Mariska Hargitay - portrait

This is a digital painting of one of the most beautiful and talented actresses on TV, Mariska (pronounced "Marishka") Hargitay who plays Det. Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU, one of the best crime shows ever. She's also been nominated as one of the Sexiest People of 2008 by People Magazine and she totally deserves it.

Although I liked trying my hand at colour painting, I decided to go back to my first love, Black & White. And to be honest with you, it is much easier to paint in B&W because all you have to worry about are shades. Besides, after painting Karl Urban in colour, all my other attempts failed miserably...

I must have put something like 25 hours in this painting. I used Photoshop and my beloved Wacom digital tablet.