Likenesses aren’t exactly my forte but I will say that I’m quite pleased with this one. It’s of one of my oldest friend’s, Tim Henrick (so unless you know him, you’ll have to take my word for it that the likeness is pretty good). Tim recently turned 55, so for his birthday I thought I’d attempt to make him something special – after all, apart from socks or throwaway joke presents what do you buy for middle aged blokes? As it happens, Tim is a big sci-fi fan, and knowing that he liked the Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, I made this very small acrylic painting (painted with the smallest/finest brush I possess) of him as the Mandalorian character, leaning beside the beloved Baby Yoda/Din Grogu character.
'Tim as The Mandalorian', 2023, small acrylic painting by Wayne Chisnall
I thought I’d include some work-in-progress shots to show how I actually painted this small piece. I approached it akin to one of my illustration styles (mostly painting in one small section at a time until the entire surface has been filled) than say, one of my fine art oil painting styles, where I might apply paint at almost random points across the canvas's surface until the image emerges and I decide that the work has reached completion (or a reasonable/aesthetically pleasing point of abandonment).
'Tim as The Mandalorian (work-in-progress)', 2023, acrylic painting by Wayne Chisnall
You might have noticed a bit of graffiti, ‘Livvy woz ere’, painted on the wall behind Mandalorian Tim’s right shoulder. This is because Tim’s daughter is called Vivvy and I thought it fun to include her in the piece somehow.
You might have also noticed that I signed the painting ‘Chig’. This is something I rarely do anymore, but as most of my old friends still know me by my nickname, and this is how I used to sign my work back in the 80s and 90s when I was a magazine illustrator, I thought it appropriate to sign it this way in this instance.
