Dusk Till Dawn Poker ~ Gallery of Champions

New Look Website

2009-04-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

*New Look Website* visit http://www.AlexHaines.co.uk and feel free to get in touch about anything at all

A3 prints

2008-11-29T09:20:00.001-08:00

If anyone is interested in purchasing an A3 print (30 x 40cm - approx. half size) of any of the portraits in the gallery, or for commissioning me to paint any original artwork, get in touch and let me know; Alex@AlexHaines.co.uk or +44 (0)7792 969 909

Portraits 1 through 36 - complete miniature gallery

2008-11-29T08:20:00.000-08:00

Portrait 36: Phil Ivey - Update

2008-11-29T08:06:00.000-08:00

After spending 3 days painting and repainting and refining, Phil Ivey is finished, and on Thursday evening all 36 portraits were delivered to Dusk Till Dawn, to be mounted along the main wall of the club in time for the Anniversary Cup event next week. Really looking forward to seeing them all up on the wall!

Portrait 36: Phil Ivey

2008-11-25T23:11:00.002-08:00

... is sitting on the easel, 99% finished, literally a last tweak here and there and then I'll post some pics. Boy, he was hard to get right!

Gus Cartoon

2008-11-25T23:11:00.001-08:00

The Magician Cartoon

2008-11-25T23:10:00.001-08:00

Daniel Negreanu Cartoon

2008-11-25T23:02:00.000-08:00

The only player I felt was sorely missing from the line-up, I thought I'd just doodle a quick cartoon of him instead.

Portrait 35: Peter Costa

2008-11-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

Peter Costa: if this man's nickname isn't the mafia boss, i'm kinda thinking it should be. :-)

Portrait 34: Roland DeWolfe

2008-11-25T22:57:00.000-08:00

...apparently, after having just suffered an incredibly bad beat! Roland seemed to look very flummoxed in almost all the pictures I found of him, so I decided to paint him like that, with a look of slight disbelief and cynical amusement in his eye.

Portrait 14: Erik Seidel: Again

2008-11-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

OK, I think he's now looking a lot better

Team Full Tilt

2008-11-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

Loved these

Portrait 14: Erik Seidel: Amendments

2008-11-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

OK, this is what he looked like originally...

...Erik Seidel now looks like this. Definitely a closer match. Any more amendments needed? The mouth area slightly perhaps?

Love this. Served as a kind of inspiration for mine, when photos let me down...

Portraits 34, 35 and 36 "The curse of the Phils"

2008-11-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

Peter Costa went off without a hitch, Roland De Wolfe needs some slight adjusting and Phil Ivey, who I've been looking forward to painting for ages and who I thought would make a real good portrait, fun and easy to paint etc. has been causing me an absolute nightmare. It's the curse of the Phils, with the only other player I found really difficult to get right being Phil Laak right back at the beginning of the collection. Arrrgh! However, I'm gradually turning something that looked NOTHING (and I really do mean nothing) like Phil Ivey into something increasingly resembling him, so fingers crossed I'll have some pics to post soon.

Other than the final touch-ups, some spray-varnishing and a few other bits and pieces that need taking care of the Gallery of Champions has been painted. I won't feel complete about it until the final lick of paint has gone on and I'm 100% happy with everything, but that isn't very far away. So hey! I'm off out tonight for a couple of drinks :-)

Portrait 33: Johnny Chan

2008-11-24T10:04:00.001-08:00

"I'm sorry John, I don't remember".

Is there a drinking game where you sit down in front of a copy of Rounders and neck a shot every time either johnny chan or doyle brunson are mentioned?!? If there isn't, there should be.

"Johnny Chan the Master"

etc.

Portrait 32: Lucy Rokach

2008-11-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

Very different painting this one to all the rest I must say! I hope Lucy will like it though, I think it has captured her warm smile rather well!

Only 2 left to paint!!!

2008-11-23T05:51:00.000-08:00

I'm getting quite excited, After a marathon late-night Saturday session (painting, of course), portraits 32: Lucy Rokach, 33: Johnny Chan and 34: Roland DeWolfe are now finito, leaving only 35: Peter Costa and 36: Phil Ivey left to paint. Thought I'd finish on a banger with the player many consider to be the best in the world right now, and I'm gonna paint them both today, hopefully in time for bed (!).

