Peaky Blinders inspired portrait of Helen McCrory sells for £1,200 in auction

Urban artist Eyesaw, whose real name is Paul Cottie, created a portrait of the actress who lost her battle with cancer in April to auction off.

During her successful carer McCrory, 52, starred in blockbusters such as Harry Potter - where she played Draco Malfoy's mother Narcissa - as well as the James Bond film Skyfall.

She has also played Aunt Polly in the 1900s British gangster series Peaky Blinders, this character was the inspiration behind Paul's latest artwork.

The Colchester-based artist became a fan of the hit TV show during the height of the coronavirus outbreak when the country went into lockdown.

Auction - Paul Cottie with the finished portrait of the late Helen McCrory

The show is centred around the dangerous Tommy Shelby who leads the Peaky Blinders, a gang based in Birmingham.

After hearing of McCrory's untimely death Paul decided to pay homage to her by painting her portrait as Aunt Polly.

The artwork was created with spray paint and brushed acrylic on canvas and it took Paul about a week to complete.

Paul opened an Ebday auction for the painting last week with all proceeds of the 100cm by 70cm portrait going to the Tom Bowdidge Youth Cancer Foundation.

The foundation was founded in memory of Tom Bowdidge, from West Bergholt.

The auction closed on Sunday night, and the painting sold for a total of £1,191.

Nearly 40 people placed offers for the portrait.

Paul, 43, said: "I was actually quite taken back by the amount of likes, shares and positive comments it received.

"The auction has done really well raising £1,191 from the sale of the canvas.

"For those that missed out and liked the artwork I now have a limited edition print of the image available in my online store eyesaw.bigcartel.com."

Paul has also uploaded a video of how he created the portrait on YouTube.

To view it go to youtu.be/gms0VCVfq8w.