Floki (2023)

Floki continues my exploration of personal animal portraiture, where familiarity deepens observation. Created as a family commission, this piece focuses on poise and presence rather than sentiment, capturing the subject’s dignity through stillness and form.

The composition is simple: a profile view against a muted dark background. This restraint allows expression to carry the painting. The tilt of the head and alert posture convey both intelligence and gentleness, presenting a balance between strength and calm awareness.

Painting Floki was an exercise in subtlety. Unlike dramatic portraiture, the emotion here lies in small details — the shift of light along the muzzle, the softness of shadow near the neck, the faint glint within the eye. It’s through these minute gestures that individuality emerges. What begins as likeness becomes an act of understanding; a portrait shaped as much by affection as by anatomy.

Rendered digitally using layered brushwork inspired by traditional oil technique, Floki was developed through a warm umber underpainting followed by soft glazing to define light and texture. The limited palette — earthy reds, umbers, and desaturated greys — enhances the natural tone of the fur while keeping focus on the play of light across the surface. The background was kept subdued and textural to heighten contrast, creating the quiet theatricality typical of chiaroscuro portraiture.