It's JK, looking down at heel

With the tools of her trade - a pad and pen - in front of her, the woman in the painting is instantly recognisable as Harry Potter creator JK Rowling.

The picture, showing the author as a struggling single mother before she found fame, was unveiled last night at the National Portrait Gallery.

Rowling, now 39, is shown barefoot in a spartan room with an electric heater to keep her warm. On the table in front of her is a meal of three boiled eggs - a reference to her children.

The portrait was painted by Stuart Pearson Wright, who caused controversy with a picture of the Duke of Edinburgh last year. Asked whether the writer, now worth £570million, liked the portrait, Pearson Wright said: 'Well, she's still talking to me.'