About the Galápagos Giant Tortoise Drawing
I had read about Galápagos giant tortoises for many years before I finally had the opportunity to see them during a visit to the Galápagos Islands. At the Charles Darwin Research Station, I also saw Lonesome George, the last known Pinta Island giant tortoise, only two years before his death. This drawing is not intended to represent a particular island form, so I identify the animal simply as a Galápagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis sp.).
One aspect of their history that has always stayed with me is the way sailors and whalers exploited these remarkable animals. Accounts of the whaling era, including Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea, describe tortoises being collected from the islands and carried alive in the holds of ships as a source of fresh meat. Because they could survive for many months without food or water, they were treated as living provisions during long voyages – an extraordinary adaptation that subjected them to prolonged and cruel conditions.
In this drawing, I portrayed the tortoise stepping through an old wooden frame. The rough, weathered wood echoes the textures of the tortoise’s shell and skin, while both the animal and the frame suggest age, endurance, and the passage of time.
Old Tortoise, Old Wood is a graphite wildlife drawing by Michael E. Dorcas for Tantilla Art.