Editorial portrait - Gustavus Von Tempsky
The brief for this illustration assignment was to do an editorial portrait based on an historical figure featured in the Radio New Zealand 'Black Sheep' podcast.
This image shows the two sides to Von Tempsky through the image of his trusty Bowie knife: the self-aggrandising, flamboyant character he worked to maintain; and his disregard of and violence toward Māori. His face is starkly lit by firelight, and he admires himself in the back of the blade, meanwhile, the village of Rangiaowhia burns.
