Drawing: Brigitte Bardot

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Brigitte Bardot, widely referred to simply by her initials, was an icon of the 1950s and 1960s – the ‘chic unique’ was the original sex kitten. What set her apart was a combination of her eyes, pout and attitude which I tried to capture in this quick sketch.

Brigitte has such a distinctive graph… as you would expect and is always very obliging when requested for an autograph. I sent her this sketch recently, wishing her a happy 80th birthday. It came back, signed, in next to no time.

Globally adored, Brigitte was the first continental actress to achieve Hollywood fame. During the 1960s she and Marilyn Monroe were the most celebrated pin ups of their day. Time magazine called her, ‘the princess of pout, the countess of come-hither… Brigitte Bardot exuded a carefree naive sexuality.”

After retiring from films, Brigitte has devoted her life to animal activism, establishing her Foundation in the mid 1980s and remains outspoken and controversial for her cause.

Sketch: Sir Ben Kingsley

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I had just sent this sketch of Sir Ben Kingsley to him for signing literally on the same day I wen to the third instalment of the Night At The Museum franchise European premiere at the Empire in London’s Leicester Square. Guess who turned up? He plays Ahkmenrah’s father in the film, so I missed getting him to sign the drawing in person, where he was his usual obliging self signing for everyone.

In a career spanning over 40 years, Sir Ben has won an Oscar Grammey, BAFTA, two Golden Globes and Screen Actor’s Guild Awards to become one of Britain’s most celebrated actors. He was knighted in 2002, telling the Queen at the ceremony at Buckingham Palace that, “winning an Oscar pales into insignificance – this is insurmountable.”

I didn’t have to wait long. The sketch arrived back, signed and dedicated the following week.

Drawing: Angelina Jolie

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I first met a relatively unknown Angelina Jolie at a FoxSearchlight function in early 2000, during the annual ShoWest Convention in Las Vegas. She was promoting her latest film, GIRL, INTERRUPTED which had just been released in December 1999. As it turned out it was to be her breakthrough year, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the sociopath mental patient Lisa Rowe in the film. Critic Roger Ebert said of her performance, “Jolie is emerging as one of the great wild spirits of current movies, a loose cannon who somehow has deadly aim.”

Since then she has had more hits than misses. Angelina recently announced she would be spending more time behind the camera in future, concentrating on a fledgling directing career. Her latest offering is the WW2 epic UNBROKEN, which had its UK Premiere at the Odeon in London’s Leicester Square last night (25.11.14). I’ve sketched Angelina a few times and like many other drawings, have carried them around in the ever increasing folder ‘just in case’. She is an excellent signer and there have been numerous opportunities to get them graphed, but somehow it never happened. This particular rendering looks unfinished, but I liked the minimal lines-just enough to ‘capture’ her without having to overdraw to create a representation. In spite of the inclement November weather and a very tight timetable, Angelina, as usual, did ‘the line’, signing as many as possible, including my portrait with the few lines, before disappearing into the cinema for the screening.

Drawing: Jackie Chan

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer, stunt performer, all-round good guy and cultural icon Jackie Chan signed this sketch for me at his Hong Kong production studios.

I missed him recently at the BFI in London. He was so popular it was impossible to get his graph – much easier to mail it. Thanks, Jackie.

Drawing: Chef James Martin, Saturday Kitchen

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Whenever I can, I get my culinary kicks watching BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, either live or the ‘Best Bites’ – a selection of the best bits of the show hosted by popular TV chef James Martin. With 3.5million watching, I’m not alone, but I’m probably the only one to have my original 4B pencil sketch signed by him.

Drawing: ‘Doc’ Martin Clunes

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Martin Clunes plays one of my favourite TV characters in Doc Martin, the successful vascular surgeon who develops haemophobia (fear of blood) forcing him to stop practicing surgery. He obtains a GP position in the sleepy Cornish village of Portwenn.

He won a BAFTA TV award playing Gary Strang in the British sitcom Men Behaving Badly alongside Neil Morrissey who played Tony Smart, Leslie Ash and Caroline Quentin.

The beer-swilling, burping, foul-mouthed house mates Tony and Gary reunited for the first time in fifteen years this month as part of a night to raise funds for testicular cancer research in a one off comedy skit “Feeling Nuts”.

He was a really nice guy to meet and happily signed my sketch after the London premiere of Nativity 3: Dude Where’s My Donkey?!, at the Vue in Leicester Square on Sunday. I asked Martin what he was working on and he said “Arthur and George,” a three part TV adaption of Julian Barnes novel of the same title, based on an intriguing series of genuine events in the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the celebrated novelist and physician who created Sherlock Holmes.

