I have always loved the painting 'The Goldfinch' by Fabritius. It is probably my favourite painting and I can see its influence permeating through all my animal paintings. It's that sense of creating a complete portrait of an animal with the same care and sense of life that human portraits are painted in.
I don't actually get that many goldfinches in my garden but luckily for me one day this spring I looked up to see a pair of goldfinches on the feeder. Snapping up my camera I managed to capture several shots of them. It looks like he spotted me however, maybe the sound of the shutter alerted him but he definitely stared right at me. Lucky me. I have called him 'My Goldfinch' - he is painted in oils on a 10 x 10" panel. The panel can be bought on its own for you to frame or it can be purchased with a black and gold wooden frame.
