Painting Speed and Roy

I knew I wanted to paint this picture of Speed (Chris Bowers) and Roy (Michael Beamish) the moment I first looked at it on the camera.  It immediately jumped out of the pack in terms of its composition, lighting and character.  I knew I wanted to paint it, so I printed it off and posted it on the vision board in my studio; you may have seen it in some pictures of other works in progress if you were looking closely.

We are in crunch time at The Redpoll Centre as we count down the days to our big move to Shell Place.  Many moving parts are converging into a small window of time causing my stress to be higher than normal.  I really needed some time in the studio last night; a quick study of Speed and Roy was the perfect project.

My pulse slowed, my heart settled and all the cares and worries of the day dissipated as I began filling the canvas with colour. It was a wonderful journey watching these two unforgettable characters from The Odd Couple take shape and emerge.

Thank you Chris and thank you Michael, for everything you gave to The Odd Couple, to the characters of Speed and Roy, and to all of us involved.