PICTURE PERFECT

The award-winning artist Isabella Watling tells us why she initially said no to creating portraits of Glenn Close and Daniel Craig - and reveals what made them easy to paint

- JACK MALVERN

Isabella paints Glenn Close on the sound stage at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire Isabella Watling’s star as a portrait painter has soared in recent years, with the British artist winning a prize in the National Portrait Gallery’s annual award and securing commissions to paint film stars including Daniel Craig, Kerry Washington and Glenn Close.

Her latest work is a portrait of Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Prize-winning campaigner for women’s education and a survivor of an assassination attempt, who sat for a painting commissioned by the Oxford Pakistan Programme. It was unveiled at the University of Oxford this month.

Isabella, 35, has twice been shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award and was awarded second prize in 2024 when it was rebranded as the Herbert Smith Freehills Award.

Her sitters have included the model Laura Bailey, but her chief encounter with fame began when she received a call from the makers of the Knives Out films, the latest of which was shot at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire.