Portrait commission: "The Duke"

8 x 10 inches,

Oil on canvas

(commissioned work)

I love painting people from all walks of life, but it isn't very often I get to paint the portrait of a Duke! It was a great privilege, therefore, to receive this portrait commission last year - one which I'm now able to publish. The painting is of James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn, a title that was created in the Peerage of Ireland back in 1868. Abercorn is a little village in West Lothian, Scotland, and the history of the title is traced through the Peerage of Scotland, back to the time of King James VI of Scotland (James I of England) when James Hamilton was made Lord Abercorn in 1603.

I have to confess I'm not an expert on the history of the Scottish and Irish nobility, but being able to paint someone whose ancestry has such a strong historical backdrop certainly added a fascinating dimension to the work.