Leather Bound

This is a 30 x 24 inch acrylic on ply-board. It is currently hanging in my study. It harps back to a more traditional, if not haughtier time of portraiture, when the image tried to reflect more about the person than just their appearance. Think of Holbein's famous portrait of Henry VIII, with his impossibly wide shoulders and shin-tight pantaloons, jewel encrusted furs and leg spread to imply power and balance. Or the picture of Queen Elizabeth I with her hand on the globe as if she owns it and the windows behind showing the carnage of the defeated Spanish Armada.

Nothing so wildly majestic or eccentric here, but I do enjoy reading and most certainly detest posing for a picture. I wanted to accurately capture the activity, the reading. I want the viewer to believe explicitly that the eyes in the painting are focused on the book. This is difficult. It is hard to prevent the gaze direction "spreading", but I think I've achieved it. The creases in the forehead give the impression of concentration, which I like.

“Enough detail so that as your peripherals drink in the background they are unaware of the lack of sharpness until they focus on it”

As for the background, I like details, but details with a purpose. One must know exactly what they are looking at, the contents, but at the same time, too much sharpness can draw the focus from the centre of the picture's purpose, and towards it's incidentals. This is why a favour a subtle naiveté, and gentle crudeness to the surroundings of the focal point, the point that tells the story. Enough detail so that as your peripherals drink in the background they are unaware of the lack of sharpness until they focus on it - and by that time you can, hopefully, appreciate the slight illusion of the presentation.