These were my preliminary drawings for Andy Corley's portrait. I'm in two minds about showing the portrait itself - it was personal to him, and I can't ask for his permission to share it, because he died suddenly a few days ago: one of the established characters of Niton, Isle of Wight. I first met him because we had a fixed Friday routine: every week, at the fish and chip van. Andy's health had been in steep decline for some months: every footstep was a struggle; my last words to him were "don't forget your stick next time!": he'd managed the walk from his house to the van, and I wish now I'd stayed to make sure he was able to get back again. Although he was plainly ill, he was always in good spirits, and none of us expected his death so soon: I don't think he was even quite 65. I am so glad that I was able to present him with his portrait, and gladder still that he was pleased with it - I don't know what his friends and relataives will think of it, but well: he and I knew what was wanted, and for better or for worse, what he wanted I was able to paint for him. Andy, I'll miss your rotten jokes, which though rotten still managed to be funny; and your always asking after my health, when yours was so frail. You were a kind man: there aren't so many of those about in the world that we could afford to lose you.
I hope that portrait hasn't died with Andy - he wanted it and valued it: I hope his surviving friends and relatives valued it as well. Shortly before he died, he told me he'd had a nasty turn when walking into his sitting room and discovering the portrait staring back at him: so I like to think it worked; and - I will post it shortly after all - it's not great work, but it's what he wanted. And that's the whole point of a portrait.
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