A Perth College student painted a portrait of West Coast Eagles footballer Josh Hill

The Year 12 boarder from Beverley is Josh’s cousin and created the painting during her Stage 1 Visual Arts course.

She kept Josh informed about the painting as the project progressed but he only saw the finished portrait for the first time last week , when he visited the school in Mt Lawley on Tuesday.

Marika has only recently started painting portraits.

Her first subject was her brother, a former Greater Western Sydney footballer who now represents Perth Demons in the WA Football League.

‘I had seen Marika paint her brother in 2013 and kept asking when she would choose me,’ Josh said.

‘This is the first time I’ve seen the painting and I think Marika is just getting better and better as an artist.’

Marika said she wanted to make sure she got the portrait right.

‘Each time I came back to work on the painting I had learnt more during my classes and I really wanted that to show,’ she said.

‘Comparing Josh’s portrait to my brother’s, I can see how much my skills have improved and I’m really proud of myself.’