Anand

Anand

Oil paint on linen

Size: 50 × 40 × 2 cm 

Framed: 61 × 49.5 cm × 4 cm

I’ve known Anand Kumria for more than thirty years and often thought he’d make a wonderful portrait. The wild white hair, the beard and the unmistakable features certainly helped, but he is also a fascinating character and great company.

The plan was straightforward enough. I began with the intention of producing a photorealist portrait. Yet the longer I worked, the less I liked it. Try as I might, it just felt wrong. The likeness was there, but the painting wasn’t working. It felt flat. It captured Anand’s appearance, but not the man I knew.

What followed was the familiar game of “cat and mouse”. Colours shifted. Shapes solidified. One element fell into place, another drifted. But gradually the Anand I knew began to come alive.

The final challenge was the hair. Although much of it was already there, it still felt too solid and heavy. At one stage I made a brush from a single hog bristle attached to a broken handle so I could work into it strand by strand. It took days, but those final adjustments finally allowed the painting to breathe.