Erik Seidel has been amended slightly to achieve more of a likeness, with photos to follow.

Other than that chaps, the Eagle has nearly landed...

Portrait 31: David "Devilfish" Ulliot

2008-11-23T05:44:00.000-08:00

The only player I've painted so far who I actually put their nickname in the blog title. Says something eh? I even get to the point where I forget this man's birth name, let's face it, he's just the Devilfish, "David" and "Ulliot" fall by the wayside. No matter who comes and goes, and no matter who is currently the most celebrated British player in the poker mags or on Sky TV, the Devilfish has consistently been ruling the rankings year after year and has been doing it now for a rather long time. Big respect to the Devilfish!!

Portrait 30: Layne Flack

2008-11-23T05:40:00.000-08:00

Portrait 30: Layne Flack. There is only one word to describe Layne's look and beaming grin: American. I was going to give him a white blue and red t-shirt but after the red went on it just looked right so I didn't bother adding any blue. A lot of these guys have really amazing smiles I must say (in a straight-as-possible way, of course). Up next: Devilfish!

Portrait 23: Howard Lederer: Update/Goatee

2008-11-22T05:42:00.000-08:00

One just for Twig (if he's still bothering to read the blog?): The Professor has a beard!!!

Portrait 29: Ted Forrest

2008-11-22T05:37:00.000-08:00

Mr. Forrest has slightly inquisitive/insane eyes, and a very ambiguous grin. I can imagine when you're sitting across the table from him it would be extremely hard to try and pick any tells up, which is probably a good attribute for a professional poker player to have. I had to give him a green t shirt (forest of course!) but drew the line at actually painting trees on his top. That would have just looked silly.

Dave the Devilfish Ulliot and Layne Flack have both been painted to completion now too, with photos to follow, which means there is only five left to paint, and or two retouches (such as Erik Seidel's mouth), and now I have all the paintings sitting together in the same place, I can tell you, this collection really is gonna be big!

Portrait 28: Carlos Mortensen

2008-11-22T05:34:00.000-08:00

Carlos Mortensen, looks like a cross between Antonio Banderas and one of my mates (Carl Leathers if anyone else happens to know him). Interesting factoid there for ya. It's amazing what you discover when you paint someone's portrait.

Who's still left?

2008-11-17T04:21:00.000-08:00

Carlos Mortensen and Ted Forrest make up numbers 28 and 29 respectively, with photos to follow. Which means, in no particular order, players still left to paint are:

David Ulliot
Roland DeWolfe
Peter Costa
Lucy Rokach
Layne Flack
Phil Ivey
Johnny Chan

I'll tell you something, I hope DTD have a big wall! These 36 pics are gonna take up a lot of room...

Only 7 left to paint, planning a big push for the finish-line this coming week.

Portrait 27: John Shipley

2008-11-14T10:37:00.001-08:00

I had to show this guy with the black background. Mr Shipley is one seriously intense-looking character! It's almost as if he was born to have portraits painted of him. Very pleased with this one. And guess what? There's less than 10 portraits left to paint!! Rockin'

Portrait 26: Doyle Brunson

2008-11-14T10:34:00.001-08:00

The poker godfather, Author of Super System, back-to-back WSOP winner and star of GSN's High Stakes Poker, by far and away the best poker TV show there is, Mr Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson, beaming away. I gave him a purple shirt as a symbol of his king-like status in the poker world. Without a doubt, one of the biggest and longest standing names in the game. Give his book a read if you haven't already (but then, who hasn't?).

Portrait 25: Phil Hellmuth

2008-11-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

How many bracelets has this guy won now? I have no idea, but it's a pretty large number. The Poker Brat was dressed in his trademark big black roll-neck affair with shades and baseball cap. Looking good!

