Endangered
There used to be millions of these, literally. Up to 99% of them breed on two islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean. They live at sea the rest of the time. On one of those islands alone there was at least 2 million breeding pairs back in the 1950's. That island alone has had a 98% population decline. Over all the population, there has been an almost 60% drop in numbers. They face many threats. Oil spills, pollution, invasive species eating their eggs and young, and competition for food with humans as well as fur seals. They mainly eat krill, but what they have to compete with us for is things like squid and crustaceans. They are a little over a foot and a half tall, and only weigh about 5 1/2 pounds.
Today I got some of my stickers that I will be giving people as gifts on Patreon. It is one thing to see them as a proof that you need to approve. Seeing them in person is so much more exciting. I'm very impressed by them. You can get stickers printed by Patreon, along with other things, but I don't know the quality or how they will look in person that way. With the company I've used, I get to mail them to people and can include a handwritten note, I can order samples and take advantage of sales so that even more of the money goes toward the project. It just makes more sense to me to do it this way, even though it is more work. I haven't still really gone live by posting about Patreon on Twitter, nor do I have my Etsy site up with stickers on it either. I also need to update this site. I may need to find a way to differentiate the two years somehow. I will try to get all that done before Monday, and also make new files for stickers so that whenever there is a sale I can jump at it. I may even try making stickers out of this year's pieces. Probably not the charcoal drawings, but the oils and pastels. For that matter, I'd be happy with a sticker of a beagle. I don't think I've ever grown out of my sticker phase I went through as a child. I still remember having the ones that looked as if there was an oil slick inside them, and if you squished them it would swirl around. Those were my favourites for sure.
I'm going to keep track of how many oil paintings I've done as I go through the year. Mostly for myself, because I would love to go back and compare the difference between my 10th and 100th painting for instance. Today is my 6th ever oil painting. I am mostly doing this project to bring awareness to animals. I want to grow as an artist as I do this though. To do that, I need to push myself.
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