Artist Statement As a contemporary (wildlife) artist, my work is indebted to countless hours spent watching David Attenborough documentaries, infinite trips to natural history museums, and my obsessive, unhealthy interest in all things that scamper and poke about in the thickets and undergrowth. When I first began moving graphite on paper I was rendering the childhood standards: dinosaurs, creepy crawlers and other interesting fauna. Not much has changed in two decades. Imitating the conventions of 18th and 19th century zoological illustration and traditional Chinese fine-line painting, I make strange and lovely images of curious creatures and beautiful beasts.   Copyright © 2006 Justin Gibbens, Thorp, Washington