Take a Moment with Adebanji Alade

This portrait stands out with blazing qualities of boldness, energy and liveliness. There is nothing dormant in this piece. I feel every bit of the man's mood and character. He almost feels as if he is in conversation right now and you can just hear the words out of his mouth.

The composition gives you no room to wander; you are forced to focus on his face and that’s what gives this piece a very positive provoking power. The colours belong to a distinct family, the harmony radiates all through and the brushstrokes are just like music, rhythmically bouncing off everywhere bringing the form and structure of the man to life. It’s simply a masterpiece!

I’m guessing this was done on watercolour, I might be wrong but what I love about this piece is the transparency of the colours, you can see layers of colours fusing together to produce an interesting cohesive piece. The face shield is a work of art on its own! The intricate work done there is just simply amazing. 

Then the texture of each surface has been handled delicately with utmost precision. You almost cannot really sense the human nature of the person behind the mask but to prove this is no robot, the artist adds the V sign which adds that touch of humour to the piece. It’s very successful.

This particular portrait is so truthful, I instantly felt arrested to just gaze at it for minutes during my selection. You can almost feel him breathing right there. There’s a sympathy in his face, a calmness and kindness in his demeanour. I’ll definitely feel comfortable in his presence, what else would a patient ask for.

The style is definitely realism but it’s not overdone in such way that it becomes stiff and lifeless. This work is a pure labour of love, you can feel that emanate through the piece. Highly successful!

This particular piece touched my soul. The young lady looks so serious, kind of exhausted but also she looks deeply emotional. Her eyes could ‘kill’. What happened on the ward on this day? What has she seen during this period? Haunting yet stunningly beautiful, she holds the viewer spellbound and there’s just a mastery of the whole handling of the paint and the colours that draws you in. This one is stunning!

Every portrait artist knows how hard it is to paint human hands and most of us find ways to hide them, if possible, if not requested by the client. But here is an artist on top of their game, they have nothing to hide. 

Hands are so important in what these heroes do I’m taking care of their patients and I can almost feel every sensitivity in those hands as they are positioned on the face which helps create another beautiful composition within the overall composition. The interplay of the warm and cool tones on the skin tells me this is an artist of standards and the artists drawing skills are admirable. Everything has a looseness to it that just speaks mastery all the way through. It’s an incredible piece!