2019-22 - Portraits

My early paintings grew out of a fascination with faces and a desire to master drawing them.

For 3 years I drew faces over and over again with many different media. Clear favourites emerged: charcoal and ink - their looseness and unpredictability delighting me.

At the same time I had been learning to paint and after a brief exploration of my favourite tea-drinking ritual, I returned to faces; playing with acrylics to start with. But the fast drying paint made it impossible to do what I wanted, and so I was excited to try oil paint in a faces class with India Mark. I was instantly hooked by the rich buttery texture, the ability to rework the paint until it captures exactly what you are after; and most of all, to render the subtle play of light on skin over bone.

These portraits attempt to capture something seen within the subject - strength, fragility, vulnerability, introspection, wonderment. They are quiet portraits that you can sink in to.