The Naked Silo

60" x 40", oil on panel, 2017, private collection This is my portrait of Toronto-based musician, Kelsey McNulty, that I've submitted for the 2017 Kingston Prize for portraiture. She did a short residency at Small Pond last year and we did a little photoshoot around the grounds. When I saw the results, I asked if I could paint a couple and submit one of them for the KP exhibition. The other painting ( Kelsey Shade ) I did was equally large, but was a tight close-up of her face and, while it also turned out well, I chose to submit this one because the musical element made for a better formal portrait. Here are my previous submissions* for that exhibition: George Emlaw  (2011) Self Portrait (Shoulders)  (2013) George Meanwell (Concertina)  (2015) *The Kingston Prize happens only every other year. The big picture(s). Both portraits in their pencil stage (on the left is Kelsey Shade) in my "winter studio" upstairs at Small Pond. It was like do...

22" x 15", watercolour, 2001 Tori Amos is one of my favourite musicians and when I was painting a bunch of famous people for my illustration portfolio, she was at the top of my list (mostly for her red hair). The likeness is a bit off, but I kinda like how the old-fashioned microphone turned out. As noted in my previous post, the separate photo references for Tori and the microphone are from magazines. Early sketch.