****Competition has now closed****

If you follow Derren on Twitter you may be aware by now that he has just passed the one million follower mark.

To celebrate the occasion, DB has devised an ingenious competition with the prize being a trip to The Ivy in London for dinner with Derren.

Watch the video below for full details (Your entry must be made via Twitter, not in the comments below!):

****Competition has now closed****

Derren: Number was 758 031 (looked at my Mac and noted time & date when I thought of competition & needed a number. 7:58 on 3 Jan).
Found a few that are close. Will keep looking later & announce winner.

‘Michael Sheen’ – acrylic on canvas 2011

I have known Michael for a little while, and recently went to see his Hamlet, directed by Ian Rickson and currently running at the New Vic. It’s phenomenal. Afterwards we had dinner and Michael spoke at length about what he and Ian had done with the play and why. A couple of weeks later we met again, I cooked an appalling piece of chicken and we asked him about his Passion, a mammoth modern unfurling of the Christ story spread across the streets and beaches of Port Talbot (an industrial port and market town where he grew up, and which has also produced Rob Brydon, Anthony Hopkins and Richard Burton). Michael is deeply energised about his work, and if the formula for success is TALENT + ENERGY (as noted by my manager, who added wisely that the formal for stardom is SUCCESS + ATTITUDE) then Michael radiates them powerfully. He’s surely one of the most extraordinary actors of our generation, and possesses a phenomenal creative drive without any of the exhausting ego that normally accompanies mere dull ambition.

So, as I tend to paint people that I know and find extraordinary, I asked if he would mind awfully. A bit over a week later, interrupted by Christmas of course, and tweeted in its various stages, the large (it’s five foot high) portrait above was completed. For those who do not tweet, or for those who do but who might like to see the sequence together, and above all for those who give a jot because they paint and are interested in the process, I shall set it out as best as I can. Here then, is how it came together:

I prefer to work from photographs, so wherever possible I take my own. I can create a makeshift photographic studio in my painting room, so I took a bunch of Michael to work from. Ultimately I decide on one, tweak it in Lightroom to look its best, and print it out large (I have an A2 printer which does the job very well). He’s looking rather shaggy at the moment because of the role which he undertakes every night (a far cry from his shiny Tony Blair), which I knew would make the picture more interesting.

I then began the portrait by sketching directly onto the canvas:

Next, I block in some colour to set a unifying tone for the picture. Orange is a good one for flesh, but it can be anything, depending on the palette that the photograph suggests. The idea is then to let this blocked colour peep through as the layers of colour are built up. You want to make sure that every inch of the picture is interesting. With a good painting, you can generally make a little tube with your hand and look through it at tiny, isolated areas of canvas and they will all be of interest. There’ll always be stuff going on. The way to do this is by building up layers of colour. So we begin with orange:

And just enough of the sketch is left showing through to work with as a guide. Black paint does the job better than pencil, but I’ve kind of gotten used to using pencil. But use black paint to sketch of you’re using this method (and obviously white to erase).

Then next I get the shape of the features in, and the areas of light and dark. This is about sculpting the face and also getting down some basic colour – all things which will keep showing through as I add layers. For this reason I paint thinly, or rather with a fairly dry brush. I don’t want to lose what’s behind the colour I’m adding. Later on I’ll use glazes (a small dash of colour with a larger amount of a transparent glazing medium) to the same effect – but for now, thin layers that keep the orange showing:

And I’ve started to get some colour into the background too. The orange will provide some unity – you want to make sure that the colours you’re using for the subject are also in the background, so the two relate to each other. Otherwise you can sometimes have a figure that fights uncomfortably with what’s behind it. The left side of the face (our left as we look at it) has a purply tone, whereas the right side is warmer, so I’ve started to get those colours in too.

The process is now largely one of alternating between detail and sculpting (and using fairly strong colours and contrasts to do so) and then pulling everything back by going over it all with some fleshy tones (pulled out from what I’m already using) that soften and unify. I also get some colour on the shirt, as I want to include the same colours in all areas. Again, because I’m working with fairly thin paint, it’s easy to do this: it’s best to use as few colours as possible on your palette and create others from mixing them: that way you keep a sense of overall unity, which is one of the qualities that will make it feel ‘real’. The purple, for example, that is appearing in his forehead will come to be used on the face, the shirt and the background.

Next I added some detail around the eyes and threw in a bloody background. I often add the premature detail at this point to trick the eye into thinking it’s more complete than it is, and to give me more of a sense of where it is headed. The background was an idea I wanted to try, but I would eventually lose it. At the moment it works OK:

but I realised that I wanted to create some depth with the image, so the background would have to be less sharp and more muted. So with some glaze and a bit of white I brought the background back a bit and worked on the hair detail to put some distance between the two. I’m also continuing to add detail, and areas of colour, and then bring it all back with some unifying colour brushed over the top. That means that I can have, say, the purple in the right side of the nose, but still make it sit with the yellowy creaminess of that side by then brushing or glazing over with a flesh tone. The hair is quite fun to do.

