Graham Kershaw - Demonstration

Demonstration

Demonstration portrait - Keith This portrait was painted during a demonstration session Graham gave to the Sutton Coldfield Society of Artists in May, 2004. The model was Keith Ripley and the turn out was good, comprising about 40-50 members of the Society. Graham began by saying a little about his career thus far as a portraitist, and something of what he was up to at that time. In fact he was in the middle of the "Welcome to Birmingham" project (see the "Projects" page) and a similarity of style can be seen between the portraits of this project and this portrait of Keith. In fact the scenarios in which these portraits were undertaken were not dissimilar, involving a certain amount of pressure and a limited amount of time.

The whole demonstration took about 2 hours including a short break in the middle, but the total painting time was more like 45 minutes. It was the first time a video was used, the progress of the portrait being projected up onto a big screen, and Graham has transferred the footage to disc and edited it into three clips.

Graham brought with him a series of portraits he had painted over his past four years as a professional and tried to show the development running through - something which was surprisingly apparent. (Click on the icons to view video clips.)

In the early stages it was just a case of taking the plunge and making some kind of a start, partly to break up the whiteness of the canvas but also to settle nerves. Thankfully the head quickly began to take shape and needed little changing afterwards.

Soon Graham got into his rhythm and once the general shape had been sketched out in a brownish-blue midtone he began to build the picture up with more colour. (This clip is shown at five times actual speed to give a better impression of the painting's development.)

In the final stages Graham began to feel more self-conscious and aware of the rise and fall in the tension in the room as he moved from face to shirt and back. After a while he wasn't making any further great progress and felt he had begun to fiddle at the painting, at which point it was finished.

At the end of the session Graham received a warm round of applause and kind thanks, as well as many encouraging admiring comments about the painting and demonstration as a whole. Keith the model bought the painting for a generous fee and Graham returned home feeling he had successfully passed through an artist's rite of passage.

Demonstration portrait - Jane This portrait was painted during a demonstration session Graham gave to the Solihull Society of Artists in September, 2006. The model was Jane Kerley and the room was packed as this was the first such demonstration of the Society's year. The portrait was again painted in two sessions either side of a break for tea, total painting time coming to approx. an hour and a quarter. Graham talked about the Birmingham Poet Laureates commission (see "Projects" page) and the other current developments in his career and answered questions on his method throughout the demonstration. It was very well received and the portrait produced a big success - Jane buying the finished image. It is a challenging situation to deliver such a portrait within a set timescale and in front of a critical audience, but it is a challenge Graham enjoys and responds to well.

Demonstration portrait - Dennis
This portrait was painted during a demonstration session Graham gave to the Catherine de Barnes Society of Artists in April, 2008. The model was called Dennis and the room was again very full, with 40 or so of the Society's members present. Graham talked about the recent developments in his style and brought along examples of his work including his most recent commissioned portrait.