Tauranga artist paints royals

A Tauranga spray paint artist is receiving big bids for artworks he created of the Duchess of Cambridge and baby Prince George, currently listed on TradeMe.

Benjamin Lloyd, who is also known as AK – which stands for Art King – says he painted the two Royal works as 'a Sunday thought – that came from a Saturday night dream”.


Tauranga spray paint artist Benjamin Lloyd, and his paintings of the Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George, and the Duchess with Lewis Moera. Photo Bruce Barnard.

'I woke up on Sunday and thought I'm going to paint the photograph of Kate doing a hongi with Maori elder, Lewis Moera,” says the 23-year-old. To view a video of Benjamin painting the work, click here.

'The hongi depicts the relationship between the royals and New Zealand Maori; and I chose to paint the second painting as it is our future Queen [Kate] and King [George] sharing a moment together.”

Using stencils as an outline for the paintings, Benjamin says the rest is all freehand.

'I've got a system. It's Google, technology and technique. I taught myself that through trial and error,” says Benjamin, who took six hours to complete the works.

With the three-day auction of the painting of Kate with Lewis Moera currently clocking up 40 watches and closing at 8pm tonight, Benjamin says it's 'going well”. He listed it with a $1 reserve and the highest bid is $260.

'I was offered $1000 Monday night, but I said I'll just let the auction go on,” says Benjamin.

The second painting, of Kate and George, was listed last night and the auction finishes next Wednesday (April 23). This highest bid so far is $301.

Benjamin says his self-taught talent keeps him busy – he's just finished a mural of Mount Maunganui on a wall in 11th Ave and recently spent a week in a tiny toilet at Excelso café, painting their walls.

Relying on friends and word-of-mouth to sell his work, Benjamin says demand is high. 'You say it, I'll spray it. There's not much you can't airbrush.”

He even does bodies and coffins.

But for Benjamin, there is a bigger meaning behind all his artwork. Six months ago his step-son Lincoln Craig died from myocarditis, and he wants to raise money and awareness for the cause.

'I'll donate half of the money raised from it [the painting of Kate and George] to the myocarditis cause,” says Benjamin.

The other half will go to his partner, Lincoln's mother, Alyssa Craig.

'Lincoln passed away six months as of yesterday. He was five years old; and it was the day before his first day at school.

'Myocarditis is a rare virus so I want to raise awareness. We weren't aware of this virus that can attack your organs so your heart stops. I'd never heard of it in my life,” says Benjamin.

'He [Lincoln] just stopped breathing. It seemed like he had a bit of a flu. We never knew what [symptoms] to look for.”

Benjamin is in the early stages of painting a picture of Lincoln – and says while he personally loves black and white, this painting will be an exception with a bit of blue.

'He [Lincoln] was so inspired by art. He wanted to learn everything about it,” says Benjamin, on his TradeMe auction account.

To view Benjamin's TradeMe paintings listed, click here.

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1 comment

So talented!

Posted on 17-04-2014 07:31 | By Ducky01

Wow, you are so talented. I hope your auctions go well!


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