Just Laurence

A while ago I visited an intimidating country house in Derbyshire (Kedleston Hall), which had one very interesting corridor full of ship models, naval weapons and a couple of oil portraits from the Napoleonic period. When I saw them I knew I wanted to try painting Captain Laurence in that style, complete with the pointless but wonderfully dramatic amount of dark empty space in the background. So here goes!

I tried a different hair- and beard-style this time that would be more in keeping with the fashion of the time, but combined with the typical sailors' pigtail that Laurence seems to be so fond of.

(Not real oils, unfortunately.)