Portrait 24: Bruno Fitoussi Update

2008-11-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

Are we digging the vibes? Mr Fitoussi totally reminded me of a science fiction character, I had visions of a guy with surgically implanted goggles piloting some sort of machine. Any ideas what film I'm thinking of? Can't bring it to mind for the life of me

Portrait 23: Update

2008-11-14T10:29:00.001-08:00

The Prof is now sporting a goatee beard and a rather spiffing red background. I forgot to take a photo of him though so I'll post that soon!

Portrait 24: Bruno Fitoussi

2008-11-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

Bruno Fitoussi, the man is a legend! I may have captured my best likeness yet thanks to his very distinctive face.

Photos to follow.

Rock on! The finish-line is in sight!

The poker brat is up next...

Portrait 23: Howard Lederer: Progress

2008-11-08T07:23:00.001-08:00

OK, the mouth needs adjusting slightly, but Mr. Lederer is very nearly done. Who thinks I should add a goatee beard into the mix?? Yay? Nay?

Answers on a postcard :-)

Bits and bobs...

2008-11-08T07:19:00.001-08:00

The Professor, in the making...

Have a guess who this is going to be...

Portrait 22: Surinder Sunar

2008-11-08T07:08:00.000-08:00

Surinder Sunar, what can I say? Key words I feel encapsulate his look are wise, cunning, experienced, crafty... the man had very keen eyes in the photo i was working from. Kinda reminded me of Master Yoda while I was painting him, maybe that's why the ears ended up so big? It's only right though.

Portrait 21: Erick Lindgren

2008-11-08T07:04:00.001-08:00

A true superstar of the game, multi WPT champion Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren, an original member of the poker Rat Pack (I think?) Erick combines a classic Scandinavian look with a softly-spoken All-American feel and style. I had to paint that icey-blue t-shirt to set off his hair and emphasise the Nordic ice-man vibes, and think I did a good job with the E-Dog.

Right... Who's next?

Portrait 20: Rob Hollink

2008-11-08T07:00:00.001-08:00

One word: Jolly! Rob Hollink had a few portraits on Full Tilt, but my favourite by far was the one where he seemed to be chuckling at something. I dunno, maybe the cameraman let one go?

Check it out, click here...

Portrait 19: Mel Judah

2008-11-08T06:58:00.001-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Melvin Judah!!!! (I guess it's Melvin?)

Might touch the eyes up a tiny bit, but Mr Judah's done.

#20 = Rob Hollink

Updates

2008-11-06T09:03:00.000-08:00

Portraits 19, 20, 21 & 22 are all now finished, and include Mel Judah and Erick Lindgren.

Photos to follow shortly.

Howard Lederer is next up!

Portrait 18: Allen Cunningham: Update

2008-11-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

Players still left to paint...

2008-11-03T02:01:00.000-08:00

... in no particular order:

David Ulliot
Roland DeWolfe
Surindar Sunar
Peter Costa
Lucy Rokach
John Shipley
Carlos Mortensen
Bruno Fitoussi
Howard Lederer
Layne Flack
Phil Ivey
Phil Hellmuth
Doyle Brunson
Ted Forrest
Johnny Chan

If anybody has any good pics of the above players that I could work from then by all means send em across, they'd be very appreciated :-) as always, email addy is hiddenlaws@hotmail.com

Portrait 6: Ram Vaswani - Update

2008-10-30T07:08:00.002-07:00

OK, this is what Mr. Vaswani looks like after some reconstructive tweaking.

What do people think? Hit? Miss?

Let me know :-)

Portrait 18: Allen Cunningham

2008-10-30T07:08:00.001-07:00

... is currently on the easel, with Mel Judah hotly tipped as #19.

Portrait 17: Marcel Luske

2008-10-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, his mouth needs a little tweaking, but he's all but finished.

The suit, the upside down shades, the slightly red and intense forehead, the fact that Mr Luske is six foot plus, a martial-arts expert, and Dutch (not sure why this was a factor) all added up to result in one thing going round and round in my head the whole time I was painting him: Bond Villain. See where I'm coming from?

Eat your heart out LeChiffre!

Portrait 16: Mike Matusow

2008-10-30T07:01:00.000-07:00

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, star of the green felt, has such a distinctive look about him that his portrait turned out very much in a cartoon style. A lot like Mr Matusow's Full Filt avatar. The goatee, the specs, the pursed lips (always ready to erupt!), the prominent facial shape and eyes/eye-brows: The Mouth practically painted himself!

