For a closer look at Mr. Darwin and Geospiza magnirostris, click here.

February 12th, 1809. Born the same day as Abraham Lincoln.

As I post this I know damn well I should have painted him as an old man with a white beard, but I just couldn’t do it. No, I had to try this. I managed to find only 3 photographs of Mr. Darwin as a younger man, and none near the time of the Voyage of the Beagle. Taking 20 or 30 years off a face is not terribly hard, but understanding it enough to make that face smile is another thing. And I know people really did smile in the 19th Century, but considering the dental care of the period, and the duration of the film exposures, I guess it would have been asking a lot.

Mr. Darwin probably viewed a lot more of the finches over the sights of a shotgun than this way, it was a different time, but the wonders of life around him must have caused a lot of smiles to form. All the wildlife of the Galapagos was remarkably tame and let’s face it, if I can share a beer with an Australopithecine on this blog, Charles Darwin can share a smile with one of the finches that will bear his name.