Jay Fortune – Internationally Acclaimed Artist. Collected worldwide.

I’m honoured to announce that I will be painting an official portrait of one of the UK’s most distinguished entertainers, who started performing at the age of 14 and ‘retired’ at 97!

The gentleman in question is Mark Raffles. For magician readers, the man needs no introduction. However, for my non-magician readers, you can still help as it’s all about the photo I shall be using to base my painting on.

Mark passed away on 18^th September 2022 aged 100. His family have kindly provided me with a huge amount of Mark’s publicity shots from his 83 years in the world of professional entertainment. With their help, I’ve whittled those amazing photographs down to a choice of 2… and that’s where you come in!

OK, the Fish one needs a bit of explaining for non-magicians. In this magic trick, mark would cast out a fishing rod above the heads of the audience and catch a real, live fish on the end, placing it safely into the bowl of water. This would be repeated many, many times.

My dilemma… Both photos are crisp and have amazing light and tone to work with. Each would translate great into a painting. However, I can only choose one. Whichever photo I base my portrait on will be reproduced as a very exclusive limited-edition print. Mark is held in high regard and in the hearts of many magicians worldwide. I hope my painting will be a lasting memory and tribute to this wonderful man.

So now it’s over to you. Which photo shall I use for my painting?

Please vote below and send me a quick email with either Doves or Fish as your preferred choice. I’ll tot up the votes and announce the winning pic in my VIP email sent 21^st of this month. (Not subscribed? Simply put your email into the yellow drop-down box above and viola! You’ll be on my VIP Private Email List.)