Stalking the suckerbird (1983)

“Shaped like a mighty two-winged seed, the suckerbird could never fold its wings, and their overall span of some two hundred meters, made them masters of the breezes that stirred their hothouse world…

So the suckerbird perched, paying out that incredible tongue from its pouch down to the nourishment it needed in the obscure depth of the forest…

By deploying her forces, Toy had her party attacking this monstrous creature from several sides at once. They leapt on it where it lay gracelessly among the upper branches, yelping in excitement in a way that would have earned Lily-yo’s fury…“

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In 1983 I received a task to provide a number of illustrations for the Brian Aldiss science fiction novel “Hothouse” I attempted this in watercolours, and although the book was never published with my illustrations, the Hothouse series was, in my opinion, one of the best fantasy illustrations that I have done. The 4 surviving paintings in this series decorate my sitting room walls.