Harcourt Fenton Mudd

Today’s portrait subject is Harry Mudd, an interstellar conman, okayed by Roger C. Carmel in two episodes of Star Trek TOS. I went for the trippy colour scheme because I thought a three value painting would work just fine; a four value painting would be unnecessarily complicated and difficult.

I followed the usual process. Somehow, in that first layer of random colours, I put down all the greens and blues in dark areas, so they ended up with French ultramarine glazed over the top in the second layer. Which meant that the midtones ended up as mainly red and yellow, which gives this painting an interesting twist. The wall behind Harry looks like a sunset landscape rather than the wall in a room in the Enterprise. The colours in those midtone areas have blended into each other really well today too. And the jacket’s great, and there are all those white planes in the face. What’s not to like?

Yes, this one’s a success and is up for sale, with the price to be found here. My portraiture is flying high right now. I hope the PAOTY judges are looking at this.