This is a portrait a family had commissioned to have done of their son. The reference photo was taken by a photographer friend of the family, James Masters. It was a great image to work from and I was honoured to be able to produce the portrait for the family and have permission from James to do the painting. Working on images that have such black coverage can become challenging when working freehand. The overspray can wreck havoc in the lighter areas when the texture of the board catches the spray in unpredictable ways. A lot of care has to be taken to work close to the surface and control the paint flow so as to minimize the overspray from traveling too far across the board surface.