Self Portrait 1996

This self-portrait by David Bowie is made with ink and watercolour, and it feels very immediate. You can really feel Bowie experimenting on the page. I love the colours he’s used: it’s not just about making a likeness, it's about thinking through process. The red hair, that slash of red for the lips, the pale blue underpainting, all with these stark black outlines, it’s so direct! And the eyes – one dark, one pale – gives this portrait a real intensity. It's like he's not just looking at himself, but also channeling something else. The whole thing reminds me of late Picasso, or even Basquiat, where the process is really on show and the painting becomes a kind of performance in itself. There's no attempt to conceal the work that's gone into it, it’s all there on the surface, daring you to look.