A little while ago my friend Mick came to visit me in the studio. We had a good old natter, drank a few cups of tea and did a little portrait session.

Now those who know me will know I consider portraits to be a tricky thing - and to be totally frank - I've never fully come to terms with the concept of a portrait. What is one supposed to achieve? Why are they so popular? A common belief seems to be that it can in some way reveal the inner nature of a person. Me I'm not entirely sure about that, but it intrigues me, which is why I keep doing portrait projects. You could say it's an itch I keep trying to scratch.

Never-the-less, and despite this dilemma, I was determined to deliver a picture that was true to Mick as I know him. However when it came to choosing a picture I thought summed Mick up I struggled. There were many good images but to me each was simply a frozen moment in time and conveyed little more. Then amongst all these images I spotted a sequence of images that seemed just right together. And so I decided, rather than a single image, my portrait of Mick should be a triptych. Sure it still doesn't convey the complexities of the human condition but I feel it gave a broader slice of Mick's personality - and what's more triptychs are fun!