| By :
Martin Hofschroer
England's most successful cricket captain has started a new career thanks to his unusual use of art materials. Most famous for skippering England to victory in the 2005 Ashes series, Michael Vaughn is now a respected modern artist as a result of his unconventional method of creating paintings. Since retirement from the game, Vaughn has involved himself in the technique 'artballing' where he creates artwork by hitting a paint covered cricket ball against a blank canvas by using his cricket bat, throwing or even bowling. The ex-England opener has used his newfound skill to recreate some of his famous innings such as his 166 against Australia by using different colours to represent the number of fours and sixes he hit. "Having been interested in art for some time, to now actually be involved in producing it and especially to relive some of the my key moments of my career make it even more exciting," Vaughan told the Daily Telegraph.. Alastair Smart, of the Daily Telegraph, likened Vaughn's artball paintings as a cross between the abstract works of Jackson Pollock and the meticulous nature of Damien Hirst's Spot Paintings. Artballing director Guy Brown said that Vaughn's avant-garde use of art materials to create such striking paintings demonstrates his passion for cricket and his love of modern art. Vaughn is not the first England cricketer to be interested in art materials as former wicket keeper Jack Russell is also a famous artist whose style shows influences of impressionism and pointillism. Russell has been commissioned to paint a number of famous portraits including actor Eric Sykes, footballer Sir Bobby Charlton, musician Eric Clapton and most prestigiously the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip. Tennis champion Martina Navratilova has previously produced pictures by hitting tennis balls at a blank canvas in a technique very similar to artballing but has not made a career of it. Current Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Jody Craddock is also famed for his paintings of sporting legends and the skipper encourages other people to use art materials. He said: "I was never taught the use of oil paints, so in this field I suppose I'm self taught. In answer to the question part of my ability is in the blood, part educated but the largest part is practice and experience." Meanwhile, Boris Johnson said that he finds using art materials both consoling and therapeutic while promoting Children's Art Day earlier this year.
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