The voice of Tewkesbury

Painting Our Beloved Town Crier’s Portrait

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I recently had the incredible honour of painting a portrait of our town’s beloved Town Crier, Michael Kean-Price! Mike has been carrying on this tradition with pride. Inspired by a former crier at the Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, he dreamt of this role since he was 10. Now, at 81, his voice has heralded countless national events right here in Tewkesbury. He’s not just a town crier; he’s a storyteller and historian.

I’ve painted Mike before but as part of an illustrated stylised version of Tewkesbury. He’s at the top of Tewkesbury Abbey ringing his bell!

This time it’s different, it’s recognition of service and much more ceremonial. So before diving into the painting, I visited the Tewkesbury Town Hall to see the portrait of a former Town Crier - James Rice, a painting that was presented in 1820. The experience of viewing an impressive painting mad me feel both inspired and daunted by the prospect of creating a work of art that could be displayed alongside it. This mix of admiration and intimidation is common among artists - It can be a powerful motivator for growth and improvement, but it can also be overwhelming and can delay the start of the project.

An easy mistake at the start of a painting is to be distracted by colour, so I analysed the values (the lights and the darks) of the portrait by turning my photo into 3-level value range reference. I like using an app called “See Value” to do this but you can do this using your edit function on your phone and turn the image into black and white.

Then a tonal underpainting as the critical next step this creates a strong foundation. It helps me see the composition clearly and ensures that the final painting will have depth and coherence. It’s like building a house – you need a solid framework before you add all the beautiful details but often we jump to the details too soon.

The portrait evolved in stages. One day, the eyes were perfect. The next, the mouth looked off. It's like a rollercoaster of tiny victories and setbacks. It is often said that a painting is a collection of a thousand mistakes you spend your time correcting!

Then finally onto the details which are always the best part. The trick is to describe the illusion of the detail rather than paint every detail - there’s an alchemy in the mix here as you are describing something that is 3-D on a 2-D plane. My favourite parts were Mike’s elaborate costume, his iconic bell and beautiful reflections, the shape of his smiley eyes, those little things that make him 'him.’

Then whilst the oil layers have time to dry, I headed over to Cotswold Framers to find a frame that would compliment the painting and Timpsons in Tewkesbury helped me source the ideal brass engraved plaque that would be fitting for it’s final presentation.

In all the portrait has take a few months, allowing each oil layer to dry and arranging the accessories and today Mike was able to see the finished portrait. We will arrange a more formal presentation in the coming months and I’ll be sure to update you all.

Thanks for being here and huge thanks to Mike for such a wonderful opportunity.

❤️

Sam x