It now has some definition.

Next, I start the shirt. By this point the purple has become very useful (and I could have used that rather than the orange to cover the canvas), so I’m sure to include it in the shirt. I’ve been mixing the purple with a burnt umber to get the darkest/black shade (you don’t want to use flat black, it is lifeless and just looks like a hole in the painting) and some grey mixed in. The result is the basis of a grey shirt, but it still occupies the same tonal world as everything else. I also work more on the hair and am continuing to work on detail. I also soften the nose to make sure that it feels like it’s sticking out of the canvas: it would be slightly out of focus (the photo is all rather sharp so I’m exaggerating the depth a little as I paint) so by softening it, it will lift itself from the face.

At this point, something is bothering me. It’s looking like an illustration rather than a painting. There’s something ‘drawn’ about it. This may be the hair, as whatever frames the face will provide a context for it, and as the hair looks rather cartoony, it’s making the whole thing feel less like a proper portrait. There’s something else too – the background isn’t helping. It’s too… distracting, making it all seem like a comic-book graphic rather than a portrait. So I decide to lose the background. I first get some colour blocked onto it…

And then white thinly over to move towards a light background (but one that will incorporate and reflect the colours of the face for the sake of unity). I’ve also lost the edges of the hair, which will mean I can re-do them with a softness that will help lose the cartoonish quality I don’t want. So now we have this:

And with the hair added, I’m happier. I’m painting ‘background’ and ‘foreground’ hair to get depth. The hair at the back is soft and purply, which blends it into the background a little, and then I pick out some individual, light-catching strands in the front.

The remaining process is principally now one of softening the background. I use a big brush and a lot of glaze. Here’s me working on a bit of hair detail at this point so you can get a sense of the scale.

Finally, I put a bit more work into the shirt (it was tempting to leave it in an unfinished state to draw more attention to the face) and soften the focus a little where necessary (by losing edges and working the background a little into the parts I want to soften). And there we are. It took about a week, but that’s a few hours here and there and stopping for Christmas… difficult to qualify exactly how many hours of painting time were involved, and it’s invaluable to leave a painting standing around and come back to it.

I hope you like it. To answer a few questions about it which came up on Twitter: no, I haven’t had any training; I use Liquitex Professional Acrylics (Heavy Body); and no, this isn’t for Michael, although I’ll do him a nice print if he wants one. Yes, I exhibit: The Rebecca Hossack Gallery in Charlotte St, London, looks after my work. Any time I have an exhibition, I publicise it here on the blog and on Twitter. As I generally get fairly little time to paint, it’s normally only one small exhibition a year. But I’ll always let you know. A recent post shows a couple of other portraits, and there are some older ones on the main site. There is also a book available of the caricatures I used to paint.

Michael’s coming over soon to view it – I’ll post a picture of him with it when he does.

There you are. Hope you’re all having lovely ones.

db x

“Channel 4 is to become the first advertiser to take over every digital screen on the London underground with a New Year’s Eve campaign featuring 16 stars including Jamie Oliver, Zooey Deschanel and Gordon Ramsay.

The campaign, which showcases next year’s Channel 4′s shows, will include three 40-second video clips of its TV stars becoming “increasingly more debauched” over the course of the night.

The “party carriage” video clips – which feature stars including Derren Brown, Alan Carr, Jon Snow and Kirstie Allsopp as “unlikely tube fellows” – aim to mimic a typical commuter using the tube to get to, and from, New Year’s Eve parties.

The videos will run from 6am on 31 December until “early morning” on 1 January.

Channel 4 said the first video clip will see its stars travelling on the tube “side by side, minding their own business, on their way to their respective big nights out”.

Later on, the scene will change and become “increasingly more debauched featuring Channel 4 stars looking slightly the worse for wear”.

Digital poster panels on escalators will appear to show Channel 4 talent travelling alongside commuters to catch the tube.”

Read more at The Guardian

Just a quick post to let you all know that Svengali will be coming to Aylesbury from the 28th May 2012 through to 2nd June 2012.

Tickets go on sale Thursday 22nd Dec.

You can find a list of other 2012 tour dates at http://derrenbrown.co.uk/tour-dates/svengali/

And here’s a better shot of the painting itself:

They’re acrylic on canvas. I’ve also been back and worked on the portrait of my father. Here it is, about the same size (5ft high) as the one of James:

and, for those who enjoy such things, a bit of detail:

Next up is actor friend Michael Sheen. I’ve taken a few shots and I’m about to get started. (I always take my own photographs and work quietly from them in my own time, as I only get a few hours here and there to paint). I’ll let you know when it’s done. What a great guy to paint. I can’t wait.