Portrait 15: Joe Hachem

2008-10-30T06:57:00.001-07:00

Multi-multi-millionaire off the back of his massive WSOP win, Smokin' Joe Hachem (Vince van Patten again, sorry) is a very good-looking guy, so I had to at least make him look presentable in my portrait of him. He seems to have a contrary combination of very cheeky, personable eyes and a salesman's winning smile, and i had to paint a little quiff on top, to complement the chin decoration down below. Oh, and he always seems to be wearing black.

Nearly halfway through with this one...

Portrait 14: Erik Seidel

2008-10-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Looking good?

Portrait 13: Gus Hansen

2008-10-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest names in the poker world: Gus Hansen, aka "Gambling Gus" aka "The Great Dane" aka "Bus(t) Hansen" (have I been listening to Vince Van Patten a bit too much?!?)

Anyway, I knew I had to make a good job of Mr Hansen, one of the most recognised faces in poker, winner of The Aussie Millions and numerous other huge poker titles, not to mention the giant full-house vs. quads pot with Daniel Negreanu on the first season of GSN's High Stakes Poker.

Gus's look is all about a very distinct and angular face, a large, closely shawn head and a light peppering of designer stubble, oh, and an ipod (!).

Very pleased with this one. I was gonna finish on Gus but I had an overwhelming urge to paint him so I think I'm gonna finish on Phil Ivey now.

Portrait 12: Julian Gardner

2008-10-30T06:42:00.000-07:00

Top English pro Julian Gardner was next on my list; I never realised what an incredible smile this man had until I painted him! Julian had requested he be wearing a baseball cap, so in true poker tournament style, on it went.

Mr. Gardner's very distinctive facial shape and big, bright smile made for a great portrait I think.

Portrait 11: Jennnifer Tilly

2008-10-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

I'll be completely honest: I found it really hard to fit Jennifer Tilly's very unique eyes into a place on her face that looked right with the rest of the portrait, so I bottled it and gave her a big pair of shades. I've seen her wear 'em before, and hey, she's a poker player, so who's gonna tell the difference?

I decided to give her some red and purple in her hair, as she always seems to have some colours in there, and I needed something to give her that funky kick.

All in all, I think this one turned out great, and I feel I captured Ms. Tilly perfectly.

Portrait 10: Humberto Brenes

2008-10-30T06:29:00.000-07:00

What a joy to paint he was! Humberto Brenes reminded me of someone while I was painting him, but I can't think who.

This portrait looks deceivingly caricatured, when actually, it isn't that far off being a straight portrait, Mr. Brenes just has such a character-full face.

Rock on...

Photos soon, promise!

2008-10-24T04:59:00.001-07:00

OK, my computer has been in bits for the last few days, and my painting studio is no longer in the same house as my PC, or the digital camera I use to take piccys, so really this week I've just been cracking on with painting, at the expense of updating the blog. I've painted LOADS though, and am up to halfway through with 18 completed portraits, including Mike Matusow and Marcel Luske. I'm now on the back 9!

Promise to get some pics up soon! :-)

Updates

2008-10-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

Humberto Brenes and Gus Hansen are now finished and looking good. Julian Gardner is nearly done, Jen Tilly is causing me some bother, and I've started repainting Ram Vaswani. Eric Seidel is about to get painted too.

Photos etc. will follow in the week.

Over and out

Concept Promo Design

2008-10-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

Portraits 1 through 36, in no particular order

2008-10-14T01:43:00.001-07:00

Just for reference, one or two people have asked me to post the entire list of names, so here they are, in no particular order...

