King Fisher

Here we have Jeremy Wade, biologist, angler, explorer and host of River Monsters, which has recently been doing the rounds on ITV. Having never gone fishing in my life, such a programme would not be considered standard fare for me at all – I can’t even remember how I discovered it, but it’s surely testament to Wade’s unbridled passion, and skill as presenter and teacher, that I’ve found myself returning many times. His decades of adventures and research, undertaken long before the cameras started rolling, are the bedrock of the show; there’s much to listen to and learn from, in many aspects.

With this unexpected pleasure, and noting our man’s piercing blue eyes and striking appearance (which certainly is an additional pull… I shan’t make any crude comments about rods or tackle, though) I thought he’d make a fine portrait, and noting that I’ve not done one for a few weeks now, why ever not?

This is the third (serious) attempt, across as many days, at trying to capture Jeremy. There were many hurdles – actually, I think just about every area was troublesome this time. Curse Jezza for having such a distinctive mug! I think the biggest challenges were the lines, and nailing the surrounding values – the features look great on Jeremy, but I was having a very difficult time keeping him from looking twice his sixty years. This sort of thing often (always) happens, suggesting I need to focus on it more than I am… in the end, I not only went over crazily with highlights but also had to rely on adjustments, tweaking values to try and remedy the contrast as much as I could, to throw less of an insult at the poor man. It worked a wonder of a rescue, really; though he’s still not as handsome as the real deal, I can see a lot more of Jeremy Wade and not Alan Sugar, who to my horror I feared was coming through at one early stage.

While in confession mode, I also cheated a bit more, utilising Photoshop’s ever amusing Liquify tool to move bits and basically give Jeremy a nose and chin job; his facial shape was slightly but off-puttingly out, and so needed fixing, lest it drove me bonkers. In summing up all this wittering: thank goodness for Photoshop. And Jeremy Wade is charming.

I shall retire in the hope that my drawing has satisfied the alumni of the Jeremy Wade Is Sexy Facebook group.

• angling
• Art
• drawing
• fishing
• jeremy wade
• portrait
• river monsters