mostly david ephgrave

…and then this random guy stood in for him. I have a number of questions Re. Julia Quenzler’s artistic representation of Courtroom Cliff, but one in particular's at the top of the list: why, when he’s one of the most famous faces in popular culture from the past sixty years, does the picture look like she’d never clapped eyes on him? It’s not like he’s a member of public who had remained anonymous right up to the moment he stepped into the dock; he’s Cliff fucking Richard. Except Cliff wouldn’t be fucking Richard, because that would make him gay and he ABSOLUTELY DEFINITELY ISN’T. Even if by some bizarre twist of fate the artist had never seen Cliff before, that’s still no excuse. According to the article he was in the dock for over an hour, so she had plenty of time to capture his likeness. I’ve heard of people having difficulty drawing hands or feet, but if you can’t draw faces, you probably shouldn’t be a courtroom artist. If it were an identikit picture, the...

I visited my dad today – and while I was there, he showed me some of his recent sketches. He used to paint when I was younger. He took it up as a hobby, going to the local art club once a week.   Sometimes they’d be on the lookout for models, so I’d volunteer my services. I found it hard to stay still for an extended period, so I’d take a book to keep me occupied. This resulted in a shedload of pictures of me looking at my lap; probably not the sort of thing you’d want to grace your walls. (It’s worth clarifying that I did it fully-clothed.) My dad specialised in watercolours, though he’d also do the occasional in oils. He’d sell the odd one here and there; there were a few on permanent display at the carvery at the Gordon Craig Theatre, which I’d often go and look at when I went to their weekly drama club. (The theatre ran the drama club. Not the carvery; that would just be weird.) He shared a studio on Stevenage High ...