Andrew goes far to create portrait
CAIRNS artist Andrew Bonneau has put his best face forward as a finalist in the Archibald Prize.
The Cairns artist said it was a long journey to get his portrait of friend and fellow artist Ayako Saito into the Archibald Prize.
“I live here and Ayako lives in Sydney, so I had to take opportunities to go to Sydney to draw her and then paint her,” he said.
“She sat for about four hours at a time, and we did about 10 of those sessions, so it’s a long time.”
He then went the extra mile to achieve the portrait’s stunning realism.
“I borrowed her clothes and put them on a mannequin here in Cairns to paint the clothes. The thing with painting is it’s best to work from life.”
He said he went into the prize with no expectations.
“This is the second time I’ve entered but the first time I’ve gotten in,” he said.
“You never know what’s going to happen, so I try to never have expectations. I just try to do my best and let the judges do their work.”