‘The Gentleman’ Oil on Linen by Janice Lightowler

I saw an image of Billy and after making contact he gave me permission to paint him. I was working on this piece during a solo exhibition in the Oriel Gallery, Antrim, when a young man who was passing asked who I was painting. I told him the gentleman was called Billy and he said it was perfect because it was his dad!

As a result of this chance encounter, I got to meet Billy, the gentle man. He talked about his past and the many tattoos which reflected different periods in his life. This inspired me to incorporate the tattoos into the oil painting. If you look at the wrist you can see how I pulled the snake tattoo off the skin and brought it to life. The tattoos became the background of the painting as a representation of his past. When his family saw the painting they asked if Billy had sat for me wearing his blue velvet jacket and it came as a surprise when I explained that I was not aware that he owned such a jacket!