David Ulliot
Roland DeWolfe
Surindar Sunar
Ram Vaswani
Julian Thew
Peter Costa
Lucy Rokach
Mel Judah
Julian Gardner
Joe Beevers
Andy Black
John Shipley
Gus Hansen
Marcel Luske
Carlos Mortensen
Rob Hollink
Joe Hachem
Bruno Fitoussi
Jennifer Tilly
Howard Lederer
Mike Matusow
Eric Seidel
Humberto Brenes
Layne Flack
Phil Ivey
Chris Ferguson
Phil Hellmuth
Doyle Brunson
Phil Laak
Eric Lindgren
Antonio Esfandiari
Barry Greenstein
Allen Cunningham
Ted Forrest
Johnny Chan
Scotty Nguyen

Anybody who has any good pics of any of the above players, or any good ideas about how to paint them, I'd love to hear from you. Drop us an email, hiddenlaws@hotmail.com

Portraits 10, 11, 12 & 13

2008-10-14T01:29:00.000-07:00

OK guys, here are some pics I'm gonna be using as source material for the next four portraits...

If anyone has any good pics of any of the above guys please get in touch and let me see them.

Portrait 9: Andy Black

2008-10-14T01:14:00.001-07:00

never alone with my GF's cat to keep me company. awwwwww....

A monk in the making...

Kinda serene, don't you think?

They call him The Mad Monk of Poker, or is it just The Monk? Either way, I had to paint Andy Black with a Tibetan Buddhist orange garb on, anything else would have been plain wrong. Although, obviously, it could just be an orange t-shirt. These mistakes are easy to make.

I wanted Mr. Black's serene Buddhist qualities and noble presence to shine through, and I think I caught him just right. The goatee he often wears, I feel, adds a lot of character to his face so I painted that on as well. And apparently, he's a really nice guy in real life too.

With the completion of Andy Black, there is now only (only?) 27 portraits left to paint...

Portrait 8: Chris Ferguson

2008-10-14T01:02:00.001-07:00

If you ever wondered what Jesus looked like without a beard... and oh yeah, I really wish I'd have taken a photo of it; Chris Ferguson with a handlebar tash looks seriously bad-ass

Another portrait that more or less painted itself. The guy has such a classic look, so distinctive, he practically is a portrait of himself in real life anyway.

What can I say about a living legend? He won the World Series back when it was just for real men who could look eachother in the eye without the need for iPods and tales of internet woe. He has watched many come and go, and apparently turned a freeroll into over $18,000 by grinding out baby-stakes online. The discipline!

Portrait 7: Julian Thew

2008-10-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

Next up was GUKPT champion Julian Thew, a Nottingham player, I guess Julian is probably one of the regular faces at Dusk Till Dawn.

Traits I focused on for Julian were his windswept spiky hair, his surprisingly honest and friendly-looking (for a poker player) eyes, and his wide toothy grin.

I won't lie, I did find it quite tough to paint Julian, there are not as many images around to get hold of as there are for some of the more celebrated names, and he has such a down-to-earth look about him he doesn't instantly lend himself to portrait artwork.

I think I captured him well though.

After painting Mr. Thew, I decided I needed a break from the Brits, so I went for one of the biggest names in the history of pokerl; in fact, one of the biggest names in the history of the world...

Portrait 6: Ram Vaswani

2008-10-14T00:02:00.001-07:00

I guess in the same way painting Antonio naturally led on to me painting Phil Laak, after painting Joe Beevers it just felt right to move on to his Hendon mob buddy Ram Vaswani.

A photo of Ram that a friend took at the recent WSOPE

In painting Ram, I realised that he has a very good facial structure, and very dark rings around his eyes. As always, I try to emphasise these character traits to make a portrait that captures someone's look in a way that a photo might not be able to, but in doing so I'm not sure if I went overboard on the cheeks and jawbones? To be totally honest, I can see Ram when I look at this painting, I'm just not sure how much I can. I have a feeling I might need to make his lips a bit smaller and more pursed. I don't know, maybe he looks good as is?

Sometimes I just can't tell with my own work. I know I can see Ram in this portrait, I just don't know whether it needs some slight adjustments so that everyone else can.

Feedback people!!

In my defence...

2008-10-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

This is the photo I was working from to paint Joe Beevers...

At least maybe now people can sort of see where I was coming from, the stark lighting and the expression Mr. Beevers is pulling combine to make for quite an intense look.

At the last check, Joe Beevers was looking like this...

I think I need to just rework the mouth a bit, and we'll be well on our way!

Thoughts?

