New Painting - Fan Wei (who?)

Ok, I realise that most of you non-Chinese people won't have a clue who this guy is, but I can assure you he is a celebrity in China! His name is Fan Wei (范伟) and he's a comedian and actor from North-East China, well-known for his role as a culturally-challenged restaurant owner in the popular sit-com 'Ma Da Shuai' 《马大帅》. He also played a starring role in the 2005 movie 'Gimme Kudos' 《求求你，表扬我》, and a cameo in the 2004 Andy Lau blockbuster 'A World Without Thieves' 《天下无贼》, in which he plays a hapless robber, trying to hold up a train using an axe! And he even scooped the best male actor award at the 28th Montreal International Film Festival in 2004, for his role in 'The Parking Attendant' 《看车人的七月》.

I guess you're still none the wiser, so here's a photo of the man himself, so you can compare the likeness:

I decided to paint Fan Wei firstly because his face is very amusing. If you've seen him on screen, you'll understand what I'm talking about. Even if you can't understand his slurred North-East mandarin dialect, you only have to look at his expressions and you start laughing. This is also the first painting in my Chinese series, to coincide with the translation of drawmyface into Chinese. I took photos of the painting at various stages, which will soon be on display in the drawing board, along with a description of the painting process. Sorry if you were disappointed to find an unknown face, next time I'll paint someone more well known! (I've also had complaints of not enough female faces, so maybe it'll be an Asian beauty!) Watch this space.

Anyway, I recommend that you check out some of Fan Wei's DVDs, and let me know if you like the caricature. Now it's back to the canvas . . .