"Old Ben"

8 x 8"

Oil on stretched canvas

(sold)

I feel like I'm hitting my stride with the portrait paintings at the moment. My approach, technique and confidence just seem to be gelling together nicely. I must admit, some of these paintings will be kind of hard to part with (that's assuming that I am fortunate enough to entice some buyers out there) but I suppose that's a good thing. If I like them that much, then other people just might feel the same...

I'm sure most people will not need any introduction to this famous actor and character, but in case you do this is Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi, or 'Old Ben' the hermit as he's initially known at the start of the 1977 film Star Wars. Guinness reputedly never enjoyed working on the film, but that's certainly not something that comes through in his great performance. It's said that when he was once greeted by a young Star Wars fan who claimed to have watched the film over a 100 times, he nodded and said "Promise me you'll never watch it again." It's funny, you can just hear Guinness's voice saying those words.