Aaron Blaise spent an incredible 21 years working at Walt Disney, where his credits include The Rescuers Down Under, Mulan, Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Brother Bear, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. Since leaving Disney, Aaron has continued his work in 2D animation and character design, including setting a Kickstarter record for being the first to successfully crowdfund an animated feature film: Art Story. Aaron often travels and lectures at classes for animation, film development, digital illustration and concept design.

Aaron is on the board of directors for Expedition Art along with co-founders Kristy Tipton, Manny Carrasco and David Levy, as well as Terryl Whitlatch and Thierry Doizon.

Here are Aaron’s beautiful contributions to In Danger:

“I’ve always had a soft spot for elephants. To be in their presence is awe inspiring and an honor. I remember the first time my wife, Karen and I saw them in the wild within Samburu Park in Kenya. I couldn’t get the grin off of my face. All I could say was “Wow! WOW!!” I turned to look at my wife and she had tears of joy running down her cheeks. It’s one of my favorite memories.” - Aaron Blaise

“I love painting big cats. One of my favorite big cats to portray are tigers. Their power, their markings, their soul are all a wonderful challenge to capture.” - Aaron Blaise

“Everglades kites, or snail kites as we called them, are so specialized to our Everglades environment. Their only food is the apple snail. As a matter of fact, the kite’s beak is specially adapted for plucking the snail from its shell. Unfortunately, with so much water diversion in south Florida, the apple snail numbers have dwindled and therefore so have the kites’.” - Aaron Blaise

“I grew up in the everglades and I feel a special bond with the Florida panther. We had one whose territory overlapped our property when I was a kid. I would often track it for hundreds of yards through the palm fronds and underbrush. Every now and then I’d see the tracks kick up sand then I’d follow them to a set of deer tracks also kicking up sand. I was always amazed at the stories I could read just following those tracks.” - Aaron Blaise

Learn more about AARON

The “In Danger” Book

Please consider supporting Expedition Art’s Kickstarter to help self-publish “In Danger”, so we can provide as much funding to SavingSpecies as possible AND continue to create beautiful art for the next projects!

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