Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board. 59x79cm. Completed 14th February 2010.

This is a portrait of the Sweedish symphonic metal band Therion. This is entirely black / grey / white. There is no color because the source image had been modified with some sort of color channel manipulation, so I converted to greyscale and it was a real challenge to paint such a piece. This band have provided me with such joy over the years and when I saw this image I thought it would make for a most dramatic portrait.

I first heard Therion in 1997 and was blown away by the absolute beauty and dynamism of the music. Please go to their website and check out their music (free samples!). Christofer Johnsson is the founder of this band (bottom left) and he is an incredible guitarist. Supporting him (in this topmost photo) are, female vocalist Lori Lewis (top left) and the bass guitarist Johann Niemann (top, second from left), vocalist Snowy Shaw (top, third from left), guitarist Kristian Niemann (top second from right), vocalist Matt Leven (top right), drummer Petter Karlsson (bottom right), female vocalist Katarina Lilja (bottom middle).