Rohan Dahotre is a freelance illustrator working out of Pune, India. Dahotre’s mission is “spreading wildlife awareness through illustrations.” Dahotre’s pursuit of that mission invokes the beauty of our planet’s wildlife alongside the inevitable melancholy attached to their imminent doom without protective actions and loving care. For 2019, Dahotre put together a gorgeous calendar, Losing Wildlife, aimed at spotlighting some of the species we’re in danger of losing. With the calendar, he aims to raise awareness of the role that conservation plays in preserving these animals. He asks for a small reduction in your needs, noting, it “can go a long way.”
The illustrations within the calendar are a series of kaleidoscopic explosions of color, swirling through the background, surrounding detailed illustrations of the faces of twelve of Earth’s most beautiful, sadly, endangered species. There are sly wildcats, like the smiling Bengal Tiger (July) or Iberian Lynx (November). There are furrier, beloved bears, the precious, grinning Giant Panda (February) and the depressive, accusing look of the Polar Bear (June). Each of the pieces are tinted with surreal, Joshua tree/Burning man level coloring that give the wildlife the appropriately trippy feel of a creature that could soon be an actual figment of our memory and imagination. Every piece feels spiritual and contemplative, worth lots of attention and consideration. Similar to the level of attention and consideration Dahotre knows we’ll need to save these amazing creatures.
