"Jill McBain"

12 x 10"

Oil on canvas

Another portrait from Once Upon A Time In The West, this time of Claudia Cardinale who plays the part of Jill McBain, around whom the plot unfolds. I spent much longer on this portrait than my previous one of Jason Robards, not because it demanded longer but because I made a lot of changes in the tone, colour and (especially) the background. It took time to arrive at something I liked, but that's just the way of it sometimes. In this case the dark background and deep reds were what I finally settled on. They seem to complement Cardinale's character and beauty.

I often like to discover those sort of things as I paint - to make the decisions as I go so to speak rather than figure everything out beforehand.. It keeps the whole process of doing the painting much more intuitive and enjoyable. That does mean the painting can take longer to complete sometimes, but the end result is usually better for it because I'm always stepping back and assessing what's working and what's not, rather than always relying on the reference material or a colour study.