The portrait of Bryan Ferry came about with the help of our mutual friends Michael

Bracewell and Stephen Buckley. They knew I would like to paint Bryan as he was an

important figure of the British pop landscape. I had not painted anyone who was a

famous cultural figure since the painting of Judi Dench and I had recently felt ready to

do it again. With my portraits I always liked a certain look and I knew Bryan had a

strong sense of how he presented himself to the world which would really lend itself

to the painted portrait.

We chose clothes together and eventually settled on the coat. We took the

photographs at his music studio in Olympia. Bryan wished me ‘good luck’ with it, as

he knew the tweed could be tricky! I managed to resolve this in the end by way of a

sort of shorthand indicating the stitches which I learnt from my love of Frans Hals and

Manet. Bryan himself is a keen art lover and was a painter as a student so he is a very

sympathetic subject. I loved this pose, with is slightly pensive nature, the blue tie and

the jacket underneath just peeking out as a touch of ochre. I also enjoyed the strong

triangular shape created by his coat being pulled up with his hand in his pocket, as

with my other portraits I like a sense of design underpinning the paintings strong

naturalism so they compete almost. I wanted to portray the intelligence and

thoughtfulness in his face and eyes and also using his posture.

I had recently seen him in concert and became aware of the incredible organisation

that goes into his shows and understood the construction that must be behind much of

his artistry. I wanted these thoughts about him to be conveyed in the painting.