Artist inspired by wing-walking Nigel Hague

Art teacher Ryan Braidley’s portrait of 86-year-old Nigel Hague was one of only 55 selected to be exhibited out of 2,500 first round entries in the National Portrait Gallery’s prestigious annual BP Portrait award  

Ryan (36) took his inspiration from the story of Nigel’s wing walk from France to England over the Channel to mark the D-Day landings and raise money for charities.

They also happened to be neighbours, both living in the same village of Harley on the outskirts of Rotherham.

Ryan, of Occupation Road, explained: “I approached him and asked if he would be willing to allow me to create a portrait of him in his flying gear to celebrate his achievements. “Thankfully, he was very keen and agreed to join me on a sitting, where we chatted for a couple of hours — a true eccentric English gent.

“His thirst for life and positive outlook was inspirational to listen to. Nigel has just completed his fourth wing walk as well as abseiling from buildings in London!”

The painting is the result of the sitting when he painted Nigel in oils on wood measuring 70 by 90 inches which took several hours over a couple of months to complete.

Ryan added: “I first met Nigel and was introduced to him at a street party celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee in 2012.

“I’ve always been a people watcher. I’m drawn to interesting characters and find them fascinating to listen to.

“Listening to him speak that evening, it struck me he would be a fantastic character to work with for a painting I had wanted to paint for a number of years to enter the exhibition.

“You could say it was a lightbulb moment and started picturing him in a pilots flying suit with a the hat on, how I would pose him, the angle I would paint him and the type of lighting that would best suit it.

“The charity work was impressive but the idea of him wing-walking, parachuting and abseiling at his age was even more impressive — he is very humble about it all, too.

“Unfortunately, despite my excitement and enthusiasm I was a little slow speaking to Nigel, I thought he wouldn’t be keen on the idea.

“I lived on the same street as him, spoke to him several times in passing but the ‘right’ time never seemed to come.

“Exactly two years after meeting him and thinking about it constantly I decided to just call randomly at his house and asked if I could paint him.  

“I discussed the idea with Nigel and he was very keen and co-operative about it all and took it in his stride.”

Ryan went to Wingfield School before leaving at 16.

He went on to study art at Thomas Rotherham College, Rotherham College of Arts and Technology and Barnsley College.

He said he hoped his experiences would inspire the pupils at the school to be ambitious and believe in their abilities.

Ryan concluded: “We have many talented pupils at Wingfield, not just in art but throughout other subjects, who need encouraging to explore their talents and have the confidence to showcase them to a wider public.”

Artists selected for the second round of the competition will be revealed on Friday (27).