NEW PORTRAIT FINISHED

Among the insanely nerve-wracking things that we humans choose to do, painting a portrait ranks up there with walking a tightrope between skyscrapers. If that seems wildly exaggerated then you have never sat in front of a live person, brush and palette in hand, staring at them while they stare back, your mind and senses on a roller coaster between order and chaos, confidence and despair. Never mind that you've been through this process innumerable times in your artist life and that, in principle, you know what you're doing. Because every single time it's different and every single time that tightrope is wobbling and there's no safety net and you are about to fall. Yep, that's how it is.

Here's the finished portrait, carried away today, and allelulia, my subject loves it. He asked me not to give his name as the painting is a surprise gift for someone, to be presented on a special occasion. It's been about 6 weeks since I started this commission, he sat for me twice, I also took some photos.
Now to continue another portrait which is in progress. That one is entirely from photos, of necessity.

Portrait of (temporarily)Anonymous.  NdA 2019. Oil on canvas 50 x 60 cms

TOO LITTLE TIME

Busy painting two portrait commissions. And the Christine Keeler exhibition, Dear Christine, opens at The Vane in Newcastle very soon: Private View 31 May (am going of course), public opening 1st June.

Why is time speedng up so much? What can be done to slow it down? Come on, some gadget is just waiting to be invented.

Just to prove I haven't disappeared: