Sketch: Nicole Kidman in Photo 51

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

kidman photo 51

“The instant I saw the photograph my mouth fell open and my pulse began to race.”
This is the second drawing I did of Nicole Kidman as scientist Rosalind Franklin who cracked the DNA code in Anna Ziegler’s PHOTOGRAPH 51, which has just completed its run at London’s Noel Coward Theatre. Her much anticipated return to the West End won her the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress at this week’s award ceremony.

As you can imagine large crowds gathered after each evening performance for Nicole so it was a bit of a mission to get near let alone get anything signed. She was very accommodating but her signature was mostly the quick abbreviated version which is better than nothing at all.

Drawing: Diana Rigg as Emma Peel

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Diana Rigg

Described as one of the UK’s most cherished actors, Dame Diana Rigg, best known to global TV audiences as Emma Peel, the leather catsuit clad sidekick to secret agent John Steed (played by the lat Patrick Macnee) and unofficial undercover operative that fuelled the fantasies of schoolboys around the world in The Avengers.

Her name is a play on the phrase “Man Appeal” or M. Appeal, one of the required elements of the character. In 2002 she was voted the sexiest TV star ever and Michael Parkinson described her in his 1972 interview as the “most desirable woman he ever met” who “radiated a lustrous beauty”.

Not everyone found her appealing, however. In her book and subsequent stage show, No Turn Unstoned in which she revisits actors worst theatrical reviews, including her own nude appearance in A Belard And Heloise; “Miss Rigg is built like a brick basilica with insufficient flying buttresses”.

She left The Avengers to appear in the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) playing the Contessa Teresa “Tracy” Draco di Vicenzo Bond, the only 007 girl to marry the commitment-phone spy.

Dame Diana was at the BFI last Sunday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Emma Peel phenomenon with a discussion after the screening of The Avengers’ episode entitled The House That Jack Built. She signed my sketch of her in her “Peel” days.

Drawing: Monica Bellucci

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Monica Bellucci

“I’m not a Bond girl, I am a Bond woman,” said Monica Bellucci. The 51 year-old Italian actress who became the oldest ‘love interest’ in the James Bond franchise with her role as Lucia Sciarra in the 24th and latest instalment, Spectre. It’s been quite a topic of conversation in the media as the World Premiere was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London last night. Fittingly Monica took the honour from Honor Blackman who played the character with the most sensational name, Pussy Galore opposite Sean Connery in Goldfinger at the age of 38. She thinks we should stop using the term ‘Bond girl’. “Age is just a number like 007,” she said. Even Bond himself, Daniel Craig, who is only three years younger, weighed in, when asked in a recent interview about ‘succumbing to charms of an older woman,’ he replied, “I think you mean the charms of a woman his own age.” He continued by saying that if someone like that wants to be a ‘Bond girl’, you count yourself lucky. I did Monica’s quote when asked ‘why?’ to her comment that “Bond is an amazing man.” She simply said, ” Because he doesn’t exist.”

She certainly didn’t look her age in the flesh, so to speak at the World Prem. The PAs zig-zag the cast and creatives up the wide and long runway which creates a bit of a lottery, but I was fortunate enough to on the zag or more likely the zig for sig where she signed and dedicated my sketch. A fleeting bonding with, like Daniel, a woman my own age.

Drawing: Charlotte Church

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Charlotte Church

It’s Sunday, Church time… Charlotte that is. Her debut film Under Milk Wood was having it’s London premiere at the bohemian Rio Cinema in Hackney. The Kevin Allen helmed adaption of Dylan Thomas’s 1954 radio play and presumably a ‘remodelling’ of the 1972 Burton-Taylor film marked the Welsh singer’s first foray into film acting and she was scheduled to appear along with the lead, fellow Welsh person Rhys Ifans. It’s a peculiar story (a bit like this one) about a day in the life of a small, Welsh fishing village called Llareggub (read it backwards).

I drew this sketch of Charlotte, so had a pretty good idea of what she looks like. Loitering with intent outside the theatre, which had no barriers or carpet, security or even people of like-mind. I waited for her to arrive. What I didn’t know was that on Friday she had dyed her hair purple and appeared on a UK TV show saying it was her ‘mermaid’ look for a couple of days until it washed out. I was not looking for purple locks and it was only when I checked with one of the leaving paps who showed me his pics that I realised I had missed her.

