Every picture has a story, and this one sure does.  After painting the Rising Soul giraffe painting, I was on the search for a mother and giraffe calf reference photo.  You can imagine my surprise when I found this photo.  After reaching out to the photographer Christina Hoy,  I was very excited when she gave me permission to paint Giraffe Calf Willow.

To my surprise, the story took a turn when a giraffe calf named Julius, born at the same zoo, didn't make it. I was almost finished with this painting when I heard the news. Julius was 1/2 brother to Willow and only one month old. Since it was at the same zoo, I was convinced this was Julius. Upon contacting the photographer, who had just visited the zoo that day, she informed me that there were two giraffe calf's and this was not Julius. After being upset for hours, I guess I could feel something and I was working on the calf's face, I researched it and found out this is Willow.

Although I was sad little sweet Julius did not get much time on this earth, it did make it much easier to finish this painting.