Painting Akram Kahn

Had a fantastic morning painting the brilliant choreographer and dancer Akram Kahn with Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the week with Facebook live!  

It was great painting alongside Portrait Artist of the Year 2020 winner Christabel Blackburn again.  We competed together in the 2018 series and it brought back wonderful memories. Her portrait was superb!

Studio set-up for the facebook live event

What a great opportunity to practice portrait painting. The time limit helped keep me focused and procrastinate less. Here’s my version painted within the time limit. I arrived slightly late so this was after about 2 and a half hours.

See below for progress shots during the event and looking forward to next week already!

Top left: Initial charcoal sketch

Top right: Tonal mapping later

Bottom left: Facial features refined

Bottom right: Final portrait

Portrait of Akram Kahn. Oil on board. 30cm x 40cm