the royally big portrait
16,000 drawings of the king
Made up the official portrait of King Charles III
On the world's largest digital screen (The Outernet)
To break the world record for the most artists to contribute to a portrait
SEE THE PORTRAIT AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
NPG reopens on 22 June 2023
MADE WITH PEOPLE DOING COOL THINGS
feature in my next piece of art
Previously we've broken world records, painted King Charles & shown art on the largest screen in the world. If you're daring & want to be part of new art, send me your details:
SEE MY ART ON INSTAGRAM
IF YOU'RE
BORED, READ
DULL
STUFF ABOUT ME HERE
WHY AM I DOING THIS?
I'm Sam Barnett. In 2016 I took my young daughters to a playground in San Francisco. My girls joined the pack of kids running riot who were between 5 and 9 years old. I fell into a daydream but was startled awake when the mob of kids began playing 'grown ups' and pretending to work at tech companies. Dumbfounded at this bizarre sight, my body made an involuntary jerk. I did a double take. WTF.I had built tech companies for 12 years and my kids were being brought up in this warped yet brilliant world. Worried that my professional choices in tech were distorting my girls' outlook on the world - I realized I needed to expand their horizons so they could find their own paths.My daughters and I began reading about people who had led remarkable lives. I hoped my girls would be inspired to find their own gifts and passions in life through stories of ordinary people they could relate to, who had shown extraordinary resolve to follow a path that was true to them.Together we painted these remarkable people’s portraits on canvas and 50 foot murals across San Francisco. I secretly hoped that the grit, courage and purpose of these amazing people would magically seep into my girls. I told myself I was doing this as a responsible father - to enable and empower my daughters.Years later I realised that was BS - I was actually doing it for myself. I was unconsciously hoping that I would absorb some of these people’s courage & resolve so that I could break new ground personally, moving away from my life building tech companies to become - what I was too embarrassed to admit - a full time artist.In 2020, I organised the world’s largest ever art lesson which broke the Guinness World Record (48,000 people attended).In 2021, I left my life in technology and became a full time artist.
DULL PROFFESSIONAL STUFF
President & Partner at Entrepreneur First (EF).
EF created the first pre-seed VC which invests in the best technology talent to build startups from scratch. EF is backed by the world’s leading tech company founders (Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel, The Collison brothers etc).Chief Product Officer at Quantcast.
Responsible for ~$400m of annual product revenue and some of the most widely used technology tools on the internet.Founder & CEO at Struq.
Personalizing the Internet with AI. Scaled across Europe and the US. Acquired by Quantcast.Organized the Guinness World Record: Largest Ever Art Lesson
Broke the record: 70,000 registered - 48,000 attended. Key Learnings here.McDonalds
Fired twice - once for burning buns.Artist
First exhibition: Royally Big Portrait. BBC Children In Need commissioned me to paint the King. I taught kids across the UK to draw King Charles III. We combined all the kids drawings to create one major portrait of King Charles to break the Guinness World Record for the most contributions to a digital piece of art. The record breaking portrait will be displayed on the largest screen in the world (The Outernet) to celebrate the coronation of the King. Christie’s are exhibiting & auctioning my official portrait of the King for BBC Children In Need. The final portrait will be hung in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ME
ARE YOU THAT DODGY AUSTRALIAN SAM BARNETT THAT IMPORTED TIGERS FROM THE TIGER KING?
Sorry to disappoint but I am not that Sam Barnett...
WHY DOES SAM BARNETT GO BY sb. and why is find.sb on his art?
SAM BARNETT IS A DULL NAME.
The entirety of my name is Sam Barnett. I don't have a middle name. Sam is not short for anything more interesting (Samuel, Samson etc). My sisters have cool & unusual names. I'm just Sam Barnett. That's it. Thanks Mum.THERE ARE OTHER SAM BARNETTS - ONE OF THEM IS SUPER DODGY.
