The well-known, yet highly stereotyped mental exercise of counting identical imaginary sheep jumping over a fence to help combat insomnia, which is thought to have arisen sometime in the 12th century, formed a strong association between the woolly animals and sleep in pop culture, especially in the early 2000’s.
The validity of this method of inducing monotony that lulls a person into slumber has little scientific support, but as the inspiration for this light-hearted illustration it fares well.
This is my twist on the exercise, turned into a cute, quirky, visually narrative moment. In my mind the cute, unsuspecting creature happens upon a sweet smelling bloom while happily grazing and stops to enjoy its scent. This is where we’re required to suspend disbelief as a pollen-instigated sneeze causes the wool around the sheep to puff up, popcorn-style. This, of course, somehow alters both the mass and density of the animal, allowing it to float gently into the sky, where we discover countless others that have fallen prey to the seductive fumes of the bloom.
