Ken Done Me, March 2011

‘This portrait took me a little over 70 years and one hour to paint,’ says Ken Done, who has entered the Archibald a number of times and been hung four times before.

‘This new work I wanted to be simple, strong and direct: painted with one brush, an almost continuous line, and two yellows, one flat and one enamel.’

You will often find cadmium yellow in Done’s works. ‘Yellow has always been my favourite colour. It’s strong, optimistic and sometimes on the edge of madness – like me.’

In this picture, according to Done, he simply tried to show what he felt and kind of looked like on that particular day.

‘An artist can be honest with a self-portrait (although maybe I’ve left out a few grey hairs). At 70, after a lifetime of work, this is me.’

This work is now in the permanent collection of the Ken Done Gallery.