Drawing: Richard Gasquet

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Richard Gasquet

It’s been a good year for Richard Gasquet. France’s top tennis player is currently number 9 in the world rankings with one of his highlights, reaching the semi-finals at this year’s Wimbledon Championships. While known as an all-court player with some crafty drop shots, it is his single-handed backhand that is his signature shot.

Graceful, efficient and effective, it is considered one of the best ever. While not in the main draw at this week’s ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London, Richard is the first alternate and is at the event in case one of the top 8 are injured. For a few seconds the friendly Frenchman used his classy right hand to write a signature shot on my sketch.

Drawing: John Isner

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

John Isner

American tennis star John Isner is one of the biggest names in the game. Standing at 2.08 metres, that’s nearly 7 foot in old money and a massive serve, recorded at over 241 km/h is BIG by anyone’s definitions.

My annual pilgrimage to London’s O2 for the ATP World Tour Finals had extra purpose this year. I was after John to sign this sketch commemorating one of the great matches in tennis history. At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships he defeated NIcolas Mahut in a five-setter that lasted 11 hours 5 minutes over 2 days in the longest professional match ever. John managed to win the final set 70-68 to end the gruelling marathon. I was very keen to see him secure a place at the year-end event that involves the top eight men’s players plus two alternates. John was ranked at number 11.

Astute arithmetic exponents will deduce that he misses out. However I was grateful to Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, who, ranked at number 10 declined the second alternate slot, and John accepted.

I popped down to the O2 yesterday and it wasn’t difficult to spot him. I even managed to get Nicolas Mahut’s graph to complete the set.

Drawing: Na Yeon Choi

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

na yeon choi

Continuing my sketches of South Korean outstanding women golfers is Na Yeon Choi.

The 28 year old is currently ranked 18th in the world and won the 2012 US Open – her first major championship. She was also runner up in the British Open the following year. She signed my sketch at this year’s event at Turnery in Scotland.

Drawing: So Yeon Ryu

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

so yeon ryu

Ryu So-Yeon is also known as So Yeon Ryu and is also known as one of the many, many top women’s golfers from South Korea dominating the LPGA at the moment.

Currently ranked 5th in the world, she won the US Open in 2011 and finished third at this year’s British Open at the Trump Turnberry Course in Scotland, where she signed my sketch for me.

Drawing: Lia Williams and Angus Wright in ORESTEIA

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Oresteia

The much-lauded ancient Greek tragedy ORESTEIA’s transfer from North London’s small Almeida Theatre to the Trafalgar Studios in the West End ended on Saturday. Once again I left it to the final curtain (well, final day) to get a sketch signed, with more than the usual obstacles in the way.

This is a sharp contemporary production of Aeschylus’s trilogy. The play is nearly four hours long so the matinee starts at 1pm. I had this drawing of the two leads; Lia Williams as Klytemnestra and Angus Wright as Agamemnon for some time and had tried on a couple of occasions to get it ‘graphed. From that I gathered that both went in earlier than the rest of the cast so I stationed myself at the stage door around 10.30am.

Right: obstacles. Firstly, preparations for the Rememberance Sunday service on Whitehall, where the Studios are located, were underway. There were the usual access restrictions, but this was insurmountable. Secondly, two large removal vans were parked outside the stage door for the removal of the set and associated production paraphernalia after the evening’s performance, blocking the entire street (well backs alley). These proved to be more “visual obstacles” as the cast could slip by unnoticed. Thirdly, it was raining cats and dogs, and elephants and giraffes, in fact a veritable weather zoo. The Trafalgar stage door has little cover, but its redeeming feature is a small covered corridor leading to the internal door. That proved a sig-saver.

Having built you up with all these potential problems, Lia and Angus arrived together at 11am and both signed in the said redeemable covered corridor so I could have written this in two sentences, but where’s the fun in that… it’s a Greek tragedy after all.

Drawing: Rolan Bell in Memphis

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Some things take time…and six attempts, but I eventually got Rolan Bell to sign my sketch. Not that Rolan was aware of my toils. He’s just completed the year long run as the underground nightclub manager Delray Farrell in the Broadway transfer of the hit musical MEMPHIS at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre. It’s a venue that I got to be familiar with over the final weeks, well it’s stage door that is. Rolan did pretty well in the role, earning an Olivier Award nomination. I didn’t do well and kept missing him, going in or coming out. One time he was having a day off. In this busines these things happen. I finally, on the last day resorted to leaving the drawing with a note and SAE at the now familiar, almost a family member stage door. That worked!

If you want to catch Rolan. he’s in the Christmas Show RAPUNZEL at the Park Theatre over the Festive season.

Drawing: Clive Owen, Eve Best and Kelly Reilly in Old Times

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Old Times

Packages arriving, addressed in my handwriting always exit me, especially in the plural. Yesterday it was the singular, but I was excited none-the-less. It had a US stamp, meaning one of my drawings sent to Broadway had come back….hopefully signed. Indeed it was and a real doozy-my Old Times sketch signs by all three British cast members, Clive Owen, Eve Best and Kelly Reilly. I’m not sure of the etymology of ‘doozy’. I think it can be ‘good’ and ‘bad’. This sums up autograph collecting via the mail. Somedays are great and somedays, not so great. The main meaning is it’s ‘big’ and ‘memorable.’

