Portrait of an eleven year old

Kurtis: acrylic on canvas
100 x 70 cm

My portrait of eleven year old Kurtis is finished. It is a large work (though not ginormous) but I find I enjoy making large portraits. As usual it went through several iterations and some frustration on the way to completion. It took me a lot of fiddling to get his face just right and as usual, I thought it would never 'work'.

I had originally intended to add one of Kurtis's drawings in the background (his favourite subjects are drawing and maths) but instead I added a hand. He posed for me next to the painting so I could draw his hand.

First charcoal sketch

An eleven year old with a lion's mane

Eleven year old Kurtis is the subject of a portrait I have been working on for the last month or so. It is a large canvas, 700 x 1000cm, and one of only two that I stretched myself while I was at art school in Dunedin (NZ) and had access to a workshop.

As usual the painting has gone through many iterations as I fight to create the image I see in my mind's eye. It is not finished yet but it is slowly emerging.  I have to hide it away it in the laundry whenever I need to do other work as I can't resist changing it ... and changing it ... each time I walk past the easel.

charcoal sketch

painting drying in the sun

as at end of March