The Wolf. He's my origin story.

Maybe that's why I've always felt such a connection to wolves. He's my spirit animal, and somehow this painting feels like the beginning of something that still runs through my work today.

That direct, unwavering stare that seems to look straight through you. I wanted him to have an intensity that was impossible to look away from, and from the very first layer, the eyes were the centre of everything. The fur, the markings built around them, stroke by stroke, layer by layer, until he became himself.

Wolf was the painting that made me want to chase that same feeling in every animal that came after him. Not just to paint what they looked like, but something of who they were.

Acrylic and oil on canvas · 30 × 30 cm (12 × 12") · Original

Painted from a reference photograph by Alexandrebus / Shutterstock.