The first thing Anh Do ever heard about Jack Charles was that he was an "esteemed actor, former heroin addict and jailbird, member of the stolen generation, gay man and latter-day Indigenous activist".
The painter, comedian and author would later capture Charles in paint, in a session many saw from the comfort of their living rooms while watching ABC TV's 'Anh's Brush with Fame'.
The result has now gone on to capture the public's heart, announced on Wednesday as this year's Archibald Prize People's Choice award at the NSW Art Gallery.
At face value the enormous portrait is extraordinary, but there's more to it than first meets the eye, much like there is to the man on the canvas.
"Jack's a special human being, to be through everything he has been through and to become a well-loved, well-respected mentor, I find him inspirational," Do told AAP following the announcement.
Do first painted Charles in a Sydney studio for his ABC program, a work that would become the basis of his Archibald award-winning portrait.
He's paid tribute to Charles' tumultuous story in each brushstroke, with insects in the paint a nod to the time his subject spent as a homeless man and a hologram of a unicorn and its mother a symbol of his loss.
"Jack is a member of the stolen generation, taken away from his mum at a very young age and Jack shared with me the fact that he spent a lot of his life searching for his mother, or the love of a mother, and how it was an impossible void to fill," Do said.
"Hence I stuck the image of a unicorn and its mother in the painting - a unicorn being a creature impossible to find."
Anh Do first painted Jack Charles in a Sydney studio for his ABC program. Source: AAP
Despite sharing the sad parts of his life story as he was painted Charles said the experience in Do's "sexy little Sydney studio" had been a "hoot".
"I count him as one of the best extractors of information, from his engaging smile, wit, genuine interest and listening to the dribs and drabs of my story, my reason for living," he said in a statement.
"I'm extremely chuffed to be counted as one of Anh Do's mates."
Do will receive a $3500 cash prize for the win, though at the end of the day he said what mattered most was whether Charles liked the finished product.
"I was happy with the painting when I finished and then I showed Jack, and more importantly he was happy, and now that people like it as well - icing on the cake," he said.
MORE NEWS:
The unhealthy state of some Australians
