#OnThisDay
This series of digital portraits celebrates 12 famous people of the twentieth century. Each person's portrait was published on the anniversary of their birth.
The subjects were chosen because they were born on a particular day, approximately one week apart, between May and July. There is no other connection between them, other than they are people who interest me, but I tried to achieve some diversity in terms of occupation, race, nationality and gender.
John Brack | Australian artist | Born 10 May 1920
Adrienne Rich | American poet, writer and feminist | Born 16 May 1929
Andrei Sakharov | Soviet nuclear physicist | Born 21 May 1921
Miles Davis | American jazz trumpeter | Born 26 May 1926
Lotte Reiniger | German film maker and pioneer of animation | Born 2 June 1899
Anne Frank | German Diarist | Born 12 June 1929
Maurits Cornelis Escher | Dutch artist | Born 17 June 1898
Alan Turing | British mathematician | Born 23 June 1912
Eddie Mabo | Australian campaigner for indigenous rights | Born 29 June 1936
Creating the portraits
Using several photographs I sketch the subject to capture essential details. Then I import the sketch in to Adobe Illustrator and use it as a guide to start building up the face. Each portrait takes between 6 and 8 hours to complete in Illustrator.
Sketch and beginnings of Frida Kahlo illustration
Frida Kahlo | Mexican artist | Born 6 July 1907
Buckminster Fuller | American architect, inventor and futurist | Born 12 July 1895
Nelson Mandela | South African lawyer and politician | Born 18 July 1918
