Ingagi Zo Mu Birunga

• Subject: Mountain Gorilla
• Medium: Oil
• Completion Date: April 20, 2013
• Completion Time: 3 months
• Dimensions: 33'' X 33''
• Background: Black

I was inspired to paint this portrait after visiting Howlett’s zoo in Kent with my daughter who kindly did a photo shoot for me. I decided to develop a close up shot of a gorilla’s eyes into a full face image using a limited palette of colours on a black canvas.

I began by mapping out the features using washes of white and yellow in order to see the drawing on the black background. I then blocked out areas using stronger mixes until the depth of the portrait grew, continually blending as I built up detail. Finally neat paint was used to create the textures of the gorilla’s skin and darkened areas enhanced using blues and browns.