Benign and beautiful

PAINTERS are often like novelists in that they start a picture without knowing where it's going, just as a writer often watches a plot unfold as though he is an outsider looking in.

When I began this picture, I actually had in mind a ragged raven-like creature, its feathers dishevelled, its eyes intimidatingly fierce.

What I ended up with was this - a fairly benign-looking multicoloured bird with no ill-intent whatsoever.

It's called Multicoloured Bird. Now there's a surprise.