Lions are good subjects to draw because they spend a great deal of time lying still, snoozing or basking in the sun. They may rest up to 20 hours a day. I saw many of these carnivores, often at quite close quarters, in both Tanzania and Botswana.

Lion facts

Lions live on grassland, scrub or open woodlands where they can more easily see and catch their prey, namely the large grass eating animals like zebra and wildebeest. Lionesses do the hunting for the pride. They hunt mostly at night and so spend daylight hours resting, sometimes not far from and very visible to animals who they will later catch when they are hungry again. Most wild lions live in Africa, though a few Asian lions are still present in India. In the last 25 years the number of lions in Africa has halved. They are now classified as vulnerable to extinction.

Landseer and lions.

Sir Edwin Landseer, a prominent and talented British animal artist of the 19th century, whose work is now rarely seen, was fascinated by them. He made may drawings and paintings of them.

(above) Sketch of a lion’s head by Sir Edwin Landseer.

Landseer also designed and carved the huge lions that were cast in bronze and sit around Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square, London. John Ballantyne painted Landseer working on one of the lions (below), which also shows preliminary Landseer drawings in the bottom right of this painting and on the far wall behind the completed lions. Ballantyne’s painting now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Edwin Landseer carving his lion for Trafalgar square by John Ballantyne.