By the way, ‘Doc’ Martin actually has a doctorate – an honorary one from Bournemouth University.

Drawing: Mackenzie Crook in Jerusalem

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Mackenzie Crook is probably best known from TV’s The Office and Game of Thrones, or as Ragetti in the Pirates of the Caribbean Films.

A fellow illustrator and cartoonist, but it was his comedy sketches that dictated his career more. He wanted to be a graphic artist, but after being turned down three times by the Kent Institute of Art & Design he became a comedian alongside Iain Lee as ‘the cheeky, chirpy, chappy Charlie Cheese from Chorley’.

It was his stage work that gave me the opportunity to meet him. He received rave reviews as Ginger in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem which transferred from London’s Royal Court Theatre in August 2009 to the Apollo in the West End before a stint on Broadway where he was nominated for the Tony award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

I drew this minimal line sketch of Mackenizie and met him at the Apollo stage door, where his sketches illustrated the Jerusalem programme. I gave him a copy of this sketch, which he then asked me to sign – a first for a sig-seeking-sketching-stalker.

As a teenager he inherited a rare breeding pair of Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoises, leading to a hobby of breeding chelonians (the scientific name for turtles and the such like). I used to have a turtle called Algernon or ‘Algae’ for short cos he was green! Another conversation point, but that’s another story. He did uses his turtles in the play!

Drawing: Gemma Arterton in Made in Dagenham at the Adelphi Theatre

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Bond girl and BAFTA nominated Brit actress Gemma Arterton is currently on stage playing Rita O’Grady, the lead in the new musical Made in Dagenham which started previews earlier this month and opens at London’s Adelphi Theatre on 5 November.

Based on the film of the same name, it tells the story of sexual discrimination at the Ford car plant in Dagenham, Essex and the 1968 sewing machinists’ strike in which 850 female workers took on the might of the motoring giant and the corruption of the union supposed to protect them.

Directed by Olivier Award winner Rupert Goold, it is written by Richard Bean with music by Bond composer David Arnold and lyrics by Richard Thomas.

Gemma has always been very generous with signing my theatre drawings, from The Little Dog Laughed at the Garrick, The Master Builder at the Almeida, and The Duchess of Malfi at the Globe. However, after the first Saturday evening performance of Dagenham, the large gathering of ‘graphers at the stage door were told, “programmes and tickets only”.

This was the first time I had sketched Gemma in lead – previously only in ink in various applications – so I was keen to have it signed. True to form, she did make an execption for the sketch and signed it for me. If the audience are anything to go by, the show will be a smash hit. It is booked to run until March next year.

Drawing: Brad Pitt

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

This is another one of those sketches that I’ve carried around in my folder ‘just in case’. Obviously in this case, in case I bump into Brad Pitt. I can’t remember when I did it and could probably draw a better and more updated one, but for some reason I liked it and thought it captured him at the time whenever that was. A few ‘just in case’ moments arrived and went without success, until yesterday at the final night gala screening of his latest film, the WWII epic Fury at the BFI London Film Festival in Leicester Square, London.

As expected he generously signed for the entire line, which was immense given his popularity. This time I managed to get to the front line (appropriate given the film’s genre) near the drop off point. As with his ‘graphs at the World War Z premiere (the ones I saw, but didn’t manage to get!), Brad’s taken to signing in a large spirit based calligraphic marker to ‘draw’ his distinctive BP monogram. He apologised for not dedicating, “just too many to do,” but gave a nod of approval for the sketch.

I said to a fellow front liner next to me, “it’s a long day for one sig,” to which he replied, “it’s even longer if you don’t get one.”

Indeed.

Drawing: Reese Witherspoon

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

It’s the BFI London Film Festival time, signalling the start of the British Monsoon Season. 248 films, 17 venues, 12 days, 1 Festival, 600mm of rain!

Was I keen to attempt to get Reese Witherspoon’s ‘graph through the drops? Would it, in fact, even be possible? I umm-ed and ahhh-ed, watching the continuous rain come down. You can check out the live feed from a camera on the Radisson Hotel. The lens was covered in water so I couldn’t tell if the pens were full of people yet.

Did the sketch in a few minutes, thinking I would pull pin on the pursuit. Had a granny nap, woke up at 5 past 5, went on auto-pilot and found myself on the train and in Leicester Square at six for a 7.15pm film start. Ultra late, but in luck. A spot was available right near the drop off point.

As the rain got heavier I quickly prepared plastic protection for the sketch. Reese’s car arrived moments later and she was on the right side – brilliant timing and positioning. She popped out, came straight over, thanked us all for coming out in this weather and said, “Oh, what a lovely drawing,” and signed and dedicated it with minimal damage from the weather before moving on to do media.