Fernando Alvim

Fernando Alvim © Rita Draper Frazão

Some time ago, I started a project called Radio Series. It's something I had in mind for years, and it's about portraying my favorite Radio Hosts. 

Today's the birthday of one of them, Fernando Alvim, whom I drew at Antena 3 Radio, during his Prova Oral program. 

Prova Oral is a talk radio show where he interviews a myriad of people. Alvim's been working in radio for 38 years and does this program, over 20! But creating and hosting this show is just one of the many things he did and does. 

Fernando wrote several books and articles, hosted many tv shows, created the festival Termómetro (Emergent music festival/contest), the magazine 365, or the Monstros do Ano (an event where the most uncanny situations of the year are awarded), just to name a few.

I started to listen this show, since its beginning, in 2002. Being broadcasted from Monday to Friday at 7 pm GMT, Prova oral was my perfect match, going home from the beach, when I was in vacation in a southern Portuguese location where, at the time, I had no tv and could access just a few national radios. Nowadays, with the new possibilities provided by the podcasts era, I listen to the show many times in different schedules. 

The portrait

First of all, I think never ending curiosity about the world could be Fernando Alvim's middle name. But other layers of his persona inspired me here, too.

I thought about the colorful part in the drawing as a mouth laughing, a heart or a window to another view (aiming his curiosity). Inside of it, a bright new day arises (yellow sun rays) over a sensitive liquid sea-tongue (light blue). Imagination and seemingly non sense ideas had to be here, too!

In my view, a portrait of Fernando had to consider his cheerful (hence the primary colors), romantic (red lips and heart) and funny character (laughter). 

The presence of the headphones and the colorful mouth are a referral to communication as well - listening (to music or in a conversation) and talking.* Basic traits of his craft. 

The quick graphite strokes in this portrait, allude to his mental agility and a kind of spontaneous and childish (primary colors) type of expression. 

I find there is also something very deep, intense and melancholic about Fernando. Something the black and white part of this work can relate to as well.

May life grant you as much happiness, as I am sure your work did with so many people over the years.  Happy Birthday Alvim! 

* Speaking about music, and as I footnote, would like to share with you that, while writing this, my soundtrack was PJ Harvey's We float, a song I also drew in the past and that you can see here.