I saw this young stag near Kinlochewe on a recent trip to Scotland, he was very handsome and I thought that he would make a nice subject for a small painting; I have titled the work 'Young monarch' with thoughts of Landseer's 'Monarch of the Glen' in mind.

I previously finished this painting of a hare crouching in it's 'form', amongst snowy bracken. I have seen hares in this position hiding but I am sure I have missed more than I have spotted! They remain motionless, imitating a clod of earth or stone; so still in fact that I have heard it said "if it moves it is a stone and not a hare!"

This painting appeared in the The Natural Eye 2018 exhibition in the Mall Galleries.

The painting is called 'The old rivals - raven and peregrine', it's a 24 x 36 inch canvas. This is a subject I have returned to after a period of 15 years, and hopefully improved on the original, and smaller painting.