[Gift Art] - Little Bat Family (free .PSD!) by muddymelly

   

As promised, here is another free batch of high-res Photoshop files on my Patreon  (including step-by-step .PSDs, final .PSD + images, and step-by-step image files!)  I hope everything is to your liking, dear y'all; please let me know if you can't open any files! Thank you all so much for your gracious support and patience with my slow replies...  The cause behind this artwork is near and dear to my sisters and me, so I have waxed verbose in writing about it to y'all... 

I drew this artwork of a loving batty family for a hard-working friend and animator, Justin Gorski, who'll use this piece to promote his upcoming 3-D short film titled "Lil Bat!" Lil Bat's story strives to raise awareness of the dreadful "white-nose syndrome" disease that has been wiping out dwindling bat populations with frightful rapacity! Imagine being unable to sleep night after night because your skin and mucosal membranes are extraordinarily itchy/scratched raw, and there's nothing in your fridge and no running water... nor is there anything you can do to rid yourself of the fungi attacking your skin, nose, lips, arms. And you feel super sick. This rather sounds like the nightmarish I Must Scream and I Have No Mouth...! 

Bats affected by white-nose syndrome are reeling from all of these experiences (and more) during their wintry hibernation season, when there are no insects and unfrozen water to consume... and when uninterrupted rest is a must. Suffering from illness, exhaustion, and dehydration, millions upon millions of benevolent, insect-nomming bats died from white-nose disease in droves over the past ten years. The italicized bit hit us hard when I was drawing this piece: 

Current estimates of bat population declines in the northeastern US since the emergence of white-nose syndrome are approximately 80%. [...] It is unlikely that species of bats affected by white-nose syndrome will recover quickly because most are long-lived and have only a single pup per year. 
-- www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_info…  

Diligent (and highly concerned) scientists have rolled out promising cures (bacteria VS fungi battles, aww yiss) over the years!! In summery Georgia, where my sisters and I live, we can see tiny and curious bats very softly chittering around street lamps, where they munch on the entranced insects drawn to the light.   These tiny (and sometimes humongous!) mammals are incredibly wondrous in anatomy and lifestyle... 

Thank you so very much for reading all of this.  _(:3」∠)_ 

(Here's a list of all free files from me!)