European bison

Many many years ago, I stayed at my uncle's house in Bristol Zoo - pause: could that have been phrased better? Uncle was a zoo-keeper, you see: not a Wildebeest - anyway, there I was, and there also was Ferdinand, a huge and irritable bison who tended to charge his bars now and then. He yearned, no doubt, for the forest and prairie .... and disliked humankind. But he liked me, a small and curious child. For years, I cherished a photograph, now lost, in which I communed with Ferdinand through his bars. And (yes, there was a point to this) your very good drawing reminds me of him. His rheumy and disillusioned eye looked just like this...

Hi Robert - thank you very much for your nice comment - and what a fantastic childhood memory you have. Relationsships with animals - even through bars - are wonderful.

However many hours did this take you? Amazing detail and such character in the face and eye. brilliant detailed work.

thank you Thea. I think it took between 15-20 hours, so not that long :)