There are a few more pictures of portraits (including some of the older caricatures of Rufus Wainwright, Tom Waits, Clint Eastwood et al) on the artwork page of the main site. I’ll let you know here next time I have an exhibition: should be one next year somewhere.

Right, Merry Christmasses or just Happy Holidays, depending on whatnot. Ta-ta for now.

dx

If you head over to Channel 4′s website for the Experiments you will be able to see an exclusive interview in which Derren explains where the ideas behind the show came from.

Click the link below to view:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/derren-brown/articles/derren-brown-on-channel-4

Leave your thoughts on the show in the comments section below, or click here to watch a sneak preview

Derren is planning to take a theatre show to New York towards the end of 2012.

Whilst, at this stage, we have no further details, we are asking if you would be interested in seeing Derren perform live in New York.

If this is the case, then do yourself a favour and sign up to the exclusive mailing list that we have created. This way you will be the first to get further information should the performances go ahead.

Click here to sign up

Here’s a recent Interview with Derren that appeared in The Times a couple of weeks ago which some of you may have missed.

Note from Derren: I do NOT iron my jeans. No idea where that came from.

The Illusionist Derren Brown tells Stefanie March how he has always felt a bit different.

Is Derren Brown a normal bloke who surrounds himself with eccentric things, or is he a weirdo as well? His former writing partner once described him as “genuinely odd” and, certainly, there are a lot of dead animals in his apartment. The few live ones are a blue parakeet and a handful of multicoloured fish. The dead ones include a pickled baby chimp and a spaniel that lies placidly at the foot of a living room armchair next to an equally dead Yorkshire terrier.

The whole set-up sounds weird. But does it feel it? The answer, I’m sorry to say is no. It’s the kind of pad that The World of Interiors would smile approvingly on for its “modern twist on Victoriana. “Are you weird?” I ask Brown. “Maybe I am,” Brown says. “I think we all think we are a bit odd. I think it’s a very difficult thing to gauge. I know I kind of like a lot of odd things, but it’s not like when you’re out the door there are five weird things I have to do.”

He does, though, wear clothes that are weirdly conventional when compared to his home deco. His jeans, for example, have been ironed. The “low-level stalkery types” he tends to attract are presumably drawn by his authoritative manner on TV. I fear that they wouldn’t find him domineering enough in real life. His voice, though exceptionally pleasant, is different too: it tends to crack unexpectedly mid-word, the way it probably used to as a teenager but which he would never allow on TV.

According to his fans, Brown’s two best shows to date are The Heist (Brown secretly primes a group of executives to carry out an armed robbery) and Hero at 30,000 Feet, in which a young underconfident man named Matt is plucked from his obscure unfulfilled life by Brown, who then sets about turning Matt’s life around through covert suggestion, bullshit artistry, scare tactics and neurolinguistic programming.

No matter which of his shows you are watching, the question “What would I have done?” remains the same. Would you steal from a newsagent if an authority figure told you to? Would you trample all over your own morals in the name of self improvement? The answer is usually yes. In the end the general public are revealed to be self-serving, backbone-less sheep. So it’s odd that he describes himself as a “joyful sceptic”. If I were him I would be a depressive cynic. “Cynical feels like a negative thing. I just end up feeling how extra-ordinary we are as creatures that these things are so reliable. It’s always astonishing how easily things fall into place. Sometimes it’s almost too convenient.”

Whatever your level of Derren Brown fascination, you now have a chance to hone it. When I met him he had just finished his latest series, a set of empirical sociological experiments in which he finds out how easily his never-ending supply of willing volunteers can be manipulated. The series, called The Experiments, started last night with The Assassin, in which Brown used hypnosis to try to programme an unwitting participant to kill a major UK celebrity. The second episode, The Gameshow, is partly inspired by his distaste for mob culture. he feels it has particular relevance after the riots. The idea for this episode came to him after a friend of his attended an X Factor audition. “…and a girl with Down’s syndrome came out and the audience were just booing and taking the piss – stuff you would never do. And yet, suddenly, when there’s a big crowd of people, that behaviour comes out.” Pivotal in the programme is “a guy who is being secretly filmed; he is a genuine unwitting participant. And the audience are making decisions about what happens to this guy. He is going about his normal life and the audience have a choice; either they can make a nice decision or a nasty decision, and we’d create these stunts.” Brown’s psychological expertise told him that the mob would be included to take the nastier route: “Which is exactly what happened.”

Whatever happened to Matt, by the way? We left him at the end of Hero planning to chuck in his boring clerical job to be a policeman. Matt, Brown tells me, is retraining as a teach. And “he’s moved in with his girlfriend… sorted himself out – I helped him out with that.”

