Oil on canvas

76 x 76 cm

When I painted Lily Cole at her house in Portobello I showed her my sketch book. It contained sketches I’d done of a boy I was madly in love with at the time. ‘Who’s this boy?’ She said, a white bony finger settling on the page, ‘You like this boy…’

I told her all about the boy. How I’d painted him from life after meeting him through his neighbours who’d commissioned me. How I’d painted him huge on a canvas strapped to two kitchen chairs in his mum’s lounge. How I’d entered the painting into the BP portrait prize, and he’d said he’d come back from travelling to see it if I was successful. How I hoped.

Later, I confessed my undying love to the boy (see the portrait of Jamie to read more backstory) and decided the only way to get over him was to paint boys who were more beautiful. (Long story short, my ardour was unreciprocated). I messaged Lily and told her of my idea and asked her if she could recommend anyone, thinking perhaps she’d send me the Gucci boy who was pouting all over Vogue at the time.

She contacted me. There was a boy she wanted to send me. Not a fashion boy, a boy from her school. A boy she'd gone out with who'd started dating someone else. A boy who looked uncannily like the object of my affection.

Max is an actor and a really wonderful sitter. In this painting, made after we'd done many paintings together, he sat on my unmade bed and I set up and easel in the corner of the room. I have no photos or preparatory studies, it was painted straight into the canvas. Max put a ring on his wedding finger and created a backstory I had no idea about until afterwards. He kind of had me paint my life at the time, but that's another story...

N.B. This piece is heavy and will likely require additional postage costs.