Bernard and I are having another contest, and this time it’s an art contest! To be specific: portraits. We’re each creating portraits and they are judged by the same five judges as last years postcard contest. While we’re sending these to each other on postcards, the cards themselves have no role in the judging this time.
The rules were simple: we would alternate choosing the subjects week by week, and create neck up portraits in any medium or style. The judges decision would be final.
That was five weeks ago, and we’re now halfway through. Let’s review the results so far!
Elvis Presley
I started choosing subjects with The King and right out of the gate Bernard ignored the ‘neck up’ rule with his ‘portrait’ (on the left)! The judges gave it to him 4-1, but since comments were as blatant as “Wins because of the pose” and “Wins only because of the guitar” I felt the contest had derailed almost immediately. Nonetheless the judges decision was final and Bernard took the early lead.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
The best subjects are ones with many different looks, and you can see from my watercolour (on the left) and Bernard’s pencil sketch that Arnie fits the bill! The judges were torn on this one, and one even declared a tie, but ultimately Conan defeated The Terminator and I won 3.5 – 1.5. Judges comments included “Conan is too slick” and “Terminator doesn’t have enough color”.
Cleopatra
Perhaps I chose Cleo since I expected an easy win, but it’s certain I wasn’t prepared for the magnus opus created by Bernard (on the right). KLS joked that mine (on the left) was very masculine, but even had I demonstrated a better grasp of facial anatomy I daresay Bernard would still have got – as he deserved – the 5-0 win. Incidentally while the photos don’t show it well, both of these feature metallic inks! Judges comments included “The detail is extraordinary!”
Bruce Lee
Bernard chose Bruce Lee, perhaps because he had an image in mind? But Cleo had lit a bonfire under me and there was no way I was handing him another win, so I started taking things seriously. My portrait (on the right) swept all judges for a decisive 5-0 win. Comments included “I love the eyes” and “Excellent use of shading“.
Steve Irwin
We agreed to let Kristin and Lakshmi choose a subject each, and KLS was first up with her choice of the crocodile hunter himself! This was a difficulty subject since he’s so known for holding animals that it was hard to produce a neck-up image that conveyed his essence well. I took a bold approach with the stencil art on the left, and Bernard… well he chose to ignore the rules again. Once again the judges overlooked this infraction and gave him the 5-0 win, even commenting (as one did) that he won “even though it isn’t a portrait”. As for my image, I expect this is not a contest that will reward a novel approach and will return to more conventional styles ahead!
So halfway though, Bernard is up 3-2. Since two of his wins were (arguably) due to images that flaunted the rules the neck-up rule has now been abandoned.
Five more subjects to come, and it’s still anyone’s game! Who will we draw, and who will win? Find out in five weeks!
