The Bottom Line
Pros
- Features three portrait painters with very different styles / approaches in each episode.
- Fascinating to see different portraits develop of the same person (never mind that it's a celebrity)
- Fun trying to decide which portrait you'd pick, compared to the one finally chosen by the celebrity.
- Focuses on the painting and artists, not just the "celebrities"; includes snippets in their studios.
Cons
- Don't watch too many episodes in a row as the formulaic structure then becomes very evident.
- You may not know who the "celebrities" are if you're not familiar with British TV
Description
- Series produced by Hotbed Media and first shown on BBC TV. See Star Portraits website for all the paintings in the series.
- Presented by Rolf Harris, who is perhaps best known for his stage/TV performances, but is also a painter (see his website).
- Series 1: Michael Parkinson (journalist), Charlie Dimmock (gardener), David Dickinson (antiques), Meera Syal (actor/writer).
- Series 2: Cilla Black (singer/presenter), Adrian Edmondson (comedian/writer), Mo Mowlam (politician), Richard Wilson (actor).
- Series 3: Barbara Windsor (actor), Kelly Holmes (athlete), Bill Oddie (comedian).
- DVD includes a 32-page booklet featuring all the final paintings, short biographies of the artists, and of the celebrities.
Guide Review - Painting DVD: Star Portraits with Rolf Harris
I saw my first episode of Star Portraits with Rolf Harris on a flight to London and it was far more fascinating than I'd expected. The show is as much about the painting and portrait artists as it is about the celebrity, so it doesn't matter if you don't know who the celebrity is and are interested only in portraiture. I'd go as far as to say the celebrity card is just there to broaden the appeal of the show.
The format for each episode is the same: introduce celebrity, meet the three artists and find out a bit about them, a five-hour sitting where they start painting, a look at what they're doing a week later (they continue painting from photos), seeing the final paintings with the celebrity's reactions (they don't see the paintings in progress), and finally the celebrity decides which one they want to take home with them.
The painters featured are all professional portrait painters. Some went to prestigious art schools, others are self taught. The three selected for each episode have very different styles, which over the series varies from photorealistic to expressionistic.
You're given a peak (each program is only about 30 minutes long) into each artist's studio, their working method, their thoughts about portraits. The mediums the artists use varies too, it's not just oil paint.
I really enjoyed being able to compare the artists' approaches, not just the final results (which can be viewed on the series website), though it's also great fun to pick a favorite painting and try to guess which the celebrity will choose.
Some painters get stuck right in with brush and paint; others start with sketches for composition or pencil/charcoal studies of the face. The final results show there's no right or wrong approach, you need to do what works for you.
This is a series I know I'm going to watch many times, for inspiration and sheer enjoyment.
