The artist

Sam Roffey

Early career

I used to work as a chef. I learned to cook during Sixth Form, working in a golf and conference centre — my golf remains shocking to this day. I continued to cook whilst studying Philosophy at university, but cooking lost its appeal in the end. I came to painting later in life, and now I’m hooked.

Painting philosophy

I am utterly engrossed with faces — or at least painting faces. Such enormous variation that catalogues the subtlest diversity, but all with the same anatomical sub-structure. It’s all about the passion, however; the passion of the face cannot be explained by which type of nose, or what colour eyes. The passion hides itself away, untouched.

“The eyes are the portals, and sometimes something unseen on a photograph, is unveiled in paint.”

The studio

I work out of my home studio in Wraysbury, Berkshire — just around the corner from Windsor and not far from London. I paint in acrylics, exclusively from a personalised photograph, onto ply-board or linen canvas: a passionate, true-to-life portrait within 6–8 weeks.

Commission a portrait