People profiles hughie glynn

Having studied art at Dun Laoighaire School of Art and Design in the late 1980s/early 1990s, it was only after he found himself at a crossroads in his life in 2007 that Hughie Glynn returned full-time to acting and art.
The Curraghboy resident explained this week that he had always drawn caricatures as a hobby, but he had worked self-employed as a draughtsman between 1997 and 2007.
“I was self-employed and the phones just stopped ringing. Within two or three weeks that was it. I was in my late 30s and I was either over qualified or under qualified,” he said, explaining that because he had been self-employed he was unable to claim welfare, although regardless he wanted to work.
“In 2007 my marriage ended also so I was at a real crossroads; I had no work and my marriage was falling apart. I had always wanted to act,” said Hughie.
He explained he had studied acting when he was 18 and initially in college but after his first year he concentrated his efforts on art. However, he had always regretted not giving acting more of a chance.
“I joined Filmbase in Dublin and I started off doing extras and I got an agent. I had speaking roles in Fair City, RAW and Love/Hate season one. I was the only one in Dublin willing to do roles others wouldn’t - physical roles and nudity,” he said.
“I loved acting. I did that until 2012 but as my separation turned to divorce and I had three daughters I needed to get to work to make money and so the decision was made over the course of a weekend,” he said of his transition from acting to working full-time as a caricaturist and portrait artist.
His brush with the acting and celebrity world certainly didn’t end there, though, as Hughie has drawn the likes of Hollywood actress Saoirse Ronan, rugby player Seán O’Brien, Imelda May and Stephen Fry, which he describes as his biggest commission.
Hughie explains that when he’s creating a caricature he likes to add a little of the person’s personality to the drawing and so with Imelda May’s, you will find items that reference her early days singing on cruise ships, some of the numerous awards she has won and a hint to the rockabilly style of her music. This drawing Hughie describes as “an old school illustration”.
Speaking about how he ended up drawing Stephen Fry, Hughie explained that he had heard from an actor friend that Fry, Kenneth Branagh and Liam Neeson were opening the Titanic Museum in Belfast and so he travelled up to meet them. He did quick charcoal caricatures of Neeson and Branagh, but he got chatting to Stephen Fry, who was about to take up a cameo role in Ros na Rún, and arranged to meet him in Galway to discuss doing a portrait of him.
“I met him in a coffee shop on Shop Street and he gave me a nice opportunity. He said he’d get his PA in London to send me on a photo. We chatted for 45 minutes, about acting art, life, everything,” he said.
“I told him I’m going to interpret you visually and literally,” Hughie said. Stephen Fry was so impressed that he followed up the portrait with a letter of thanks, which Hughie has framed alongside a photo of the portrait.
It’s not all working with celebrities, though, as Hughie also does quick charcoal caricatures at weddings and other family social occasions as well as at corporate events, something he describes as essentially being a performance.
He said he really enjoys working with charcoal and when he went to art college in the 80s their tutor wanted them to draw using charcoal.
“It rarely doesn’t work,” he said, adding that while he can do very detailed drawings in an hour, when he’s performing at events it takes about five minutes to draw a person and he does this as he’s chatting to them, trying to fit in a little of their personality.
He said he has developed three different styles and while he enjoys charcoal, he also really enjoys working with colour.
With weddings Hughie can prepare a signing board in advance of the big day with a caricature of the couple and jokes that he gets to see the dress before the groom as it’s necessary for him to see a photo of the wedding dress in advance. He also likes to know details such as flowers and jewellery and of course the groom’s suit to create an image of how the couple will look on the big day. Guests can then sign messages around this image and he will also do caricature sketching of guests on the day if requested.
He also does portraiture for weddings, invitations, birthdays, baptisms and other special occasions and can work from a photo.
Born in Dublin and having grown up in Naas, Co. Kildare, Hughie also lived in Laois and Carlow before moving permanently to Curraghboy last year to live with his partner of three years, Caroline. He explained that their weekends are busy as they each have three children, who range in age from seven to 21.
Since he moved to South Roscommon, Hughie has also began to dabble with acting again and has performed at the Dean Crowe Theatre, and said while his name is well enough known on the east coast it was nice that nobody here knew him. This may not remain the case for long, As Hughie plans to hold a launch of his work before the autumn so locals can view some of his portraits and caricatures.

See Hughie’s work at www.caricaturesireland.com