What was Hot in 2014 by BBC

What was Hot in 2014 by BBC

this article has taken from: http://www.bbc.com/news

This year has seen the emergence of Islamic State, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the crisis in Ukraine. We have also had the landing of thePhilae probe on Comet 67P, and the 100th anniversary of World War One, with many of these events inspiring you to take pen to paper.

Thank you for taking part in our "Draw the News" project; a selection of your amazing efforts can be seen below, with others available in our Twitter collection.

This painting by Rodrigo Figueredo depicts the soldados de franela (T-shirt soldiers) comprised of students and other protesters of Venezuela who confronted Nicolas Maduro's government in February. "It would be an honour and a historical justice to make them known," says Rodrigo.

The year saw the emergence of Islamic State or IS. The group formerly known as ISIS is a radical Islamist group that has seized large swathes of territory in eastern Syria and across northern and western Iraq. Farid Bachtiar's cartoon seems to suggest the US will come and sweep away the group.

Meanwhile, Brice Hall has chosen to focus on the millions of people displaced by the conflict in Syria, of whom "the vast number drift to refugee camps offering the slimmest of futures," he says. The picture is based on a photograph by Baraa al-Halibi, with digital inks added with image-editing software.

Ugwu Kelechi looked at Boko Haram in Nigeria, reflecting on the victims and "the government's inability to care for internally displaced peoples". Ugwu says he felt like sharing his mind through drawing: "I made a sketch on a paper, placed it on a board, then used paint to express it."

Many campaigns throughout 2014 have sought to use social media to make their voices known. "This year so many people have been out protesting for justice, and each protest now seems to come with a hashtag," says Jamillah Knowles.

The US has seen several protests following deaths involving the police. People in Ferguson, Missouri took to the streets following the death of Michael Brown. While in New York city, many demonstrations followed the death of Eric Garner. Karen Kaapcke created this graphite-watercolour drawing of a "die-in" protest outside the Apollo Theatre in December.

The contrast between the Black Friday sales and the deaths from the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa and beyond puzzled Joshua Riches. He entitled his artwork "Black Death Western Priorities in 2014".

Luis Pastor felt compelled to draw the Ebola virus "because it has been one of the most terrible and unexpected plagues in the 21st Century".

Maryam Alsalah took this infamous image of Kim Kardashian and, with her version, drew the nude reality star sitting on top of a troubled world, adding: "she's not the biggest issue we should think about."

The Scottish independence referendum inspired Kristina Macauley to paint an image of Alex Salmond. She said: "I wanted to show a man who was able to engage peoples sense of identity and relevancy. I evoked the political agenda through the Scottish flags with the blue, white, red and yellow resonating in Alex Salmond's coat."

The best development of 2014 according to @yellowmints was the Rosetta mission and the Philae Probe landing on Comet 67P. Philae made history in November when it was dropped by Esa's Rosetta satellite to the surface of 67P - the first time this feat has been achieved.

For artist JotaCrabon, the currency and oil markets, combined with the weak Russian economy, were his muse. He says: "With the falling price of Brent, the oil dollars leave Russia and do break the rouble."

"As we head into winter again I was reminded of the terrible floods that were experienced by those that live on the Somerset Levels in England," says Jan Woodhouse. She adds: "There seemed to be a very slow response to their plight and no recent updates as to how they are now."

Malaysian Airlines MH370 disappeared mid-flight on 8 March 2014. What happened to it remains a mystery, although Rifard Khalideen from Sri Lanka says: "Even though there was no debris of the flight found in oceans, we hope it's safe somewhere."

The UK tax debate embroiled major companies in 2014, with avoidance addressed by measures in the Autumn Statement. Painter Bryan Hible, who uses "board games and their related tokens, pieces, etc as props to tell little human stories," took to his canvas to create this piece on the subject.

Tzuhui Tu looked at stories of artificial cell and organ renovation and pondered what they may mean for the future of organ transplantation.

"In the midst of an already unstable scenery, hosting the World Cup only fuelled the indignation of the Brazilian people," says Robert Temoteo. "While urgent matters such as hunger and extreme poverty torment the country, millions were spent building stadiums which will most likely never be used again."

Çigdem Mentesoglu Chatzoudas is an artist from Turkey. She chose the gentrification of Istanbul as her topic. The image of a lone house in the midst of development in Fikirtepe became her subject. "This is the symbol of resistance" she says.

The UK completed the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan in October 2014. "I chose to draw an extremely simple sketch," says Ellie Cuff. "I drew this in about 10 minutes and made it look rushed to show the rush the troops would feel to get home, and how a 13-year campaign can be over in a flight."

Hamid Khan from Pakistan, responded to the Taliban's attack on a school in Peshawar with this drawing. He says children in his country "want to study, to dream about a bright future, but then terrorists change our future; they not only kill us, they steal our lives, our dream, our culture, our peace, our schools, our markets, our streets."

For Glenn Fitzpatrick, it was the offer by tech giants Facebook and Apple to freeze the eggs of female employees, which inspired this picture. He says: "As the gap between rich and poor gets bigger it is as if the super power companies are now looking into the genetics of what makes a successful candidate." He wonders if this is the beginning of a "Brave New World" or if it suggests the gap between rich and poor will get wider.

Thank you for all of your contributions, sadly we did not have room to showcase them all here, but do continue to share your pictures and drawings with us in 2015.

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