Updates/Waffle

2008-10-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

OK, I haven't added anything on here for a while, but I have been painting. I've finished a few since my last post, just haven't had a chance to blog cos bit of a mad week, and had to have a move around of my painting gear...

I shall return with photographs!

And oh yeah, my friend was right, Mr. Beevers wasn't too keen on his portrait, so I've been changing that this week too... http://www.thehendonmob.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23889

Onwards and upwards my friends! I painted a rather handsome Ram Vaswani but I'm not too convinced I've caught him well enough, might have to adjust him slightly. I'll post it on here for all to decide in the week.

Portrait 5: Update

2008-10-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

Portrait 5 is finished. I wanted to paint Joe Beevers in a harsh but also fine light, because to me his image seems to encompass those two qualities. I think I've caught him perfectly, with a stern poker face, but a friend tells me he might not be very happy with it :-(

Yay?

Nay?

Either way, I think I'm gonna paint his Mob buddy Ram Vaswani next, and I've nearly broken the 30's!!!!!

Comments

2008-10-03T02:13:00.000-07:00

OK people, anybody who checks this blog on a regular basis, or just if you stumbled upon it, feel free to leave comments. I'm getting a few people leaving feedback on my facebook, or saying things to me in real life, or just staying silent. Please post some comments on here, let me know what you think! Let's get stuff all in the same place. Any ideas you might have for how to paint future portraits, or comments on the ones I've painted, or whatever you fancy really, so long as it's at least mildly relevant, and family-friendly. It's a blog, make it interesting! It'd surely be more entertaining to read if it had the input of a few different people, and perhaps there are some interesting folk lurking in the shadows!

Also, remember you can check all my entries using the navigation on the right, often the page will only display the most recent ones.

Thanks everyone who checks on it for your continued interest :-)

Joe Beevers is nearly done BTW...

Portrait 2: Update

2008-10-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Finally, after many hours of toil, The Unabomber is finito...

32 to go...

Portrait 4: Update

2008-09-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

Can't really take any credit for this one, it pretty much painted itself in the space of a single evening. He's turned out looking like a hitman, and those tiny round specs are just plain evil, but i think somewhere in that painting, there is definitely a tiny piece of Scotty Nguyen...

Portrait 5: Joe Beevers

2008-09-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

Another sneaky peek...

Portrait 4: Scotty Nguyen

2008-09-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

Sneak preview...

Portrait 2: Update

2008-09-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

The reason I finished portrait #3 before portrait #2? Phil Laak's impossible-as-yet-to-capture sardonic grin. Really been struggling with this one, tempted to just paint a big grey hood over the top but to admit artistic defeat has never appealed to me, so on I shall labour...

The mouth needs to be smaller and higher up to the nose I think.

Ho hum...

Portrait 3: Pics

2008-09-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Bruce Grobbelar?

Ming the Merciless??

For some reason I had an overwhelming urge to paint Greenstein with his eyes closed. Not just because he has very sleepy-looking eyes, but for some other reason I can't quite put my finger on as well. Perhaps because he seems to be so completely unassocaited with any of the materialism that often goes hand-in-hand with the neon lights of high-stakes gambling? I don't know. Either way, I had to give him a green shirt, didn't I?

I might just have to adjust the lips slightly to make it look more like Barry, but this is more or less finished.

...34 to go...

WSOPE

2008-09-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

All the updates from the current World Series of Poker Europe...

http://wsope.betfair.com/

Portrait 3: Barry Greenstein

2008-09-25T07:40:00.001-07:00

Some source images I'm going to be using when painting Barry Greenstein...

Portrait 1: Working Progress

2008-09-25T07:29:00.001-07:00

Here are the working progress photos of my portrait of The Magician, this one went through a really obvious messy stage in the middle, which doesn't always happen, but I pulled it in nicely at the end. Check it out...

This one looks like plastic surgery gone bad

This one... Ryan Giggs? Joe Calzaghe? Aren't they the same person??

