The Clyde the Camel Portrait Contest is over and Clyde has picked the winning entry. He was very pleased. While there were several great entries, Katrina from Tourabsurd.com really blew us away with this:
Wow! With the hat too!
What makes this even better is that Katrina is currently in Morocco and she may actually be riding a camel at this very moment!!! Go check out her site at Tourabsurd.com and follow along.
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Meet Sebastian, Alicia, and Philippa, three remarkable people who I am very happy to feature on How to Draw Camels. They have traveled the length of the African continent, reporting on unsung heroes, organizations, and issues, and now they are working on a documentary feature called Respect the Camel !!
Their projects are compelling in themselves (and not just because they involve camels), but they are also working to build connections and provide opportunities for people who are doing truly innovative work. In fact, they recently started the first Sandbox hub in Africa. Their work has been unbelievably inspiring and motivating for me and I hope you enjoy this interview.
Be sure to check out their webpage at whattookyousolong.org and facebook fan page at facebook.com/WhatTookYouSoLong
1. Can you describe what you have been up to for the past several years? (travels+any projects you have been involved in)
WTYSL has been filming almost constantly since the summer of 2009 when we crossed the entire continent of Africa down the West coast, filming unsung heroes in grassroots NGOs and CBOs. We’ve since crossed Papua New Guinea twice to film and screen a documentary about the Betel Nut plus to another 17 countries around the world tracking camel milk and cheese.
2. How did camels come to be such a big part of your lives?
It all started with cheese. We were fascinated by traditional cheeses and in our research for a film about unsung cheese we came across camel cheese. What makes it special is how difficult it is to make due to it’s incredible properties and how many passionate people have tried or are trying. When you look into the science behind camel cheese you open up a world of camel and camel’s milk that we have been fairly obsessed with for the past 8 months!
3. What’s the deal with camel milk? Should I be drinking it?
Absolutely – everyone should be drinking it! You can survive on camel’s milk alone. Read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_milk at the wiki page we just put together from our collective research. Apart from all that, it’s delicious – especially if you drink it warm straight from the camels teats.
4. Who is one person you’ve met recently that has inspired or motivated you?
We’ve just returned from visiting Holger, a German camel dairy farmer in Kenya and former development consultant. He started processing and selling milk in 2005. No intensive farming, no over-milking, no feeding the camels hay or grass. He is dedicated to getting the best camel milk without damaging anything else in the environment. He gets this milk to Nairobi, where autistic children drink it and improve cognitively. He is changing lives with daily hard work.
5. What are your plans for the near future?
We plan to travel in Kenya, Sudan, Somaliland and Australia for the last of our filming.
6. Any words of wisdom you live by?
To taste the real camel milk you have to go to the desert, get dusty, and interact with camels and people. Respect the Camel, respect the people.
Thank you so much Sebastian, Alicia, and Philippa!! I hope to share some camel milk with you all soon! 🙂
Check out their webpage at whattookyousolong.org and facebook fan page at facebook.com/WhatTookYouSoLong
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My friend, Clyde the Camel, is hosting a camel drawing contest on this site. He originally commissioned me for a portrait and I accepted with the expectation that I would be paid several thousand dollars (what I normally charge for camel portraits and what you will be able to charge as well if you read the ebook).
Clyde didn’t have the money up front, but he wrote me an IOU, citing gambling debts that he needs to pay off first. I told him no cash, no drawing.
So here’s the deal. Clyde is in need of a portrait. Are you up to the challenge? If you win, Clyde will be sending you a prize. It will include three items. At least one of them will make you laugh and at least one of them will be actually valuable to you.
All you have to do is send me your drawing of Clyde. He is a pretty standard dromedary (one-humped camel) that you should be able to easily draw if you are already one of my students. I will also include some photos of Clyde in the bottom of this post so you will have an additional reference. I would suggest making him look good – there is no end to his vanity. Hint: add some accessories or put him in a situation/scene that makes him look heroic and stately.
Rules
1. Can be drawn on computer or by hand, but has to be your drawing from scratch. Don’t photoshop a picture of a camel and put a hat on him or something like that. Clyde does like hats though, just so you know.
2. You need to share this contest or website with at least one person in order to enter. Here’s an easy way: at the bottom of this post there is a button for facebook and twitter.
Deadline is next Tuesday 3/22. Send submissions to me at phil dot paoletta at gmail dot com.
Clyde will pick the winner shortly after.
Clyde Photos
Merchandise Sale
Everything in the howtodrawcamels.com store is 20% off starting tomorrow (March 17th) and running through March 21st. Just use the coupon code MarchMad20% when you check out.
I wish had more advance notice about these sales, but Printfection.com (the company I use to sell them) just springs it on me out of the blue.
I look forward to your Clyde Portraits. Happy camel drawing!
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I had the pleasure of running a camel drawing seminar on top of Camelback Mountain (located in Phoenix, Arizona) today. Normally, I offer such workshops at a price of $2,899 per person (at a minimum). But these coaching sessions are free on top of Camelback. I may also offer you a free session if you ask nicely, and agree spread the word the about the how to draw camels project.
Meet Fred and Amy, a very friendly couple from St. Louis, Missouri. We had a nice chat about camels and my mission to highlight social enterprises in West Africa. Then we got down to business.
I want to give a special thank you to Dana for the excellent cinematography.
If you have not picked up your copy of the How to Draw Camels Ebook, you can do so here. You pick the amount you want to pay; 50% of profits go towards social enterprises in West Africa.
Also, I would like to let you know of a deal going on in the How to Draw Camels Store. If you enter in the following coupon codes, you will receive at least 20% off your order. This deal is valid until Sunday, February 27th. While I only make a small profit from each merchandise sale, the same deal applies – 50% goes towards social enterprises. Here are the coupon codes:
PFBDAY$5 – Save $5 off your subtotal of $25+
PFBDAY$15 – Save $15 off your subtotal of $50+
PFBDAY$35 – Save $35 off your subtotal of $100+
Remember, these coupon codes are only valid until Sunday, February 27th
The biggest way to show your support for camels, camel drawing, and my mission to showcase social enterprises, is to spread the word about this site. Post it on facebook, tweet about it, tell your friends. I would be very grateful and the world would undoubtedly benefit from increased access to cutting edge camel drawing techniques.
Till next time…
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Every year sports merchandise companies print super bowl champion tshirts before the game is played. In other words, they print two sets of shirts, so that regardless of who wins, the shirts are ready to sell instantly. These companies have determined that the profit made from instantly available shirts outweighs the cost of printing a set of shirts that will be worthless once the game’s over.
The NFL works with World Vision, an enormous Christian humanitarian organization, to donate 100,000 t-shirts to people in developing world countries.
This is upsetting on two levels.
1. I am from Cleveland and I hate the Steelers. I am thrilled they lost, but I am not happy about the fact that someone in Zambia may be wearing a shirt that says they won.
2. (and this is the more legit reason) It’s bad aid.
It’s bad aid for a number of reasons. Laura Seay, from the excellent blog Texas in Africa sums it up well:
You can read more on her blog, where she has explored this issue in depth.
It is a widely held assumption that donating used goods to a developing world country is an automatic point in the alleviating poverty column. But this is often not the case. World Vision has been running this annual donation for 16 years with little scrutiny. No longer. Increased criticism from the Internet and beyond may have World Vision reconsidering this program.
Additional reading on the subject can be found on Aid Watch.
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