Mathematician Attempts Art - Numberphile

In this video, Hannah Fry, known from "Numberphile" videos, has had her portrait painted and hung at the Royal Society in London, a significant achievement. This painting was created by Chloe Barnes, a "Sky Portrait Artist" winner, whose prize was to paint this masterpiece for the Royal Society. A separate, more in-depth video about Chloe's painting process and Hannah's thoughts on it is available on the "Objectivity" channel. For "Numberphile," however, a different challenge was set. Instead of discussing mathematics, Hannah was challenged to create her own portrait of Chloe using "Numberphile" Sharpies on brown paper. Hannah expressed doubt about her artistic abilities, noting that while she takes pride in writing beautiful equations with a fountain pen, she doesn't believe it translates to portraiture. Chloe, the subject of the impromptu portrait, was enthusiastic about the challenge, curious to see Hannah's hidden artistic talent. Hannah began her portrait, likening the process to understanding the curvature of three-dimensional surfaces. She started with Chloe's hair, considering it the "easy stuff," and then moved on to the facial features, initially placing the eyes surprisingly far down. She even sought a little "help" from Chloe, asking if her initial attempt was "bad so far," to which Chloe responded "no." While Hannah continued drawing, Chloe shared her own artistic background, stating that she's been drawing since she was young and loved it, even if the quality was subjective. She also revealed that she enjoys mathematics, having studied it at A-levels, and considers problem-solving her second favorite subject. A humorous moment occurred when Hannah and Chloe realized they were both wearing similar black and white checked shirts, an entirely accidental synchronization that Hannah was "frankly quite proud about." Hannah also nearly wore a similar shirt, which would have been "amazing." As Hannah progressed with the portrait, she noted Chloe's technique of focusing on shadows rather than outlining, describing it as following a "block of a shadow." She attempted to incorporate this by focusing on the shadow along Chloe's nose. Hannah found the experience incredibly challenging, calling it "the worst thing I've ever been asked to do in my entire life." Chloe offered advice, suggesting Hannah "commit to the messiness," as it often conveys that the artist knows what they're doing. Chloe mentioned that she has had portraits done of her before and finds sitting for them therapeutic, although she eventually becomes "envious" of not being the one creating something. When asked if she constantly analyzes faces in public for painting potential, Chloe confirmed that she does notice "good faces to paint," describing Hannah's face as "good characterful" with "good lines" and a "prominent nose." Hannah continued to refine the portrait, adding more hair and adjusting the placement of features. She joked about her coloring needing work and, when asked if she would have preferred a math video, she readily agreed. Brady, the host, then challenged her to make the portrait mathematical, to which Hannah humorously responded by pointing out "Gaussian curvature" and shadows in her drawing. Upon completion, Hannah signed her artwork. Keith Moore, the head librarian at the Royal Society, was invited to give his professional opinion on whether Hannah's portrait would be hung. He humorously declined, stating that the "Turner Prize Committee can stand down for just the moment" and that the painting "belongs in a bin." Hannah declared it would go to the "Haron Museum" – her storage unit for brown papers, calling it "the Ark of the Covenant" or "blackmail material." Despite the humorous critique, Brady expressed that he actually liked the portrait, deeming it "20 times better than anything I could do." The video concluded with a lighthearted exchange about Hannah's "humiliation" of her friends on camera and Chloe's experience working with Hannah, which she described as "great" and "really, really fun."