Original artwork by Ant Fox.

The Beast was in the box, he had found a willing Pigeon, Mr Beaver got a lot of action, Raccoon got a look in but there was little activity for Mr Aardvark.

Those cubes can win or lose a fortune, but it’s so fun to play.

Based on a photograph, this acrylic on canvass by Brighton artist Ant Fox, commissioned for the Brighton Summer Open Backgammon tournament is available to order from Tim Parfitt at the following prices.

Please request by telephone +447976264260 0r email brightonsummeropen@gmail.com

Actual sizes of plain prints, they are surrounded by larger mount for framing.

Plain prints do not have printed wood frame border, Canvass prints are stretched onto a wooden skeleton and have printed wood frame as standard but can be provided without printed frame for proper framing. Hand finishing adds texture and individual tones to the print to enhance the canvass closer to the original.

Canvass prints can be delivered rolled up for local framing if requested.

How it came to life.

A photograph was taken in Cyprus in November 2018 at the end of the Merit Backgammon tournament. The chouette had been ongoing for more than 24 hours and coaches taking guests to the airport were leaving the hotel all morning.

The Beast is the nickname of the player on the right and as most will know, Beaver, Raccoon and Aardvark are the three gambling actions in chouette. An easy target is known as the Fish or a Pigeon.

(Was easier to put a pigeon in the painting than a fish)

When I was looking at something different to offer as trophies for the Brighton Summer Open 2019, I came up with the idea of a painting to hang on the wall rather than the usual dust gathering glass or acrylic baubles.

One morning I was walking along the seafront in Brighton and glancing at the art studios noticed various paintings by one artist depicting Animals dressed in clothing so went to talk to the artist. As soon as I met him I discovered it was the same artist who 5 years ago sitting outside a pub in Brighton had very quickly drawn Suki on his Ipad whilst having a beer (picture at bottom).

After discussing the idea, I went away and later gave Ant my rubbish sketch to work on, in my sketch the raccoon was not one of the original players but better positioned in the composition, the question mark to the left of the aardvark, sorry Walter

Over the next 3 months we worked together to built up the picture in layers and layers adding extra detail, having a few beers and a few games of Backgammon and Poker to come up with the finished canvass unveiled at the tournament.

In the background we added Hugh Hefner and Omar Sharif, Chewbaccagammon and in memory of my friend, a ghostly Paul Gilbertson up in the left corner. Ant added himself too, cheeky bugger.

Obviously its nothing like the original photo just a lot of fun

The 5 players who took part in the original chouette; Armen, John, Eric, Chris and Walter, will be receiving a small print as a gift for the inspiration.