The self portrait is a subtle yet exuberant picture, infused with joie de vivre and mischievous humour. The hat he is wearing is an extraordinary, almost architectonic, creation. Beneath its dazzling rounded top, spreading tones of pink, mauve, green and blue suggest the shadows it casts. His one visible eye gives an astute, benign, humorous look. His features are a fiery mix of orange, red and yellow, with some green. But at a distance they do harmoniously cohere – the strong nose, the sensuous lips, the bearded chin all coming distinctly into focus. At school, Thomson had endured a rugby accident, which led to the amputation of his leg. For the rest of his life he was to suffer recurrent pain and inconvenience. In 1941 he went to Glasgow School of Art.