This Is It,

the painting that won,

 in the category of Endangered Wildlife: portraiture of animals threatened or endangered in the prestigious David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation awards,

 this year the winner was Atsu Harada, a Tokyo-based artist who creates stunningly realistic and artistically composed portraits of wildlife,

 these are some other examples of his work, back to the snow leopard, Atsu Harada’s 'White Ghost' depicts the endangered snow leopard; it was estimated in 2003 that there were, at most, 6,590, of which fewer that 2,500 would reproduce in the wild. In Harada’s exquisite painting, executed in gouache, the beautiful creature is dramatically posed with its head looking backward, and alert,

'there are so many species that could disappear from the world within my lifetime as a result of human beings’ actions,' said Harada, 'I’m very happy if I can make even the smallest contribution to preventing that, and I’d like to thank the foundation for allowing me to support its work.' such a talent to have to be able to create such a thing of beauty.