Papa Essiedu as Hamlet
Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet at RSC; Oil on board; 2022

Papa Essiedu as Hamlet

This painting is from a promotional photograph of when Papa Essiedu played Hamlet at the RSC in 2016 - dubbed the 'Graffiti Prince'. You can see the wonderfully painted suit at the RSC as part of the costumes they put on display at the RSC and this photograph played on the exuberant colours by adding paint onto Paapa's face and head, so the purples, yellows and pinks you can see here were part of the original picture.

It was these colours the drew me to paint the picture, I thought it would be fun to paint.

Materials used: Winsor & Newton Artist Colours Oil Paint; Jackson's synthetic brush on Dale Rowena Oil Painting Artboard