One Minute Portraits
Melbourne-based graphic designer offers original art in a minute or less
Perhaps Warhol was the first to open up the art world to the idea of fast art, smashing the notion that the quality of art is parallel to the time spent creating it. Granting more than just a nod to Warhol’s ideology is UK artist, Benjamin Hammond. After years of sketching his colleagues during weekly work meetings, the now Melbourne-based graphic designer began getting requests from friends to provide them with a portrait. Opening up his skill set to a worldwide audience Hammond has just launched One Minute Portraits, a site where he creates portraits in just one minute. Anyone can email him a photo of themself, check out the portrait and then choose to buy the original. “I chose one minute because it’s roughly how long I take to draw a face,” says Hammond, “Saying that, if I’m really into drawing a face and my minute’s up, I may just keep going until it’s done. But normally it shouldn’t take more than a minute.”
The site, which literally just launched, is already gaining popularity with requests coming in from Dubai, London, Amsterdam and San Francisco. And while happy punters can choose to buy their original pic, Hammond does not charge for his one minute of work. “I considered charging but the main concept was born out finding a new consistent motivation to draw, and to hopefully gain attention which would then lead onto other projects,” says Hammond, “I love to draw, but I sometimes need a motivation. Or a thing to draw. Nothing like a good face. To draw I mean.”
Fancy your own one minute masterpiece? Simply email a photo of yourself to faces [at} oneminuteportraits [dot] net or upload an image here.
