When the lockdown started, I decided it would be a good opportunity to paint daily gouache portraits. I still had work to do and all the kids at home, but I more time than usual, so it was a unique opportunity to develop my portrait skills and create a specific body of work.
A portrait painting challenge
I started painting from photos on the Sktchy app. Later in the week, I painted Grayson Perry and Donald Trump as a result of them making the headline and after that an animal book character – White Fang. I finished the week with the Buddha.
Painting ‘real’ people increased the pressure to get some likeness.
Text in gouache portraits backgrounds
I coloured the background and added text using Posca pen markers. I spent a couple of hours painting these on and evening and my daughter drew her own versions of the characters along with me.
