Scottish artist Steven Brown paints Edinburgh Zoo panda ‘Sunshine McZoo’

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and Steven Brown Art have today (4 November) launched the first of two exclusive artworks designed to support the wildlife conservation charity.

Inspired by Yang Guang, whose name means sunshine and is one of Edinburgh Zoo’s two iconic giant pandas, the new Sunshine McZoo design brings together Brown’s signature use of colour and his love of animals to expand the popular McZoo range.

Zoo visitors will have the chance to purchase this brand-new artwork and get it signed by the Scottish artist this weekend (6-7 November), in three exclusive signing sessions.

Talking of the support for the charity, artist Steven Brown commented “I am absolutely over the moon to be working with  RZSS.

“It is an honour for me as an artist to be working with an organisation who loves animals as much as I do and I hope this project can raise money to support their incredible work.

“Yang Guang is the perfect addition to the collection and I hope to see lots of visitors at Edinburgh Zoo this weekend to celebrate the launch.”

Ben Supple, Director of Engagement and Business Development at RZSS said, “Sunshine McZoo really captures the spirit of Yang Guang and is a great example of how we can connect with nature in different ways.

“The last 18 months have been an incredibly difficult time for our charity, with the closure of our parks for a total of five months cutting off our main source of income.

“While we still face significant financial pressures, the funds raised by Steven Brown Art will help support our work to connect people with nature and safeguard threatened in Scotland and around the world.”

The Scottish artist will paint another new design in the coming months, celebrating a well-loved species from Highland Wildlife Park.

The exclusive new Sunshine McZoo will be available at Edinburgh Zoo and Brown’s flagship store in his hometown Ayr, with 5% from sales donated to the charity. The full range, along with all the artist’s designs including his famous highland cow range, the McCoo’s, is available from stevenbrownart.co.uk.