The Eyes of Isla 

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This portrait is of my daughter, Isla, and is particularly focused on one of the things I find most expressive about a person: their eyes. When you paint or draw someone you know so well, you're not just looking at the shape of their face. You notice the little things that make them instantly recognisable, from the way they smile to the way they look at you. With Isla, I wanted the eyes to become the main focus of the drawing and to capture some of her personality through them.

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Graphite felt like the perfect medium for this piece. Without colour, the drawing relies on subtle changes in tone, light and shadow, with the smallest details becoming important. The reflections in the eyes, in particular, help give the portrait a sense of life.

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As with my portrait of Evie, this is also about capturing a moment in time. Children change so quickly, and creating these portraits gives me a permanent record of them at a particular stage of their lives.

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For me, The Eyes of Isla is more than a study of a face. It's a portrait of my daughter, and a small piece of a moment in her childhood that I can keep forever.