I first saw the work of Stephen B Whatley back in the summer of 1999, he had been commissioned by London Underground to produce two works that would be used to advertise the summer opening of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace, where I was then working. The two paintings he produced were in oils and depicted The Grand Staircase in Buckingham Palace and an exterior view, they completely mesmerized me when I saw them; I've been a fan of Stephen's work ever since.
Stephen is not only, in my opinion, extremely talented, but he is also an extremely nice man. The sitting took place in my conservatory and it was was a wonderful experience - I advise everyone to commission a portrait of themselves at least once in their lives, if they possibly can. It is a very special and personal thing to commission a portrait and at the end you are left with an extraordinary image of yourself, quite unlike any other image, like a photograph for example. Because Stephen is very talented he was able to "capture" me in a way that no photograph has ever done, there is great depth in his work and after the sitting was over and Stephen had left I found myself totally absorbed by the image he had created - in fact when the drawing went to be framed I actually found myself missing it.
Stephen told me that I would find it "a fascinating experience" to commission my portrait, I most certainly did Stephen, thank you my friend.
Link to Stephen B Whatley site:
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