I WAS so sad to learn that a rare black fox I have been following was run over and killed last month.

In tribute I’ve begun a portrait to commemorate this special black fox. There are only thought to be a handful of such creatures in the country. Although black in colour, they are technically known as ‘silver foxes’ since the fur is tipped with white. The colouration is all down to genetics.

I first heard about this particular black fox when a customer called to tell me about it last year. I spent the summer advising him on how to get the fox to visit the lawns outside his flat where we could video and photograph it.

This fox was so rare, there were said to be just five confirmed sightings of one in the country in as many years, and soon became quite famous. It even starred on BBC One’s The One Show. The customer who first alerted me to him was so very proud of him and was utterly devastated when he died.

Black Fox Bob as he called himself, was quite a character. When he first visited me in my gallery in Thixendale he arrived wearing a smart green tweed suit, tie and top hat. Jayne, who works in the gallery, welcomed him in by saying. “You’re looking really smart are you going somewhere nice?” To which he replied: “Yes: Here!”

His real name was Robert Burns, but he introduced himself as Black Fox Bob, which set the tone for many an amusing evening "fox watching".

Black Fox Bob had brought me video footage of his fox. As we flicked through the images I was impressed with the way the silver fox was so relaxed, given that there was a busy dual carriageway just 20 yards further up the steep bank. Little did I know then that fast-moving road would be the end of him.

Black Fox Bob had caught some fantastic, if a little shaky, video sequences, including a moving clip of the dark fox flirting with a young red vixen. The vixen was sitting beneath him on a steep bank. He slid on his belly down the incline to join her, pulling himself along with his front legs and trailing his back legs and tail behind him. As he slipped alongside her, he stopped and stood up, then walked round her to regain the high ground.

He tried to be tender, sniffing around her face, but she rebuffed him with such a sharp snap that he slid down the bank. He got up to try again and licked her round the muzzle. She sat upright and they both looked down the valley together. Then she curled up into a ball and put her head down to rest and started cleaning and grooming herself.

Black Fox Bob’s video footage wasn’t very clear and he was keen for my advice on how to get better shots. It turned out that he had been filming the fox from a distance of more than 200 yards, so I suggested that he needed to get closer to the foxes – or get the foxes closer to him.

On my advice, he began a regime of slowly leaving a trail of food that led closer and closer to his flat window. The ploy worked a treat and soon he was getting some much better video footage. He sent me some clips of the two foxes. It looked to me like they had paired up and may well have gone onto mate during the winter. I hope so, it would be nice to think Black Fox might have left a legacy.

The photographs I took became the studies for my latest painting and featured across the national press, even appearing on BBC One's Have I Got News For You.