AsiaLIFE - Wildlife Artist Dao Van Hoang

Dao Van Hoang is an artist and conservationist who hopes to pass his love of animals on to children so they can help preserve the world's wildlife. 

"People have to know that these animals exist in the first place," Hoang said. "I would like people to know them. Once they do I'm sure people will care and love them. That's the first step. Hopefully that will trigger the protection instinct and things go from there."

Hoang's passion for animals and art were apparent from an early age. As a toddler he began drawing with chalk on the concrete floor of his home in Vietnam, and he recalls being bitten by a crab that his mum bought for dinner because he was trying to examine its pinchers so he could draw them. 

Circumstances took Hoang away from his art for many years, but now the father-of-two is where he wants to be, a full-time artist with the freedom to teach children about wildlife, including the exotic and lesser-known species.
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In 2014, Hoang quit his advertising job to go freelance. His first big gig was providing artwork for the biannual International Primatological Society Congresses, which was held in Hanoi in 2014.

That was his first exhibition. Since then he has created artworks to exhibit at scientific conferences around the world, including the 2105 Association of Tropical Biology for Conservation conference in Phnom Penh, the 2015 European Federation for Primatology conference in Rome, and this year's American Society for Primatologists conference in Washington DC and the International Hornbill conference in Malaysia.

Hoang often accompanying biological expeditions in different parts of the world. "The scientists, they collect things and watch them and I observe them," he said.

With no formal art training, Hoang taught himself anatomy and perspective. "I read. A lot. I read books about drawing, animation, movies. I learned everything in bits and pieces."

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Conservation Work

Hoang and his wife Hue are both dedicated conservationists. They hope their young children will inherit a world that takes better care of its environment.

"We need to put more thinking into educating kids about the environment and conservation. And trash," he said, pointing out that when he was growing up he knew more about African and American animals than about Vietnam's wildlife.

Hopefully Hoang's role as a public relations ambassador for lesser-known animals will help save the planet, including some of Vietnam's endangered species.

AsiaLIFE - January 2018