All love and no hate for moynehall artist sean leonard
Seamus Enright
‘Nidge’ may have disappeared from the nation’s screens following the dramatic finale to season five of RTÉ’s Love/Hate earlier this month but his image lives on in a uniquely life-like portrait by local artist Sean Leonard.
Since posting an image of the portrait of the character, played by award-winning Irish actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, on his website and Twitter feed, the Moynehall man has been overwhelmed with the positive response towards his work, not only from general members of the public, but also many stars and cast of the hit crime drama series.
Renowned for his immensely detailed caricatures and portraits of celebrities and stars of stage and screen, Sean told The Anglo-Celt that he first began the ‘Nidge’ portrait before the latest season of Love/Hate began airing, and with no knowledge whatsoever that the programme’s primary character would be written off right at the very end.
Incredible
“I started it with the aim of finishing it just before the last episode, when I thought I’d put it up and see what people thought of it,” Sean said.
The reaction, he says, “has been incredible”. Fans of the show, fans of his work and several of the Love/Hate cast members have praised the portrait. Among them are Charlie Murphy (Siobhán), who herself has Cavan links; Mullagh-born actor Brían F O’Byrne (Det Mick Moynihan) and Laurence Kinlan (Elmo).
“It’s great to get the feedback. Twitter went crazy after I posted it up, my phone was hopping for about two hours with tweets and messages and retweets. It was great,” said Sean.
Cherished
Of course, the Cavanman is no stranger to such attention, and still regards one of his most cherished moments that when he presented a copy of his hand-drawn portrait of former Liverpool and Champions League-winning manager Rafa Benitez. Most thrilling of all for the life-long Liverpool supporter was that Rafa was already aware of his work and had already seen the image on the internet.
Sean also had previously drawn and had signed a portrait of former Irish manager Jack Charlton and he’s hoping the same with happen if the opportunity ever arises to meet Tom Vaughan-Lawlor.
As for the ‘Rafa pic’, it has pride of place on his wall at home. “No amount of money could ever get me to part with it,” Sean laughs.