Caroline Shotton - Arrrrrgh!

ARRRRRGH!
This character was a pleasure to paint! Continuing on from the intricacies of ‘The Tudors’ in my last collection, this was even more of a challenge technically. Silk, leather, metal, hair, beads, cotton, fur and dreadlocks. Though he took weeks to paint, I never tired because there are so many different facets within the piece. He has the confident swagger of a pirate as he leans towards you, a kind of arrogance in his blackened eyes, yet not the slightest hint of aggression. I wanted to paint a powerful yet laid-back portrait, so his frame is big, his nostrils are flared and the eyelids lowered as if he is looking down at you. But it’s a bull. A bull with a sense of humour, and in some parallel universe somewhere he’s convinced he’s a pirate.