JOHN by Trevor Ferguson

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Well done - looks quite modern.

Oil on canvas board 20"x16". This must rank as the hardest portait I have ever done. I was asked to paint this from a creased & torn sepia photograph of a group of friends. The subject, John, was killed fighting in the trenches in 1917. The head on the photo measured about 1cm and the painting was to be a 90th birthday present for John's sister. I was very aprehensive about tackling this as the only other information I had about John was that he had steel blue eyes and brown hair. As it happened his sister was thrilled and recognized him before even being told who it was - even though he died before she was born she had seen many other photos of him - not something I would like to do again however.