Silverback

Splendid looking Silverback Glennis, love how you accentuated his eye colours with the background tones as well, he's a happy looking guy!

You've caught the power and gentleness of these lovely animals Glennis. Love his eyes.

lovely

Just a great painting, they just have such wonder faces.

As a child, I spent quite a lot of time in my Uncle Vic's house, within the confines of Bristol Zoo - Vic and my aunt Amy brought up one of the first chimpanzees to be abandoned by its mother, feeding him (Timothy was his name) until he was able to manage on his own: they made the national papers at the time. And I met the gorillas: I remember them, ever so gently, grabbing a keeper by his neck and holding him against the bars while one of them removed his cap, and played with it, putting in on their heads and generally throwing it around: poor old keeper struggled and protested, but the young gorilla effortlessly restrained him until he felt like letting him go. The little horrors knew exactly what they were doing, and your painting reminds me of their, well - grins: they just did! I don't want to be anthropomorphic, if only because I have such trouble spelling it, but they were splitting their hairy sides with merriment..... which is more than the keeper was doing. Contrast that, maybe, with poor old Guy the gorilla at London Zoo - massive, largely impassive, but now and then he caught your eye and you felt you were looking at a soul in torment, a long-term prisoner in solitary confinement. He didn't look a lot like your gorilla, whereas the Bristol Zoo specimens did = there was an artist who established a relationship with Guy, and produced sensitive portraits of him; I wonder if anyone remembers these, and can provide a link to them?

Imposing yet soulful, Super painting, Glennis!

Thank you for your comments, Robert thank you for your lovely story, I hope this gorilla is happy would hate to think he was like Guy in London Zoo. I don't particularly like zoos or any form of confinement for the animals but in these troubled times with all the poachers and cruelty happening perhaps they are the only way to protect our wildlife