ARTIST |
ARTIST |
This painting is not for sale.
This painting toured as part of the BP Portrait Award 2006 Exhibition Between June 2006 and September 2006 the painting was on display at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
With this painting the aim was to produce a portrait of Swindon College Course Leader, Graham Smith. It was intended to try and convey aspects of Graham's personality and also to show his working role at the college. The first stage of research for this project was an informal discussion with Graham where notes were made regarding Graham's background and his own personal ideas and opinions about his working environment. It was discovered early on how Graham's office is home to a great number of artefacts that help communicate his character and interests, and is also where most of his time is spent at the college. Therefore it was decided to portray Graham in his office. This discussion was of critical importance for ensuring that an informed and faithful portrait was attainable. The main intention with the final work was to communicate as much about Graham as possible without showing his face. It is the surrounding paraphernalia that portrays Graham instead of the actual figure itself. The original painting is now part of a private collection in Wiltshire.
The 2006 tour then went to Aberdeen and finally Bristol.
A project during the second year of my degree afforded me the opportunity to produce a self-portrait. I'd done a couple of self-portraits before at school and college, but never initiated by myself. I can think of many more interesting things to paint or draw than a self-portrait!
The lighting was deliberately surreal, with the light source being below my face, which lit the features in an unconventional way. The pose shows how I obviously had to work from photographs and this was to avoid the usual head-on portrait from working with a mirror. The unconventional lighting forced me to look very carefully at light and shadows, because all the tones were inversions of what you would normally have expected to see. The underneath of the chin and nose for instance is in highlight, whereas with conventional lighting these areas would be in shadow.
The original drawing is now part of a private collection in Wiltshire.
This was a very unusual commission for me, but one which was ultimately a satisfying piece to complete. And I suppose the 'Tardis' could tentatively be described as a form of transport...?
I have no interest in Dr Who and found it difficult to take things seriously when I was researching for the painting. Portrait work is foreign territory for me so the inclusion of the Police Box provided a welcome area of artistic familiarity within the painting. The inclusion of the smoke and theatrical lighting is an attempt to sympathise with the 1970s sci-fi feel of the TV programme.
The actual figure was very difficult with my limited experience in this field, although life studies at college had given me sufficient practical knowledge to allow me to tackle it with some degree of confidence. I was lucky that the frizzy hair and beady-eyed look was synonymous with Tom Baker, and so I was able to manipulate these characteristics to create a likeness with the portrait. It could perhaps be said that the finished painting has the feel of a movie poster, and I wouldn't feel that this is entirely inappropriate.
The original painting is now part of a private collection in Wiltshire.
Copyright © Craig Tiley
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