The Harold Pinter three-hander about the battle for sexual dominance is having it’s Broadway revival at the American Airlines Theatre, directed by fellow Brit and Tony-winner Douglas Hodge to both critical and commercial acclaim. Clive and Kelly were making their debuts on ‘The Great White Way’ and now, also on my theatre sketches. I have had the privilege of seeing Eve on the London stage and she has signed for me, so the Olivier Award-winner was my point of contact. Like her performances her thoughtfulness is top drawer.

Drawing: Dining with Marie Antoinette

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Dining With Marie Antoinette

As you can see by the date on this sketch, it hasn’t happened yet. It is in fact a piece of history yet to take place and I am unashamedly promoting it. London has a long-standing tradition of ‘pub theatre’, incorporating the culinary and theatrical arts, in even longer-standing establishments across the English capital. Truc Vert is not a pub, but it’s about to become part of the tradition. It’s a restaurant, tucked away in Mayfair’s North Audley Street, described as “a little rustic oasis of artisan food and premium wines.” Named after the beach on France’s south west coast, it has the authentic ambience of one of the regions infamous fisherman’s huts and this Saturday it will host some French histrionics… and hospitality with an evening of ‘restaurant theatre’ entitled Dining With Marie Antoinette.

As history reveals, Marie Antoinette was the ill-fated Queen of France. She was a trendsetter, synonymous with big hair and even bigger dresses, who has become a pop culture icon and subject of numerous films, books and songs. Married into the French Royal family at fifteen she became a teen idol in her day and at one point attracted an uncontrollable crowd of 50,000 Parisians, resulting in 30 of them being crushed to death. (Note to self about the dangers of stalking). However, that popularity soon went belly-up when Marie A became Queen at the age of 19, after her husband Louis-Auguste ascended the throne. By all accounts the multi-linguiled Austrian could sing and dance, but was a bit shortsighted when it came to spending on her lavish lifestyle and gambling habits. Actually she was shortsighted, physically as well. The upside of that according to one historian was that it “brought an enchanted, misty glimmer to her large, blue-grey eyes.” The very blue-grey eyes attached to her head that was detached from the rest of her body by the revolting peasants (later to be known as the French Revolution) who decided to cut off her credit with the guillotine at 12.15 pm on the 16th of October 1793. Just desserts for telling them to “eat cake”, a quote attributed to her by mistake. C’est la vie.

What more could the discerning diner want than tasty French cuisine with one of France’s most charismatic characters? This is a quick sketch I drew of Katie Brennan, (Marie), Sam Taylor (Louis XVI) and director Amanda Dales during rehearsals last week. I didn’t get Maria A to sign. Apparently her handwriting is atrocious. So if you love food, theatre and a slice of history catch Marie Antoinette, live on 14 November. Check out www.trucvert.co.uk for details.

Drawing: Tanya Moodie in Joanne

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Tanya Moodie

Olivier-nominated, Canadian-born British actress Tanya Moodie has just completed her solo run in Joanne at London’s Soho Theatre.

Joanne is never seen. She is defined by her absence and elusiveness, existing through the eyes of others, “the sort of troubled, slippery needy person it’s all too easy to ignore”.

Stella, Grace, Alice, Kath and Becky are four characters who come into contact with Joanne during the crucial 24 hour period after her release from prison plus a teacher who remembers the wrong decisions her pupil made.

Five monologues from five different dramatists – Deborah Bruce, Theresa Ikoko, Laura Lomas, Chino Odimba and Ursula Rani – with Tanya performing all roles in a powerful one hour production, commissioned by Clean Break who have, for 36 years been doing important work with women in prisons and at risk.

Critics are unanimous in their response. The Independent’s Paul Taylor summed up the reviews, “Tanya Moodie is terrific in this powerful collaboration”.

Tanya was very generous with her compliments about my drawing. She tweeted it, thanking me and returned it with a kind note. From time to time I receive thank you notes, which is not expected, but always gratefully received. One of the main reasons for doing this blog is to share with others. Many would ask “can we see more of your work” and this the best medium to do just that!

Tanya Moodie Postcard

Drawing: Bill Bryson

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Bill Bryson

My wife Frankie is a big fan of Bill Bryson’s books. She casually mentioned to me sometime ago that if our paths ever crossed, a signed sketch would be nice. Her first request. I did this drawing and filed it away in case our paths crossed.

A casual text this week let me know that the paths could cross yesterday – 5 November – when the UK’s highest selling author of non-fiction would be signing copies of the sequel to his hugely popular book Notes From Small Island.I did not acknowledge the text, but did hatch a plan. A quick search confirmed that indeed Bill would be signing at Stanfords in Central London. The 5th of November also happens to be our wedding anniversary, a good reason to fulfil Frankie’s request.

Born in the US, Bill has spent a large amount of his life living in the UK and was eligible to become a British Citizen many years ago but didn’t sit the citizenship exam because he “was too cowardly to take it.” He eventually plucked up enough courage and recently passed to become a dual-citizen. He even wrote about it in his latest publication The Road To Little Dribbling: More Notes from A Small Island, the very book he was signing and the very reason I went to the famous Long Acre Street bookstore for our paths to meet.

Besides we now had something in common, writing wise. We both wrote enough right answers in our citizenship tests. That’s where the similarity and writing comparison ends. I’ll stick to sketching… oh and reading Bill Bryson.

Bill looks like a really nice fellow, and I’m pleased to say he’s even better in real life. He loved the sketch, which I said was part of my anniversary celebrations, and signed for the both of us. Frankie knew something was up, because I never acknowledged her text so she thought I was on a secret mission to surprise her. There’s no fooling Frankie, but there are ways to remember, remember the 5th of November.