Rik Mayall

Keeping going with the posterised portraits. Today’s subject is the late Rik Mayall playing Squadron Commander Lord Flasheart in Blackadder Goes Forth. I wanted this to be a tribute to those who gave their lives in World War I (just as Blackadder Goes Forth was ultimately such a tribute) as well as a tribute to Rik. That’s why I chose to do this one using the Shire colour scheme, a colour scheme that seems to confer greatness and gravitas upon its subject.

I followed my usual process for posterised paintings, but also included the starry masking fluid spatters in the background, something that I seem to do every time at the moment. This was one of those paintings, though, that didn’t come out perfectly and needed some tinkering. The right side of Rik’s face, while faithful to my source photo, looked too wide compared to his chin, so I added more mid and darktones to narrow it. And that big shape on his right shoulder had too much white in it, so I added more of the light tones to it. And that was me done.

There’s a lot to be positive about here, most notably the look in the eye, which shows a melancholy sadness rather than the spark that I’d associate with Rik and Flasheart. And that’s great, giving this one the air of a tribute, which is exactly what I wanted. The right side of his face still doesn’t feel right, though, and I expect ChatGPT to have some negative feedback about how his right eye socket is entirely in shadow. But I’m still happy. This one’s up for sale, with the price to be found here.

I’m feeling so up for PAOTY. Come on Storyvault Films! I won’t let the side down.