OK, it's starting to resemble Antonio now

...a bit closer to the finish line. The glasses and beard add so much of Antonio's image to the painting, I also exaggerate the curl of his lip

This needs one or two final tweaks, but it's more or less all done. I really enjoy the way the background looks, totally by accident cos I painted the canvas black as originally we were going to use black backgrounds, the crimson colour over the top works extremely well and I'll be using crimson over black for all the backgrounds from now on. I couldn't be more pleased with the way this turned out! 1 down, 35 to go...

Portraits 1 & 2 Updates

2008-09-23T12:30:00.001-07:00

OK, for the record, that pencil sketch in the last post was a forensic police drawing of the original Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, based on eye-witness descriptions, not my portrait of Phil Laak!

Now we've cleared that one up...

See my portrait of the Joker on the floor? It's for sale if anyone wants it :-)

The Antonio portrait has reached the messy stage. I've just been blocking colour onto the canvas, trying to build up some early tones on the face and forehead, and blacked in some rough features as a guide to work around. A good couple of hours of work and this should start to look a little bit like who it's supposed to. Also, the backgrounds on the canvas are now going to be a dark red, to complement Dusk Till Dawn's graphic identity, so I will need to work over that black.

OK, this really is my portrait of Phil Laak, but don't worry, this is just a rough guide to help me lay the first block of paints on the canvas, so if you're thinking to yourself it doesn't look much like him, wait until I've done a little bit more. Hopefully, with a tiny spot of luck, it should turn out looking something like this handsome devil...

Portrait 2: Phil Laak

2008-09-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

The logical next portrait for me was Antonio's best buddy, The Unabomber Phil Laak...

See the resemblance?

I thought for this portrait I would avoid Laak's traditional unabomber image, and instead go for the laid-back look he seems to favour more recently, of easy bleached hair and huge insect-eye sunglasses...

This seems to be what Phil Laak enjoys looking like, creating an image combining his wit and fast-talking with a cooler more surf-style, movie-star type look.

I don't know though, the hood might look good. I guess I could always add one after if I change my mind...

Pick a Card...

2008-09-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

OK, I thought it fitting that I started this collection with a portrait of the man whose portrait started it all, Antonio Esfandiari. The copy I sent to Vegas for Antonio back in May still hasn't arrived, so it's time to face up to the fact it's probably never going to, and send him out another, with a tracking number on it.

In the meantime, the job at hand is to paint a new portrait of the man they call The Magician, and here's a few source images I've been looking at...

Victoria's Secret?

Anyway... Antonio is one of the most celebrated names in poker, and his style is very smooth, slick and sharp. His distinctive black hair and thick-framed glasses, usually with a goatee beard of some description, are often complemented by black shirts, t-shirts and jackets. Features that I will focus on when painting Antonio are his sharp facial lines, spiky dark hair, black-rimmed frames, and a distinctive upwards curl on the right side of his top lip.

OK, off to start painting...

(Visit Antonio's official site here)

Portrait 1: Antonio Esfandiari

2008-09-19T02:05:00.001-07:00

OK, more to follow shortly, this is just a sneak preview of the mock-up sketch of The Magician...

Dusk Till Dawn Poker ~ Gallery of Champions ~ Blog Report

2008-09-19T02:05:00.000-07:00

Europe's biggest Poker venue, Dusk Till Dawn Nottingham, have commissioned me to fill an entire wall in their amazing club with portraits of famous poker champions. The portraits will be of instantly recognisable and much-loved faces from the phenomenally popular world of poker, high-rolling superstars such as Antonio Esfandiari, Gus Hansen, Marcel Luske and Roland De Wolfe, and will all be set to ultra-cool black backgrounds on 20 x 16" (508 x 406mm) colour acrylic box canvases to be unveiled at Dusk Till Dawn's Anniversary Cup event on Wednesday 3rd December 2008.

I've created this blog for anybody who is interested to drop by and check on my progress, my thoughts, ideas, source materials, working progress and pics of some finished and unfinished works and to get in touch with me with any ideas they wish to share.

I'm really looking forward to painting these portraits, and to seeing the end result hanging on the wall at Dusk Till Dawn.

Right, I'm off to pick up some canvases...

Visit Dusk Till Dawn - Europe's Premier Poker Venue - Here

Visit my website Here