Ricky Hatton Oil Portrait Painting

I believe that it is a question of spirit.  The sub-title of this painting is "the spirit of the north".  Like myself Ricky Hatton comes from the north of England where the people are hardy, down to earth and full of humour. In many ways they share the same fighting spirit as the wine producers of southern France.  This can often times produce behaviour that may not be widely approved of (for instance emptying truck-loads of Spanish wine on to the streets) but sometimes people fight for their way of life in the only way they know how.  Likewise, many people disapprove of boxing; however, but I admire people with a fighting spirit. Ricky Hatton is from an ordinary family and yet is one of those rare individuals who manages to achieve extraordinary things through grit, determination, focus and dedication that is far beyond the norm. When these qualities are combined with intelligence, warmth, humour and unpretentiousness then you have a truly exceptional but entirely human individual. As an artist I wanted to paint Ricky Hatton when he is in fighting trim because he has the kind of features that look as though they had been hewn out of stone.

The background of this painting appears to be black but is a combination of blue and green.  This oil painting is painted in bold brush strokes in order to capture the power of the man and the energy of the combat. He is off the edges of the frame to emphasise the dynamism of the movement:the canvas cannot contain him. His battered face, illuminated by the strong artificial lighting, leaves you in no doubt of the intensity of the struggle that is going on in the ring.  He has trained relentlessly for this moment and now every cell of his brain and muscle in his body is focused on only one thing - to overcome his opponent. However, boxing is no different to any other area of life - to triumph over the numerous difficulties that we all come across and the many blows that come our way; to become master in the ring, you first of all have to become master of yourself.