"The man meets the painting!
10 years ago I was really young (60), fired up and full of wild enthusiasm. I wanted to paint faces. Very large! Very bright! Very potent! Very electric!
So I chose Richard Branson first.
I wanted to go deep into the 'electric essence' of the person. Paint their fire! Paint their energy! Branson was perfect. He is such an example of energy and drive and sparkle and passion .. and love for his family. The 14 months I took to paint him were pure unadulterated painting joy! I have never met the man, but working on him day after day, month after month I felt I had got to know him, maybe, better than most.
Scrutinizing every mark, wrinkle, crease, shadow and contour..but all these remaining subservient to the inner energy of the man. Standing/painting only a foot away from the canvas allows only a small field of vision. All you can see are purely abstract shapes..stripes of colour side by side looking nothing like a nose or an eye or anything recognizable. (If you zoom up the pic of the paintin you'll see what I mean). So I had to develop a faculty that demanded 2 sets of eyes: one set to see from close up, the other to see from 6 meters away..at the very same time!
Then..Yesterday the opportunity came. 10 years after completion sir Richard finally stood in front of the painting. As I mentioned I have never met the man and I have no idea of what his first impression may have been. It may well have been a truly harrowing experience suddenly confronting your face 200 times larger than it is in real life! (I would have run like the wind if the painting had been of me) But I HAD to paint him! Had to find and show his essence.
So thank you Sir Richard for brightening up 14 months of my life and that of my dedicated assistant Jen Saunders." Paul Blomkamp.
Artist: Paul Blomkamp
'Richard Branson.. the Electric Essence'
Acrylic on canvas 4,2 x 4,2 m.
Credit for pics BusinessIsAnAdventure
