This young red deer stag lived close to the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, and could often be seen on the rocky hillside there. He was the inspiration for a minor character in my children's book "The Magical Midwinter Star", and i used photographs I had taken of him by the lighthouse as reference for the painting. The grasses are typical of the long, rough grass that grows on much of the moorland here, and takes on lovely russet and gold tints in the autumn and winter. The mountains are from another part of the local landscape, as the stag's actual background did not quite suit the story, and the sky is the result of creative inspiration :)

The original painting from which this card is reproduced was created with Winsor and Newton professional watercolour paints and watercolour sticks, and Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils on Fabriano Artistico HP watercolour paper.