Having recently done a quick and dirty portrait (see Rough Beast) I wanted to try and capture the same kind of energy.

My toddler has an hour-and-a-half sleep in the afternoon so I gave myself this time to do a complete portrait (from a photograph), which I managed to achieve (apart from preparing the canvas with the yellow background, which I had done previously).

It’s blocky, muddy and very rough (his forehead is unfinished, his neck is little thin where it was really quite fleshy, and his clothes are poorly rendered) and the left side of his face is sort of slackened, but I am pleased with it, because I feel like I have achieved the purpose of the exercise.

And here is how he came into being: