The Hawfinch is one of my favourite local birds so it was a nice surprise, whilst finishing up on the previous drawing, to be asked if I’d consider drawing a Hawfinch for someone. The Forest of Dean is something of a stronghold for this elusive finch, so I’m lucky enough to have a large number of reference photographs to work from. It was a pleasant change to work on such a small, feathered subject, having worked mostly on larger mammalian or reptilian species up until now. I was really pleased to hear the response of the client on first seeing the resulting picture, and I look forward to presenting it to him soon! I’ve got another commission to do… it’s another bird that the area in which I live is well known for. More on that one soon…
