Representing time in Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous

In the new version of the group portrait Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous, many of the merchants and noblemen from the original have been replaced by figures from a broader range of class and ethnicity. The people in the picture have changed because the people who will look at it have changed.

We (the 21st century audience) differ from our 1930 counterparts in more than just our social attitudes. An important difference affecting perception of the two paintings is our greater familiarity with moving images. 80 years ago, a trip to The Whiteladies Picture House would have been a novelty for Bristolians. Today, moving images compete incessantly for our attention. The altered visual expectations arising from this situation were a key consideration in developing the new painting.

Materials

Last week I returned to full-time work on the painting after a break for other projects. After months working mostly in Photoshop, it felt good to be handling real materials once again. This is an overview of what I’m using to paint Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous.

The thinking behind the painting (and some housekeeping)

I’ve added a new page, Proposal, which explains some of the thoughts that went into my approach to painting an updated Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous. It explains how my version differs from Ernest Board’s and how I am introducing elements of time and motion to the artwork.

In the right sidebar on the homepage you should be able to see highlights from the dedicated Flickr account I’ve just set up.  A lot of the images there will be used to illustrate articles on this blog but it will also be a place to store reference shots.

Finally, I’ve created yet another Twitter account. @bristolfamous will hopefully avoid confusion between updates on this painting and any unrelated Gurr Illustration news on the @gurrilla Twitter feed.

Board’s original painting

My painting is an ‘updating’ of Ernest Board’s Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous. I’ve written a bit about the 1930 original here.

Portrait of the artist

I’ve added a page about Ernest Board, the artist who painted the original Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information readily available in books or online, but I’ve put everything I’ve found so far here.

The Story So Far…

• 1930 – Ernest Board paints Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous.
• 2008 – The Bristol Reads website asks the public “who might feature in an updated version of the painting“?
• 2008 – Later in the year both the Evening Post and Venue ask readers for suggestions for a new painting.
• 2009 – January:  Bristol Cultural Development Partnership invites proposals for a commission to create a permanent artwork updating Board’s painting.
  

Proposal sketch for Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous

• 2009 – April:  The judging panel requests more detailed information from the shortlisted artists.

Brunel portrait from proposal supplement

• 2009 – July:  My appointment is announced on the Festival of Ideas website. I spend the month completing current projects so that I can convert my illustration studio into a space suitable for creating a large painting.
• 2009 – August: Research. I already have files on many of the subjects through research for previous projects, notably The Bristol Story, written by Eugene Byrne, now I’m filling the gaps in my knowledge.
• 2009 – August: This blog created as a way of managing research info and monitoring progress.