Original artwork description:

First Frost of the Last Ice Age - Megalocerus Gigangeus

First Frost of the Last (5th, Pleistocene) Ice Age - Megalocerus Gigangeus at the water hole
We are rather overawed by geological time. But remember there were still individual seasons and days, millions of them (9,120 million to be exact), and sunrise on each. There was also 25th December except it wasn't called Christmas Day for some reason. This is a view down through frosty holly, beech and oak onto two Irish Elk (Megalocerus Gigangeus) at the waterhole in the dawn light. Painted en plein air.
The Pleistocene Epoch is typically defined as the time period that began about 2.6 million years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago. The most recent Ice Age occurred then, as glaciers covered huge parts of the Earth 2.58 million years ago - 0.012 million years ago in the Quaternary Period. The Irish elk, is an extinct species of deer in the genus Megaloceros and is one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across Eurasia during the Pleistocene, from Ireland to Siberia and China. Plant life was much as we know it.

Materials used:

oil paint

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