Cute Baby Sloth Hanging From a Branch

A baby sloth hangs by both arms from a branch that crosses the top of the sheet, body swinging free with its back feet drawn up. The pose is the reason to print it, because it puts the face right in the middle of the page at eye level. That face is all cartoon: two huge round eyes, a wide rounded muzzle, a little smile, and a dark mask sweeping back from each eye. Short fur strokes cover the head and shoulders and thin out toward the belly, giving texture without turning into busy line work. Large leaves crowd in at every corner, broad and simply drawn with a strong center rib and a few side veins, and they frame the animal without leaving much empty paper. Those leaves give you room to be bold. Two or three greens worked through them makes the sloth pop even if you leave it a plain soft brown. The claws are drawn as three neat curved hooks over the branch, and picking them out darker is a small touch that finishes the picture.