Whilst I was doing the murals at Eureka in Kent, one of the members of staff there, Bob, asked me if I would paint him from one of his photos, I replied with a smile that I would be delighted to, once I’d finished the murals!
That was a week or so ago since I finished the murals so that meant I could get on on do the painting for him.
He wanted it painting on a board so I knew that it would be in acrylics, the same as the Eureka murals are, and it meant that I could get all the effects I wanted in the painting. The board was 22 x 14 inches, so a nice size to do the artwork on.
He sent me a photo of him in one of his pole dancing poses, he is amazingly gymnastic on the pole, and had chosen a photo that depicted that perfectly.
I decided to place the vertical pole in the centre of the painting, as his pose wasn’t symmetrical so the off set pose would be exaggerated within the painting. I also knew what background I wanted to put in it. The original photo was in a dance studio and not very exciting to look at. He left it to me to chose whatever background I felt was appropriate and I told him I would make him “the star of the show”.
I drew out the silhouette of him on the pole, and then drew out the background diagonals of the club lights above him, exaggerating the colours of the lighting effect above him. I knew the diagonals of the light rays would add a dynamic aspect to the painting.Once I was happy with that, and there were some lovely light and dark effects shining down and around him I could then paint him.
I copied the image I had from the photo he gave me, wearing the same outfit. And knew that the black of his tee shirt would stand out against the creamy coloured ray of light shining on his back, and the pale blue of his shorts would stand out against the deep purple of the darks of the room. The ray of light on his right hand side cuts against his eyes to make you look at his face, but is dark against this arm, leg, and the pole, to make it stand out more. The ray of light exaggerates everything that he is, around his body.
I love the effect of it!
I love the painting, and the pose, and the way his pose has been exaggerated by the light behind him. I have called it “Bob-star of the show”.
To say he is happy with the painting is an understatement, he loves it! And already there has been an amazing amount of upbeat and positive reaction and praise for the painting. I am delighted!
