Heartbreak Productions Commission: "Mrs Weston"

The same actress playing Miss Bates was also to play Mrs Weston.  This painting was to be in the style of JMW Turner.  The issue for me was how to create an accurate likeness of the actress while having a very different style.  I started with the background - one of Turner's famous sunsets - Flint Castle.  Turner was a fan of dividing his canvas into thirds, so to be authentic, I placed the sun exactly one third of the way up the canvas.  I copied, as exactly as I could, a sunset from the Turner painting, then looked to his portrait of Jessica for inspiration for the figure.