It’s funny how the same images and interests pop up again and again in my work over the years! This rather battered copy of ‘Fascinating Facts’ was one of four published by Grafton Books (part of Collins) when my daughter was young. There’s also a mummy on the cover, and mummy dust is one of the additions to my Museum of Dust by the way. But note the sloth in the top right hand corner as well as those appearing inside the book.
I used to take my daughter to London Zoo, and we were both fascinated by this slow moving creature. Later on I included Marilyn, one of the Zoo’s resident sloths, in another book, Draw It! London.
Last week after an enjoyable meeting with a member of Zoo staff discussing some workshops I’ll be running there in early 2024, I decided to re-visit Marilyn.
Here’s a quick notebook sketch of Marilyn, fast asleep in the fork of a tree. An attendant told me: ‘sloths sleep sixteen hours a day, the rest of the time they’re thinking about it’. In another corner, Leander, Marilyn’s husband, was also snoozing, while their new daughter Nova was napping under a bit of log. It’s tricky to see which end is which when they’re curled up.