The Rescue by Woodrow Blagg, stretching 15 feet across, is a mixed-graphite drawing of a rhinoceros being attended to by TCU students on the Amakhala Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Wildlife veterinarian Will Fowlds is removing the rhino’s horn, sought by poachers who hunt the animals, killing or leaving them for dead. (The horns, made of keratin, grow back.) The students are also depicted notching the ear of her calf and taking a DNA sample to identify it for future care.

Blagg unveiled the drawing Nov. 21, 2021, at TCU’s Brown-Lupton University Union, where it is displayed on the third floor. His hope is that The Rescue will bring awareness to TCU’s Rhino Initiative, launched in 2014 by Michael Slattery, department chair and director of the Institute for Environmental Studies. A collaboration between TCU and Fowlds, the Rhino Initiative aims to ensure the species’ long-term survival.

The dramatic scene in The Rescue is a curated composition — the artist emphasized that the exact scene never took place — created from photos Blagg took in South Africa. To compile the source image for his drawing, Blagg worked with friend and collaborator Tom Hall.

“He was very helpful in helping me go through probably close to 2,000 pictures,” Blagg said. “We made a composite. … I worked from that particular reference. It took another 12 to 14 months to complete the drawing.”

As Blagg drew, he worked with graphic artists to make adjustments to the source image and pulled inspiration from The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio. His goal was to depict a field clinic team working in unison.

“The first four or five compositions looked a little forced. … It looked like a class photo. I’ve been an artist my whole life, so when putting a picture together you intuitively begin to sense that something isn’t right: I must keep working,” Blagg said. “So I’d have to take three or four days off just to clear my mind and think about it. We would start to look at it with a fresher eye and put new people in or replace/reposition people.”

Rendered in black and white, the drawing is precise and detailed. From the wrinkles on the rhino to the creases in the students’ pants, every aspect is realistic.

The drawing was commissioned by Larry Brogdon, a member of the advisory board of TCU’s Ralph Lowe Energy Institute, inspired by his own experience with rhinos in South Africa. Brogdon called Blagg after admiring his artwork. The artist then joined Slattery and students on the trip to South Africa.

“I’m proud of the way the picture turned out,” Blagg said. “I feel it represents what TCU wants to do. I think it hopefully represents what Will Fowlds and his field clinic want to continue to do.”

Blagg took almost 2,000 photos to inspire “The Rescue.” The exact scene never took place. Rather, the artist wanted to present a fusion of the photos that showed a conservation team working in unison.