My Work

Painting: Portrait of Finn

April 30, 2023 /
Portrait of my son and my hero, Finn. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 900mm x 900mm.
“Finn”, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 900mm x 900mm.

Around April time I started in earnest trying to cut down the time it takes to do an alla-prima portrait. My target was to get it into a three hour window. This one of those ‘training’ paintings. I started with blue acrylic underpainting and then used oil colour on top of that. You can see progress thumbnails below.

Finn is my oldest son, he’s a complex, intense and creative individual. The three hour window aside I think this absolutely conveys something of his personality. If you are lucky enough to know him you’ll agree.

For this painting I worked on a white surface on stretched canvas. It’s not how I usually work, preferring smooth board and a mid value ground but I have a desire to inject some more raw colour into what I’m doing.

Stage 1, blue underpainting to basic form established, about an hour and a half to get to this stage.
Stage 1, blue underpainting to basic form established, about an hour and a half to get to this stage.
Stage 2, refining the form over the next hour or so.
Stage 2, refining the form over the next hour or so.
Stage 3, tweaking the likeness, another hour or so.
Stage 3, tweaking the likeness, another hour or so.
Stage 4: Finishing up, I overworked it a little and just refined some of the details a little too much in this last 40mins.
Stage 4: Finishing up, I overworked it a little and just refined some of the details a little too much in this last 40mins.

So did I reach my target time? No. Did I produce a painting I was happy with. Yes.

This work is featured in the 2023 Scottish Portrait Awards long list exhibition.

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