The Batphone

Another posterised portrait. This is Adam West and Burt Ward playing Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in the 1960s Batman TV series. I deliberately went for the trippy colour scheme because I thought two layers of paint were appropriate for characters with two lives and because the French ultramarine in the second layer was suggestive of the night and Batman.

I followed my usual process for paintings like this, so nothing much to report there. Except that for the second day in a row I decided to leave a margin around the outside.

And what a beauty this one is! The two layers of paint suggest the two layers of personality, exactly as planned. The white areas on the shirts light up the painting in the same way that passing cars light up rooms with their headlights. And the coloured shadows on those white shirts are great. The background patterns, light patterns based on a tapestry and some curtains in the source photo, give out batcavey, stalactitey batvibes. And the looks in both sets of eyes tell a story. And with all those positives, I don’t care that the likenesses aren’t 100% perfect and that Bruce Wayne has a bit of Martin Landau to him. This one’s up for sale, with the price to be found here.