This portrait of Gumatj man and musician Gurrumul is a large monotone painting. It is made with oil on linen, surrounded by a simple two-centimetre-wide black frame. The painting itself is one hundred ninety-eight centimetres by hundred and sixty seven centimetres.

Gurrumul's face centrally occupies the frame, leaving minimal room for background detail, indistinct light grey brushstrokes behind his neck and face. The image is made with variously dense, watery and inconsistent brush strokes, creating a allayed three dimensional quality in rich tones of black and gray that construct a voluminous contemplative face.

Gurrumul is front facing, his head tilts down until his right. Light spills to the left side of his face, tumbling down his forehead, eyebrow, cheek and lips. Cut off at the forehead, his peaked hairline just appears that the top. On his left upper forehead, a circular shape of white untouched canvas indicates the light source. Short curly black hair frames his head.

On Gurrumul's left between his hairline and ear lobe, a fine line of side burn arcs in unison with the extended line of his full, high cheekbone in contrast with his fleshy left ear behind it, the lines of which undulate and small irregular soft folds.

Below the thick overhang of eyebrows, Gurrumul's eyes are concealed in shadow. His cheeks are full and prominent. The contrast of light and darkened eyes imbues the portrait with mystery.
His nostrils are round against the broad space between his nose and slender upper lip. Light appears to catch on his protruding bottom lip. His chin and neck fade into dark greys and blacks.

The collar on his right covers the neck and makes the jaw line directly. On the other side his neck is cradled by layered fabric, and cut by the line of the cropped image.

Audio description written by Meredith Hughes and voiced by Rory Walker