A3 prints

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

Portrait 36: Phil Ivey - Update

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

... 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

The Magician Cartoon

Daniel Negreanu Cartoon

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

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

Portrait 34: Roland DeWolfe

...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

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

Team Full Tilt

Loved these

Portrait 14: Erik Seidel: Amendments

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"

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

"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

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!!!

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

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

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

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

Portrait 29: Ted Forrest

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

The Professor, in the making...


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

Portrait 22: Surinder Sunar

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

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

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

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

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

Players still left to paint...

... 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

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

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

Portrait 17: Marcel Luske

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

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

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

Looking good?

Portrait 13: Gus Hansen

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

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

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

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!

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

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

Portraits 1 through 36, in no particular order

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

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.