"Many of you consider him to be a hideous genetic mutation. Well, nothing could be further from the truth! But don't take my word for it. Let's ask an actor portraying Charles Darwin what HE thinks!"
Several years ago, I decided I wanted to paint my own Christmas card of the whole lion-and-lamb thing. Only instead of the usual "lying down together" or Woody Allen's "The lion and lamb may lie down together, but the lamb won't get much sleep" I decided for a more pithy and realistic observation.
So I sat down with my watercolors and paper and ended up painting what I still think is THE BEST LAMB EVER WATERCOLORED ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. He was just perfection itself. I was so pleased. I had to start with the lamb, you see, because watercolors are translucent and once something's painted a different color you can't paint over it and make it white again.
So coming off the high of painting the world's most perfect lamb, I proceeded to paint in the lion. WHO TOTALLY SUCKED. I repainted and tweaked that lion a MILLION TIMES and never got him to match the lamb. I finally gave up with what you see here.
I still rather like the sentiment, though. Perhaps some day I'll try again.