Portrait of an alter ego

After last night's snowfall and freeze, my car is covered in snow and icicles and I'm unable to open the car door - as a result I had to cancel this morning's appointment. Being the sideways and upside down thinker I am, I took this to be a clear sign from the heavens above that I am meant to take this time to update my blog ...

I've been intending to create a series of portraits for a number of years, but was keenly aware that my usual painting style simplifies everything down to the basic elements to the point of faces being homogeneous - definitely not what's required for recognizable portraits. After finishing Tree of Life, I decided to continue in that style and start on the first portrait, in between working on the eagle.


The model is a budding novelist with a penchant for unicorns and all things Irish. When I began washing in the first layers of colour, the young lady asked me to keep the hair blonde (although she is not), because she visualizes the heroine in her stories as a blonde version of herself.


A portrait of an alter ego - a delightful and interesting idea that opens up all sorts of fantastical possibilities.


With glee, I changed my original concept and have begun including objects to reflect the interests and personality of the model's alter ego. The fun has just begun!