Sir Alex Ferguson part 2

After the signing of the portrait on May 14th I spoke with Diana who is head of press/media for Man Utd and she said the club would be able to promote the auction through their website and MUTV channel. I was informed MUTV is broadcast to 47 countries.

I made some arrangements via email as regards the portrait auction being featured on the Man Utd website. I think it will be loaded up on the 7th of June.

As regards MUTV, I met with presenter Mandy Henry down at Old Trafford this Tuesday. She was very friendly and helpful. The interview took place in the stands, I was sat down with the portrait behind me. After this we went down near the pitch where Sir Alex sits durin the match forsome film of the portrait sitting in Sir Alex’s chair.

While we were filming this extra footage a tour of the ground which was being conducted ended up right next to where we were. A grou of tourists started taking pictures of me with the painting and a few asked to pose with it for pictures. This was unplanned but really enjoyable, I think Kieth the cameraman got some footage and hopefully it will appear in the interview when it’s broadcast.

If you have any questions or comments to any of these posts please post a comment.

Regards

Chris

Sir Alex ferguson part 1

Working with my friend/colleague Malcolm Cook (www.freeflowcoaching.com) I have been able to enlist the support of legendary Manchester United Manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.Malcolm grew up on the same street with Sir Alex in Govan and through his career as a professional footballer and professional coach has crossed paths again with Sir Alex over the years.After speaking with Malcolm the idea of trying to enlist Mr Ferguson’s support turned into a personal letter written to the club. On my behalf Malcolm mentioned my portraits and the work I do for Leukaemia Research and the BIB (Born in Bradford) appeal and asked Sir Alex if he could help?. We enclosed a glossy colour brochure of my portraiture work to give him an idea of how his finished portrait would look.

 We informed Sir Alex that preferablly I like to paint from a reference picture which I have taken myself. We understand just how busy Sir Alex is and we mentioned the option of myself working from  the club photographers pictures.After a few weeks Malcolm was contacted by Mr Ferguson’s secretary. She told him Sir Alex would be very happy to have his portrait painted. You can imagine how pleased I was to receive this news.The portrait took around 4 weeks to complete. I made many small adjustments and was up most of the night some days. Because I knew Sir Alex’s portrait would be seen around the world there was extra pressure to make it as perfect as possible. Having said that, I’m a perfectionist with all the commissions I undertake and won’t sign any painting until I’m 100% satisfied with it.From the intial letter to Sir Alex in January I finally met him for the signing of the portrait on May 14th. I went with Malcolm and my photographer Gary to the Carrington training ground in Manchester. We arrived 15 minutes late due to heavy traffic and I was a bit stressed as I like to be punctual. Fortunately we arrived at the reception and had to wait about 20 minutes for Sir Alex to come down to meet us.

While we were waiting in the reception we saw Christiano Ronaldo, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney. Because no press are allowed to the training ground the players can walk around freely and get on with their practice.

When Sir Alex came down he was really friendly and very acomadating. He was willing to pose for plenty of pictures and was in no rush to get back to business. He seemed delighted with the portrait I painted and we chatted about it’s creation and the forthcoming auction. Afterwards he sat down with us in the reception area and chatted for about 20 minutes about training and tactics. Malcolm had a few laughs with him as they discussed some old shared memories and experiences.

    

Hey up Jack

Hi

I think I’m almost finished on this portrait of Clive Hornby. After talking with Clive and looking back at my portraits of Chris and Lucy I think what I’m trying to do is show the person behind the Tv character.

Any thoughts on Clive/jack are welcomed.

Thanks

Chris www.laptopdavinci.com

Lucy’s portrait signing

Hi

I met up with Lucy today for her to sign her portrait. She was over the moon with the painting. I met with Clive Hornby and got some reference pictures to begin work on his portrait. Next week I meet Alex Ferguson and hopefully Richard Thorpe.

Any comments, feel free to post them. Click the link below to see Lucy with her portrait.

lucy-cd-blog1.jpg

Regards

Chris

www.laptopdavinci.com

Good to go

Hi

Lucy Pargeter kindly phoned me today and said she has visited my blog and is delighted with her portrait. I plan to have it framed within the next week and arrange with Lucy for the signing.

I hope to arrange with Richard Thorpe (Alan Turner) and Clive Hornby (Jack Sugden) to get some reference pics the same day I meet Lucy if possible.

Regards

Chris

Part 2 Chastity Dingle

Hi

Since my last post about “Chaz” I have been unable to reach her for her input on her portrait. I had a look at it again and have repainted the background and made a few little tweaks. I texted Chris Chittell today to ask him to tell Lucy to get in touch with me to arrange to sign her portrait.

I also asked him to give Alan Turner and Joe Sugden a reminder, they said they  would be up for having their portrait painted a while ago.

