Just to make the point that I haven’t sold out totally to portraiture (at least, conventional portraiture) I return to animals and birds for a moment. This is a portrait of an otter, as its character is an essential part of what I wish to convey. Interestingly, the biggest challenge was to paint it into the environment on the river Tyne in which it was observed. The River Tyne is much more than shipyards at its mouth. It is a beautiful river of ther purest quality, known as the best Salmon river in England by some. Lots of it is in deep woody gorges with thick vegetation. The water is dark and peaty. Glimpses of Otters are usually fleeting, as they are very wary.
The abstract design of this picture is, for me, the most important part of it, though I am satisfied that the otter (caught out, on a rock) is fairly convincing.
David J Coleman 