The film started, so I thought I would ask a friendly person who looked like someone who would know if Charlotte was staying for the entire film. He didn’t know. “Are you a friend?” he asked. “Not yet,” I quipped. “Where are you from?” he continued. Now there are various ways of answering that. I simply gave him my country of origin, then said I would come back when the movie ended, to which he indicated that they would have no time as he had to rush her away. He did inquire about my purpose. A fair and reasonable question.

Now this is a genetic flaw in my make up – my denial that I am an ‘autograph collector’. It’s difficult admitting that, so the question went unanswered. Clearly I was not making a good impression. I then stationed myself outside the cinema. He and some of the others, who obviously had something to do with the evening’s event left for a local restaurant. The film finished and everyone exited, including Charlotte and her purple hair. No sign of my interrogator. Bonus… so I moved my way through the leaving patrons and asked Charlotte if she wouldn’t mind signing my sketch. She was really nice and liked the drawing. While she was signing it, I asked her about the film. She simply said “It’s cooooool”, like her really.

Drawing: Michael Fassbender

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

michael fassbender

“I’m poorly made,” says Michael Fassbender in his title role as the mercurial tech giant Steve Jobs in Danny Boyle’s latest atypical biopic of the Apple co-founder. The film, simply titled Steve Jobs closed this year’s BFI London Film Festival with Michael attending. can perfect world-altering products yet clearly struggles with people, hence the reference and pivotal piece of dialogue. The film on the other hand is not poorly made, opening to critically-acclaim and talk of awards. It’s early in the season, but Micheal appears to be the frontrunner to collect the giant share of gongs, including the covered Oscar. And the Irish-German actor himself is clearly not poorly made as evidenced by the number of swooning women from all nationalities packed into the pen with me at the premiere at the Odeon in Leicester Square. Three young Italian students …no, three young EXUBERANT Italian students, obviously perm-virgins in particular, hell-bent on getting a selfie with the star, that were proving a potential pitfall in my plans to get Michael’s sig on my sketch. But every crowd has a silver lining, because he wasn’t going to miss them, they were not the ignoring type. It was just a matter of positioning and patience…. oh, yes, and crucially, the placing my drawing in the hands of a fellow, male grapher in the front row. Michael is pretty laid back and very accommodating at these events. This situation was made for such demeanour. In the whirlwind that followed, we all achieved our goals. The young, now over exuberant Italian students squealed with delight, spouting pause-deprived sentences, occasionally punctuated with the word ‘Fassbender’, followed by even higher-pitched shrieks as they worked frantically on their mobiles’ contact lists to send the images to a global audience, while I can quietly head home and post this for you guys.

Drawing: Rachel Weisz

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

rachel weisz

It’s Weisz as in ‘vice’, which sums up my hobby of collecting signed sketches in a nutshell. It’s the correct way to say Rachel’s surname and if it’s with an hungarian accent even more correct. The quinessential ‘English Rose’, as she is often described and the 127th actress to receive the Academy Award ( to show off my trivia knowledge) was busy this week with two Gala screenings at the BFI London Film Festival, for The Lobster and Youth.This doubled my chances of getting my drawing signed. Rachel has signed a drawing I did of her in her Olivier Award-winning role as Blanche Dubois in the Donmar Warehouse production of A streetcar Named Desire a few years ago. That graph was a ‘full’ one with every letter recognisable because she did it sitting quietly in her dressing-room. In the heat of battle at a Premiere the sig become more streamlined with more flow than definition due to the demand and time constraint. Getting a dedication is a bonus. But all went swimmingly as the English say. I managed to get it signed at the first outing with an inscription and a heart…or maybe that’s an ice cream cone. Either way she was happy and I was happy.

Drawing: Rooney Mara

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Rooney Mara

Fresh from winning the Best Actress award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for her role as Therese Belivet a young, aspiring photographer who falls for an older, married woman in Carol, Rooney Mara walked the red carpet at the Gala Screening of the film at the BFI London Film Festival last night. The film received a ‘standing O’ at Cannes and is tipped for more honours.

The umbrella is a mandatory accessory at the London Festival, making regular appearances on the red carpet during the 12 days. This year it has been a notable absentee…until last night. Passing showers threatened to put the kibosh on collecting graphs as the mandatory accessories were in full use, resembling a Mary Poppins Convention. But Rooney’s timed her arrival nicely between the precipitation and I happened to be positioned in the right place as she got out of the car and signed for me with a nice little dedication.

