Australian cricketer Nathan Lyon found time to sit for this portrait during his busy domestic and international schedule during 2017. This was the first of two competition portraits that I painted of Lyon, it was submitted to the 2017 Archibald Prize and won the People's Choice Award at the 2018 Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award held at the Bega Valley Regional Gallery in NSW. The portrait also appeared in the Foxtel Arts TV Series 'The Archibald' (Episode 4, Oct 2017) during the deliberations for the Packer’s Prize where it was placed in the top 3 selection. Finally it was also the People's choice winner at the 2019 Hidden Faces - Victorian Salon Des Refuses exhibition in Melbourne, Victoria.
From humble beginnings as a net bowler while working as a curator’s assistant at the Adelaide Oval, Nathan Lyon has rapidly become Australian Cricket’s best Test spinner since Shane Warne . Lyon has developed something of a cult status in recent years with the “Nice, Garry” chant being uttered after almost every delivery. Lyon holds the record for the most Test wickets taken by an Australian off-spin bowler.
In this portrait I’ve painted Nathan in a ‘game on’ pose, putting on his cap, eyes intense and narrowly focused on the task at hand. His hands draw attention to his green cap that is worn by Australian cricketers that symbolises the pinnacle of achievement in their sport. Seniority within the team is denoted by a faded, aging and dilapidated cap, a cap that is never replaced and never washed.
The portrait has a charcoal tinted wooden gap frame that gives the artwork overall dimensions of 104 x 155 x 5cm.