The subject matter for this painting is taken from the seventeenth century Dutch concept of a tronie - a familiar-looking figure in a neutral setting but where the figure is not identified and open to interpretation. I have also chosen a neutral, open setting for these reasons and to allow the figure to be dominant against a relatively empty ground.
I have deployed an airbrush and its capacity for glazing and translucency to work with water-based, translucent acrylic paint on an unprimed watercolour paper. I have chosen to work in this manner as an extension and adaption of traditional watercolour processes.