The Gorilla

As a Lancashire artist, I love finding creative ways to use paint. The background of this animal portrait was made with leftover pouring paints that had been spilled onto a table and i pressed my blank canvas upon it. While the paint was still wet, I blew across it to create soft, flower-like shapes, giving the background a colourful abstract feel.

This gorilla was painted with acrylic on canvas in 2025 and is one of my smaller pieces. Painting him was more challenging than I expected because he is mostly black. Instead of adding darker shading, I had to build up the lighter areas with white to create shape and depth. It was a different way of painting, but one I really enjoyed, and I’m pleased with how this animal portrait turned out.