Graham Kershaw - Commissions

Commissions

The following are a selection of commissions Graham has completed
since becoming a professional portrait artist in 2000.

Some of the images can be clicked on to view a larger version.

NEW WORK

This is an unusual commission depicting one couple and 18 of their closest friends in a dinner party setting. The group were not able all to come together in this way, so Graham designed the scene and poses first before photographing the sitters individually and compiling them together around the table. The result represents a period in their lives, set in place and time, as well as showing Graham's ability to accomplish such a complex commission at this stage in his portrait painting career.

LADIES

GENTLEMEN

GROUPS

ANIMALS

Graham isn't against painting animals, particularly when they turn out as well as Merlin the black labrador. For the portrait Graham spent time sketching Merlin and trying to get to know his character by taking him for a walk before carrying out the finished portrait back in studio.

OK, so these are from the lighter-hearted side of portrait painting, but in terms of demonstrating versatility alone they're surely worth including.

DRAWINGS

OTHER COMMISSIONS


This portrait of Sir Edward Elgar was commissioned by the English Symphony Orchestra to be used as the poster, on the cd and on the programme cover for the Elgar Festival 2004.	Admittedly this portrait of Roger McGough was not initially a "commission" as it was painted as part of the "Poetraits" project. However, it was subsequently chosen for the cover of Roger's "Collected Poems"(2003).

This portrait of Mgr Patrick Kilgarriff, completed April 2005, was commissioned according to the tradition of the Venerable English College in Rome after Father Pat's five-year period as Rector. Graham accompanied the portrait to Rome in June for its hanging in the College Library.

The following pictures show the moments before its unveiling by the current Rector, its appreciation by those assembled and Father Pat and Graham with the portrait in situ.

This portrait of Derek Seymour - former Headmaster of Bloxham School in Oxfordshire - was commissioned by his sons, Paul and Michael Seymour, to replace a portrait photograph hanging in the school dining room.
Graham attended the unveiling, February 2006.

The following pictures show the moments before and after its unveiling by Paul and the current Headmaster, Mark Allbrook.

This drawing of the Bullring bull in the centre of Birmingham was commissioned to be the new logo for the Birmingham centre for UK NEQAS - a chemical quality assessment company.

COPIES


This is a copy of a painting called "The Brook" by J.S.Sargent (1907). Graham enjoys the challenge of an occasional copy, especially if it is by his favourite artist.	This is a copy of a painting called "Lady Lilith" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1864-68).

This is Graham's latest copy of a Sargent painting. This one is perhaps Sargent's most infamous work, originally titled "Mme Pierre Gautreau", but renamed "Mme X" - a reflection of the scandal it caused. Graham has painted Mme Gautreau with her dress strap having fallen down her right arm, as it was originally - a feature Sargent was forced to change in an effort to limit the damage to his and to Mme Gautreau's reputations.	This is a copy of a painting by Dietz Edzard called "Two Friends". In this case Graham was also asked to match the attractive antique frame in which the original is displayed - something which ticked both painting and framing boxes.
	This is a copy of a painting by Hugo Simberg called "The Wounded Angel".

TRIPTYCH


This is an example of a triptych where the initial brief was to paint the couple in front of their ornate windows. Having decided this would create silhouettes the pose was moved round to that seen on the inside of the triptych, enabling the windows to take pride of place on the outside. This format could be attractive to a variety of commissions where a combined image may appeal.