Drawing: Saoirse Ronan

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Saoirse Ronan It’s hard enough to spell ‘Saoirse’ let alone pronounce it. Even as I type it, a red line appears underneath, so even spell-check has concerns. The few drops of Gaelic in my blood composition isn’t enough to enable me to roll it off the tongue. It would be more rogue than brogue. I’m not alone. In fact there’s a YouTube video devoted to correctly pronouncing her name and many an interviewer broaches the subject as a rule rather than the exception. Saoirse herself says it’s pronounced ‘Sersha’ like ‘inertia’, although she said some Irish say ‘Searsha’. Either way it means ‘freedom’. The 21 year-old was born in the Bronx in New York City to Irish parents, but grew up in Ireland’s County Carlow, spending a great deal of it on film sets with her father, so her career path seemed inevitable. She came to prominance as the eccentric 13 year-old aspiring novelist Briony Tallis in Joe Wright’s Atonement in 2007, earning BAFTA, Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.

On Sunday she was presenting a screen talk as part of this year’s BFI London Film Festival, before attending the premiere of her latest film Brooklyn the next day. A civilised crowd of us lined up to greet her at the back of the BFI on London’s South Bank, discussing how to pronounce her name when she arrives. ‘Ms Ronan’ seemed proper and easier, not that she needed reminding of her name and why we were gathered. But that didn’t stop the more vocal collectors calling out a number of verbal variations. She got the picture and it didn’t really matter how to say or spell it because she doesn’t seem bothered and doesn’t include it as part of her sig anyway.

Drawing: Terry Gilliam

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

terry gilliam

“One of the most multifaceted visionary talents alive,” is how the London Literature Festival organisers described one of the most, if not the most multifaceted visionary talents alive, the one and only Terrance Vance Gilliam, who appeared for the one-off Inside The Head Of Terry Gilliam evening at the Royal Festival Hall this week. The man, who apparently has the nickname ‘Captain Chaos’ and first found fame as a member of the surreal cult comedy troupe Monty Python before creating 12 memorable feature films has also been labelled ‘half genius, half madman.’ Jeff Bridges, who has appeared in several of Terry’s films has described him as “an ‘ancient child’…’child’ because he has retained the optimism, playfullness and bewilderment of a kid and ‘ancient’ because there is a timeless, wizard vibe about him.”

I did this quick portrait of Terry, but it’s a bit daunting giving a fellow artist a drawing, especially one of his stature. Anyway I do have one thing in common, we are both the same height, physically that is. He once said he used to have this reoccurring dream that he was flying – not a high flyer, but darting about, close to the ground, ‘below the radar’ as he put it. I know all about keeping low. When he eventually exited through the stage door, or as The Royal Festival Hall people call it, the ‘Artist’s Entrance’, there were a few loyal disciples left to greet him. When I showed him my sketch, he asked “Did you do that?” A number of possible answers in anticipation of a number of possible responses flashed through my head, so I simply, almost apologitically said “guilty”…I mean, “yes.” To which he said, ” I look pretty good, thank you,” and duely signed it.

Drawing: Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeney Todd

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

helena bc

I drew this minimal fine line sketch of Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs Lovett in Tim Burton’s film version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street for the 2007 Premiere,but never got it signed. Subsequently, Helena has signed another drawing I did, but this one has, for reasons that became clear yesterday, always stayed in my folder over the years.

I headed to the opening of this year’s BFI London Film Festival yesterday afternoon at the Odeon in Leicester Square, where Suffragette was screening, with Helena attending along with Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan. I hadn’t intended ‘bothering’ Helena again, but the red carpet was invaded by the ‘Sisters Uncut’ action group, protesting against the government cuts in the service for domestic violence victims, which blocked the middle of the red carpet. Helena had just arrived, so while the various authorities tried to sort out the interruption, she was kept down at the drop-off point and had more time to sign. I then remembered the Sweeney sketch was still on my personage…obviously a sign to sign and she did and in a variation I didn’t have in my collection-‘HBCr.’ When asked about the protest, Helena said, “Perfect…if you feel strong enough about something and there’s an injustice you can speak out and try to get something changed, “…an apt synopsis of the film really.