You have had the honour of capturing the portraits of many famous figures, including King Charles in 2019 for a commission for Hillsborough Castle. Is it important for you to chat to the people you will be drawing in advance and get to know about their background and their character, so you get that across in your artwork?
Not their background so much, but definitely, spending some time with them beforehand is important. I like to see how they sit, stand or hold themselves; whether they tilt their head or not; what they do with their hands, and so on. I want my painting to be a natural, comfortable version of themselves, as opposed to something that I’ve just posed.
People are a bit self-conscious at the start, but because the process actually gets quite mundane, I think they just relax into it and you get the actual, relaxed person, which is the truer version of them.
Read more: Behind the scenes of Hillsborough Castle and its who’s who of Irish art
How long does an average sit last?
It depends on the scale of the work. There are usually preparatory photographs and little drawings, so I usually book three hours minimum for the larger scale ones. If it’s just a small head and shoulders, that would be much quicker.
You completed your Foundation in Art at Ulster University before going onto the Glasgow School of Art and the Florence Academy of Art. Were you always interested in portraiture?
No, the portraiture thing kind of happened. I always liked figures and drawing people, and I was doing paintings with people in them. I then started getting a few commissions for portraits and taught life drawing and portraiture. Then the Sky portrait artist show happened in 2017 and it just completely took over after that. Teaching has been on hold ever since.
In the final of Sky Portrait Artist of the Year and Sky Portrait Artist of the Decade you painted Graham Norton and Dame Judi Dench. Where are those paintings now?
Graham Norton is still part of the collection at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin and Judi Dench – I’m looking at her at this moment in my studio. If somebody wanted to buy her, they can! I used to be very attached to my work when I was much younger, and couldn’t imagine giving it away or selling it. You get over that very quickly.
“You didn’t flatter him” Graham Norton’s mother tells it as she sees it on Portrait of a Gallery tonight at 9.35pm
Posted by RTÉ One on Tuesday 27 June 2017
You discovered during the programme you were actually related to Graham Norton, with your great-grandparents from Ballymena being siblings. Did that come as a surprise?
It’s completely ridiculous. When you consider the thousands of people who entered the competition, and the fact they could have chosen any celebrity sitter.
Read more: Gareth Reid wins commission to paint Graham Norton – and finds they are related
Do you feel stressed at the big reveal of your portraits?
Sometimes I’m more confident than others. If you’ve been looking at the same face for a long time, you can be a bit blind and worry about whether or not you have captured the person correctly.
I’m sure nobody has turned around and told you they don’t like your drawing, though?
Touch wood, no big complaints yet… I think some people just don’t like looking at a bit of themselves, but they like the overall painting.
As an artist is it hard knowing when you have arrived at the finishing point?
I’ve never found that. I could fiddle a little bit, but it’s just a case of looking around the whole thing and saying, ‘it’s finished’.
Is it true that you turn your portrait upside down to have a final check?
I do that all the way through actually. The one I’m looking at here was upside down for the whole afternoon because I was working at something at the bottom and it’s just easier to do upside down. If you’re working from a reference, I turn the reference upside down as well.
What advice do you have for budding portrait artists?
If it’s objective observational drawing, I would say look in terms of shapes, and try not to name it and try not to overthink. If you do that, your prior knowledge gets in the way of what you are seeing. But most of all, I would say to anyone who wanted to get good at drawing is to draw, draw, draw. Also, draw from life rather than copying from photographs.
Who is still on your portrait wish list?
Rugby player Paul O’Connell, writer Kevin Barry, singer CMAT and actors Barry Keoghan, Saoirse Ronan and Daniel Day-Lewis.
What painting are you most proud of?
I suppose a lot of the ones of my daughters Lola, Ines and Sylvie are my favourites, just because they’re so personal.
Are you now finding more time to explore your art beyond portraiture?
I try and make time. Sotheby’s have a spring and autumn sale in Paris and London and it’s great they are taking my work.
There’s a huge difference between portraits and the figures in my other work. All the figures in the paintings are completely anonymous. There is no pressure on you for likeness.
You have total freedom and can make the skin colour whatever you want.
What are you working on next?
I’ve got a show organised for the FE McWilliam Gallery in Banbridge next spring. That’s an exciting project, and as well as some portraits, there will be lots of new non-portrait stuff.
This will be the biggest exhibition I’ve ever had, and there’s a retrospective, mid-career surveying element to it.
We will be borrowing pictures from the past over the last 20 years, including possibly the Graham Norton, alongside my new work.
You will be at the Ballyscullion Park Book Festival on May 10. Have you any plans to bring out your own book?
I was asked a couple of times to do something on drawing, but I never found the time.
Gareth Reid will be in conversation with Kathy Clugston at the Ballyscullion Park Book Festival, in Bellaghy, Co Derry, on May 10. The festival, which takes place on May 10 and 11, is a celebration of writing, music and art in the heart of Seamus Heaney country. Other speakers across the weekend include Louis de Bernières, Sophia Hillan, Martina Devlin, Owen O’Neill and Carlo Gébler. More info: ballyscullionpark.com/book-festival-2025, garethreid.co.uk