and agile even with its incredible height.

A male giraffe stands up to 18 feet tall, a female up to 16 feet, with hooves 12 inches wide and their long black prehensile tongues, which are able to grab and hold on objects, can extend up to 20 inches - I bet they don't have a problem touching their nose with their tongue!



This two month old reticulated Giraffe so small compaired to the adults are about 6 feet tall at birth, and are able to stand only 20 minutes after being born.

"It was tricky angle to draw but after having visited some Giraffes at a wild animal park, and spending most of the time craning my neck to see them - even the calves it seemed an appropriate and very amusing angle to illustrate, of course it also shows off the beautiful big eyes that giraffes have".

Since Black Rhinos cannot sweat, they spend part of the day wallowing in mud and standing in open water to keep their body temperature down.

A fully grown Black Rhino can weigh up to 4,500 pounds, just over two tonnes - more than a family car!

Giraffes have special two way valves in their veins so they can bend over without getting a head rush and their heart is as big as a basketball.

Giraffes have only seven vertebrae in their neck, the same number as man - their horns are bony masses covered with skin and tufts of hair and are not really horns at all!.

et's not forget the strikingly beautiful Zebra - their cleverly patterned stripes are natures way of camaouflaging them from predators...but how can this be?
The Lion, one of the Zebras main predators is in fact colour blind, so the pattern of the stripes is crucial to allow the Zebra to blend in with the background. A mass of blended stripes from a large moveing group of Zebras makes it difficult for the Lion to pick out one individual from the group.

There are three main species of Zebra, the Plains Zebra (also known as the Common Zebra), the Mountain Zebra and Grevy's Zebra which are though to be the oldest and biggest of the Zebras.

nd last but by no means least! The Lion - this magnificent animal which has long been associated with power, strength, courage and Royalty for ages, is one of the biggest predators in the wild.

Lions, unique among cats because the male can easily be distiguished from the female (Lioness) due to the immpressive mane of hair, and as with most cats their eyes are adapted for seeing at night, when they do most of their hunting.

ow lets head to the dusty Kalahari desert. Already four times the size of Britain, stretching into South Africa, Botswana and Nambia making it one of the biggest deserts in the world, and check out a bunch crazy little critters!

Meerkats are members of the Mongoose family, these small social animals live in close-knit communities called gangs or mobs and depend on one another for survival in the deserts harsh environment. If danger is sighted a sentry (one is always on guard) gives a warning bark and the Meerkats flee to the saftey of their burrows.

When a predator is sighted Meerkats band together to frighten off the intruder, huddling together with hair bristling making themseleves as big and tall as they can to drive the predator away.

Meerkats ears are closeable to stop the sand getting in when they're digging.

Meerkats can dig as much dirt as their own body weight in a couple of seconds!

They have binocular vision, which means they can see better and farther than we can!

They use their tail for balance when standing upright.

Meerkats are immune to the venom of scopions, which is quite handy since they find them quite tasty!...along with beatles, spiders, centipedes, millipedes and crickets!

he Tiger, is one of the most charismatic species on earth - a powerful symbol of reverence among the many cultures that live across its range. Even in places where Tigers have never even existed in the wild or have become extinct, they live in myth and legend.

In the past century, the world has lost three of the nine subspecies of Tiger. The Bali, Caspian and Javan Tigers are all extinct. In the early 1900s there were around 100,000 in the wild, today it is estimated they are about 3,000 - 4,500. These are the Bengal Tiger (less than 2,000), Indochinese tiger (750-1,300), South Chinese tiger (less than 20), Siberian tiger (around 450), Sumatran tiger (400-500), Malayan tiger (less than 500).

Most of these Tigers now only exist in isolated pockets spread across increasingly fragmented forests stretching from India to south-eastern China and from the Russian Far East to Sumatra, Indonesia. Unfortunately hunters, traders and poor local residents who's main means of exsistance comes from the forest, are wiping out the the Tiger and the prey from which it depends. While the illegal wildlife trade continues to menace the Tigers survival, perhaps the greatest long term threat to its survival is the depletion of habitat and the subsiquent loss of prey because of it.

The roar of a Bengal Tiger can be heard 2 miles away. Bengal Tigers purr, but only when breathing out, unlike domestic cats who purr when breathing in as well as out.

A tiger is a voracious eater. It can kill the equivalent of 30 buffaloes a year, and eat 65 pounds of meat in a night.

The characteristic stripe patterns differ from one individual to another and from one side of the cat's body to the other. In fact, there are no tigers with identical markings, also Males have a ruff (lengthened hairs around the neck), which is especially marked in the Sumatran tiger.

Tigers have dens in caves, tree hollows and dense vegetation. They are mostly nocturnal but in the northern part of its range, the Siberian Tiger may also be active during the day at winter-time. Using their sight and hearing rather than smell, the tiger stalks its prey and once it has reached close proximity, attacks from the side or rear and kills by a bite to the neck or the back of the head.

he Bengal Tiger is a species that is seen as a symbol of India, a majestic and noble creature but also still seen as profit for poachers. Fortunatly for this threatend animal and the other remaining tiger subspecies - many protection programs are now in place, including a reserve in the heart of India where Tiger: Spy in the jungle was filmed. This enthralling programe follows the day to day lives of four tiger cubs and their devoted mother in India's Pench National Park, cleverly filmed using the latest technology...elephants!

If you've never bought a print from me, or if you're just wondering "why buy from LornaPrints"...Here's a few reasons that may help you feel you can purchase with confidence! Alternatively click on the link which will take you to my ebay feedback page for customer comments.

I believe in being honest and treating others as I would like to be treated, so customer service is very important to me, and will try my best ro rectify any problems.

I have a refund/returns policy.

I try to describe any items as acurately as possible.

Communication is also very important, so I will always stay in touch by email as much as necessary.

I enjoy what I do so I hope this comes across in each illustration.

What are they? Giclée (pronounced "zhee-clay") is an extremely high quality ink-jet printing process that produces beautiful digital reproductions that last much longer than those produced using traditional 'commercial' methods. The word "Giclée" comes from the French verb "to spray" - and refers to the ink being sprayed onto the paper or canvas at high speed.

How are they produced? Images are produced using high level digital scans, and printed typically using professional 8-Color to 12-Color ink-jet printers, (such as those produced by Epson, HP and Cannon), onto various types of archival papers, including canvas, fine art, and photo-base paper.

The very latest printers are capable of producing incredibly detailed prints for both the fine art and photographic markets. The giclee printing process offers unparalleled vibrancy and detail and the very latest inks are said to offer up to 70 years light-fastness and UV-resistance.

What about the quality? The quality is such that Giclée printing is widely regarded as the very best fine art printing method currently available - and why it has been embraced by so many galleries, artists and museums as their preferred method of art reproduction since its 'invention' in the late 1980s.

I'm still working on it - so do visit again soon!

Many Thanks
~Lorna