Helped him how? “The financial side of that,” comes the unexpected answer.

Is it usual for television presenters to lend or give money to former volunteers on their shows? “I’ve always had a huge duty of care,” is his explanation. It is also obvious that he relates to Matt’s insularity. We will understand why when we look at his own past.

His younger self cuts a slightly heartbreaking figure; a solitary boy beset by all sorts of nervous ticks. He still can’t get rid of what he calls his “noddy thing” (he nods in a ticky way fairly frequently), but as a child he sniffed, twitched, strained compulsively. “My parents were just despairing; ‘Why do you have to do it?’ “Were they worried? “Well, it can be quite antisocial” The sniffing could be quite loud.” He remembers as a teenager being taken to see Alfred Brendel perform. “And – o God! I remember just piercing the atmosphere with proper kind of schrnggghhh!” He impersonates a noisy sniff” …these proper kind of big sniffs I had to do. Imagine having to sit next to someone who does that! Having to sit next to someone who breathes heavily is annoying enough. It’s awful.”

“I was very precocious and very charming. I wasn’t a weird kid, but my brother’s nine years younger than me and I had a long period on my own. I was quite sort of bright at school and sort of precocious. I think that’s a common thread with other kids that are a bit ticky, it just passes.”

The need to impress other people, however, did not pass for ages. Nor did the weakness for dodgy clothing: “I was wearing cloaks and that sort of things.” A part of him still hankers after the old Brown, who used to channel “a bad Spandau Ballet sort of gay leisure pirates aesthetic”. And, to his surprise, the new Brown has recently found himself wearing cravats in homage to the old, insecure, exhibitionistic Brown, who read law and German at Bristol but was diverted by magic. He was doing a gig a week; that was his life. “I was living the lifestyle of a …I dunno …a flaneur and I miss that a bit.” A longstanding urge for a bejewelled cane has also resurfaced of late.

A commissioning editor spotted him doing his magic in Bristol and asked him to do something for TV. From then on he worked very hard for about a decade. For most of that time he was also single, of non-specific sexuality. “I was Christian for many years and it did touch on that ‘healing homosexuals within’ thing. I think you can easily look for things, anything to encourage the idea that it’s going to pass. So that was most of my twenties. And I think part of the elaborately maintained solitary poetic existence was a bit of a way of just avoiding the whole question.”

Why avoid it? “The religious thing and that slight potential that it could be cured as well. I read a couple of the books – it all kind of made sense. There are undoubtedly some psychological patterns involved and I was like: ‘Yeah, oh yeah! That story of not getting on well with my father and then sort of feeling a bit alienated from other boys at school and not quite fitting in.’ There are these sort of patterns but whether they exist because you are gay or whether they make you gay, this is the big point.”

Even his close friends didn’t know whether he was gay or straight and they didn’t ask him. “If you present an austere or eccentric personality, it’s easy for people to think: ‘You just don’t have that sort of conversation with him: he’s too richly fascinatingly different from the rest of us.’”

Didn’t he want a relationship? “I was pretty much celibate and hoping it would pass. It was really like a dark cloud …something I was a bit embarrassed about, or not sure about, so always hoping it isn’t going to be the case …and then by the time you realise it is, then it’s sort of like: ‘Uuuurgh.’ You get into a routine of not talking about it, and that can become part of your life.”

Magic, he says, “is the quickest, most fraudulent route to impressing people and normally born out of a lack of social skills. You’re hiding behind it. I don’t like showing people tricks in real life now, whereas I used to have to do it all the time. I grew out of it. I think that’s it. I think part of it is becoming a bit famous and well known and that takes care of it. You don’t have to try to be impressive any more.”

Eventually, at a strategically organised dinner party, he met the man he is with now (he is only Brown’s third boyfriend). They have been together for five years. For his 30th birthday Brown is taking him to South America. “I think our relationship seems to be about making each other piss ourselves with laughter. I never thought that’s what a relationship would be.”

The future? The other day Trevor Nunn vaguely punted a Prospero role and he can imagine himself doing some acting. But “without sounding sort of horrendous, I’ve always felt that ultimately my motives are actually quite selfish. I’ve never had any ambition with work. When I think about what I want to be doing, I always have this slightly camp holiday experience in my head: Hannibal Lecter say in some piazza somewhere drinking wine and relaxing somewhere.”

“Hannibal Lecter. That’s a weird role model,” I say.

He laughs. “I think it’s that kind of aesthete. I think that’s the bubbling drive underneath.”

I don’t think Derren Brown is weird, although I’d like to talk to him some more about morality of what he does. He started out a magician, now he’s turning into a sociologist – only his volunteers are not anonymous. They are almost always revealed to be very human, in ways that most of us wish we were not.