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'I'm blown away that Ipswich fans have my artwork'

Katy Prickettand
Connor Bennett,Suffolk
News imageJohn Fairhall/BBC An overhead shot of Louise Cobbold, showing the top of her head, with its dark brown hair pulled back. She is looking at a paint splattered table where thre is a photo of Jacob Greaves alongside her painting of him. To the right is a tray full of smudged acrylic paint. John Fairhall/BBC
Cobbold working on a portrait of Ipswich Town defender Jacob Greaves

An artist has said she is "blown away" that fans of her home football team are walking around with her artwork.

Louise Cobbold, from Stowmarket, has had her player portraits featured on the cover of Ipswich Town home game programmes this season.

"Thousands of programmes have been produced, and every time it just feels such an honour and such an amazing thing to do," she said.

Several of her player portraits have appeared, including one of Marcelino Nunez, whose image was used for the Tractor Boys' derby fixture with his former club, Norwich City.

News imageJohn Fairhall/BBC Louise Cobbold standing beside Marcelino Núñez, holding up her portrait of him between them. She has long dark brown hair with a fringe and is wearing a green long sleeved top. He has short dark hair and is wearing a dark grey zipped up jacket. They are standing in a room with a large screen behind them. John Fairhall/BBC
Cobbold says she tries to capture the player's personality in every portrait

Cobbold, who left a teaching career to become a full-time artist about 10 years ago, was delighted when the Championship side approached her with the commission.

"Ipswich are my local club - my family support them," she said.

"Every single time, I feel blown away that people are walking around with my artwork on the cover of a programme."

News imageJohn Fairhall/BBC Nine portraits of Ipswich Town FC male players lying on a table in two rows. John Fairhall/BBC
Husband Chris goes through hundreds of photographs of players to help select the final inspiration for the portraits

Each portrait takes between three to five days to complete. Cobbold works in acrylics, building up layers of colour, and careful time management is essential when there is a flurry of back-to-back games at Portman Road.

"That does mean sometimes painting weekends as well and evenings," she said.

"There's no day that I wake up thinking I don't want to paint - portraiture has always been my passion."

News imageJohn Fairhall/BBC Chris Cobbold who is sitting down and looking at a laptop screen. He has short white hair and a short white beard and wearing a dark blue sweatshirt. John Fairhall/BBC
Chris likes the fact the couple combine their shared passions when working together on the project

Before the artist begins a piece, she needs to find the right photograph for inspiration - a task often shared with her husband Chris Cobbold, a passionate football follower.

Despite sharing a surname name and their love of the club, the couple are not related to the Suffolk brewing family after whom the team's Cobbold Stand is named.

Chris said: "We wouldn't have pictured my passion for football and her passion for art coming together, but that's what's happened.

"Take one player, Leif Davis, as an example - we would have looked through more than a thousand photographs to find the right one."

Louise added: "It's always really important to find an image that shows something of their personality and presents the player in the best possible light - something they would really like themselves."

As well as her work for Ipswich Town, Cobbold also paints for trading card company Topps and has created portraits of other footballers beyond the Suffolk-based club, including Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Barcelona's Marcus Rashford.

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