"This was one of those rare occasions where the image popped into my head almost completely formed. I had been wanting to do a series of No masks, or at least incorporate them into a painting for years and finally got around to looking at the concept. I did a series of mask studies and due to my schedule had to shelve the piece for almost a year. A huge thank you to my lovely model Suvi for helping with this piece!
The initial concept came pretty much formed, an interior scene (which I don't do very often) with a couple of characters that made the scene feel both otherworldly and at the same time fixed in this reality. Originally I was going to go with a much warmer palette as you can see from the first sketches but I ended up going for cooler tones as it continued to evolve." - Tom Bagshaw
