Commissions - Realities

When I was first commissioned to paint the portrait ‘Realties’ I envisaged a simple head – until a conversation with the person who was commissioning it mentioned the motorbike and we headed off to get suitable photographs with him on his trusty steed.

That was when I realized two things – motorbike enthusiasts see their motorbikes as an extension of themselves and a portrait of someone is more than just the image of their face. I was also confronted with the problem of painting the portrait of someone wearing a crash helmet.

‘Realities’ was my first attempt at addressing all these various issues. It is a composite picture and it is also built up in layers. Under the whole painting there is a traced map of the world – the owner and his bike have, after all, traveled the world together. Obviously the bike – a 20+ year old BMW – needed to be carefully depicted as it is such an integral part of the man’s history. Including the inverted head has many reasons to do with the way I perceived the person, the ship is actually a representation of the wreck that the owner of the head can see it from his office at home. The title ‘Realities’ has to do with the personality of the person whose portrait this is.