What do you think of this version 2 of Chaz’s portrait? all constructive crtiques welcomed.

Thanks

Chris

www.laptopdavinci.com

Shontayne Hape – Bradford Bulls

Hi

Here’s a preliminary draft of Shontayne’s portrait which will be signed and auctioned in the near future.

I’d appreciate any input/thoughts any of his fans might have?

Thanks

Chris

Sorry I’ve decided to rework some of the portrait. I’ll post the next version asap.

Emmerdale’s Chastity Dingle

Hi

This portrait has taken me much longer than I expected. As I mentioned earlier I’ve been working on Sir Alex Ferguson’s portrait and wanted to get everything spot on. That’s not to say I don’t do my best on everbody’s portrait because I do.

I always welcome a fresh viewpoint on portraits that are nearly finished. It’s amazing what other people can spot that I might have overlooked.

I have it on good authority that Joe Sugden and Alan Turner are interested in joining Chris and Lucy in the exhibition lineup.

Below is the very lovely Lucy Pargeter’s portrait. Even though it’s 99.5% finished I can still make alterations due to the nature of the digital-oils I use to paint.

I welcome any constructive critiques and would like to hear any thoughts/comments you may have.

Thanks

Chris

Emmerdale – enter Eric Pollard

Having been involved with raising funds for the Lord Mayor of Bradford’s Born in Bradford appeal: Bradford Metropolitan District Council: Christopher Dent    I was looking to become involved with and help different causes. I came across an article mentioning that Chris Chittell from Emmerdale has done a lot of work for Leukaemia research (LR).

From what I read Chris seemed like a very sincere and helpful chap and I decided to contact him with an idea of me painting his portrait which he could then sign and auction to raise funds for LR. I was looking forward to painting Chris as he has loads of character  and I can tell when someones face will almost paint itself

Of course Chris would have to agree to the idea first. Shortly after emailing him, he replied to me with a very enthusiastic yes!. It was early on a Sunday morning and we were both checking our emails,we admitted to each other how mutually sad we were for doing this . After I replied to Chris’s email my phone rang. I said to my wife “there’s no caller ID I bet it’s Chris Cittell!” she said “no way!”. Guess what? Chris called to arrange a time and place to meet up for me to take some reference pictures of him from which to work.

I met him the following Tuesday down at ITV studios in Leeds. My photographer Gary Grayson came along and we were both warmly greeted by Chris. It’s always unusual to see people (other members of the Emmerdale cast) you’ve seen on TV walking around (don’t know why, people are people afterall) We went to a private room to get some pictures and Chris was very helpful and great in front of the camera.

From the meeting I had all kinds of poses to choose from but decided to go with one that I feel shows the true Chris Chittell rather than the corrupt Eric Pollard. I feel this portrait is one of my best so far and when I presented to Chris for signing he was very vocal about how much he liked it.

The Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Suzanne McTaggart interviewed us both and wrote a great story covering the events. The picture which the YEP used in the story was taken on the set of the bar in the Woolpack. I’m sure Suzanne won’t mind me mentioning that she had her picture taken behind the Woolpack bar, a claim to fame for family and friends lol Hey it’s a about time Suzanne got some press coverage

Chris will be taking his finished portrait up to Aberdeen in June where there will be a LR fundraising ball and auction. Chris has a large following up in Scotland and the portrait is expected to raise several thousand pounds.

The same day I met Chris for his portrait signing I had arranged to meet with Chastity Dingle aka Lucy Pargeter. After we finished with the YEP in the Woolpack I had time to get some reference pictures of Lucy, she was really great in front of the camera and I got lots of great pictures to choose from. I hope to finish Lucy’s portrait within the next week but have been very busy with other projects I have on the go right now.

An idea emerged during the previous events of me creating an Emmerdale portrait exhibition which would culminate in a grand fund-raising auction. ITV have given me the go ahead and I will keep you posted of any developments.

If anyone has any questions they’d like to ask,please feel free to post a comment and I’ll answer asap.

Enter Malcolm Cook

The week that Dean Windass’s portrait was being featured on ITV and Sky Sports I received a phone call from Malcolm Cook, former Liverpool FC coach, who had seen the portrait on TV

Malcolm has been the top sports publisher in the UK for the last 15 years. During our conversation Malcolm explained he was in the process of producing his 6th book on football coaching and would be interested in having me work with him on the project creating illustrations.

Fortunately Malcolm only lives 5 minutes from myself which has made our regular meetings very convenient. We have an arrangement whereby we trade skills/information. I have to say that the advice and suggestions I’ve received from Malcolm has been very helpful, particularly in regard to my becoming involved with sports portraiture work.

To find out about Malcolm, his history and his revolutionary “Freeflow” coaching methods visit his website at www.freeflowcoaching.com  as well as being a professional football coach Malcolm has a diploma in sports psychology and offers life coaching courses.