One Sam Barnett is a big actor and has been in some good stuff. There is another bald Sam Barnett who has done some dodgy stuff (son of an Australian politician who has admitted he lied about importing tigers from the private US zoo featured on the Netflix series Tiger King). I am not him. This dodgy Sam Barnett is a pain in my ass. For my sake (& the tigers), please stop doing such daft stuff - you are making all Sam Barnetts look bad (especially the bald ones).THIS SAM BARNETT HAS DONE LOTS OF RANDOM STUFF.
I went to law school (that sucked), was a technology entrepreneur (Struq), big tech executive (Quantcast), venture capitalist (Entrepreneur First) & now an artist dabbling in acrylic, canvas, AI & other weird/cool stuff.I SIGN MY WORK AS SB.
You guessed it, those are my initials. For those that didn't get it:
Sam Barnett = sb.
The initials of the non dodgy, dull named Sam Barnett who is hacking away trying to create art.YOU PROBABLY SAW MY SB. INITIALS ALL OVER A PORTRAIT OF KING CHARLES
That's the Royally Big Portrait of King Charless III that I got super lucky to create with BBC Children In Need, Christies, The National Portrait Gallery & The Outernet (it feels amazing just to write those names!).WHAT IS "FIND.SB"
All the other gazillion Sam Barnett's have bought all the good domains names related to Sam Barnett. I was rather chuffed to buy sambarnett.art - However the domain has sssssooooo many letters! You can't fit it on anything.Trying to find a short domain was hard as they cost mega bucks. After months of looking, I discovered the Soloman Islands have their own Top Level Domain which matched my initials (.sb)! As I had been experimenting with putting people in art, I decided to go with "find.sb" as it was short & cheap. Managed to get the instagram handle too (@find.sb). Twitter was not so kind - find.sb was taken so have a naff handle - Thanks Elon...
sam barnett's work:
the royally big portrait
First Portrait of Charles III as King to be hung in the National Portrait Gallery
One of the most viewed portraits of 2023
Commissioned by BBC Children In Need
50cm x 41cm. Acrylic on canvas
1:1. Original by Sam Barnett*
SOLD BY CHRISTIES FOR £32,000
You can view it at the National Portrait Gallery as part of their reopening
winston's
portrait of resolve
Why resolve?
Because every path is hard
1893 - Failed entrance exam for Military College, twice
1899 - Defeated: election as MP
1911 - Head of the British navy
1915 - Oversaw WWI military failure of Gallipoli (130,000 dead)
1915 - Resigned: Head of British navy
1922 - Defeated: election as MP
1924 - Re-elected: MP & Chancellor
1930 - Political outcast through the 1930s
1940 - Led England through WWII as Prime Minister (PM)
1945 - Defeated: Election for PM
1950 - Defeated: Election for PM
1951 - Wins election: PM
1953 - Wins the Nobel Prize for literature
84cm x 119cm. Acrylic on museum grade paper
1:1. Original by Sam Barnett*
SOLD: £18,000
I have two other original Churchill's hanging in my house. If you're interested, please message me:
mandela's
portrait of resolve
Why portraits of resolve?
Because every path is hard
1918: Born in S.A.
1940: Expelled from University
1948: Apartheid introduced
1952: Arrested & jailed
1962: Arrested & jailed
1964: Arrested. Defence statement at trial:"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.""I have cherished the ideal of a democratic & free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die"Sentence: life in prison
70cm x 70cm. Acrylic on museum grade paper
1:1. Original by Sam Barnett*
SOLD
I have another original painting of Nelson hanging in my house (it's lighter than this). If you're interested, please message me:
jfk's
portrait of resolve
Why portraits of resolve?
Because every path is hard
In October 1962, JFK's Joint Chiefs of Staff advised a bombing attack against the Soviets which would have likely led to a catastrophic nuclear war. These military men were more experienced & applied immense pressure on JFK.General Max Taylor said to JFK 'the lowest risk course of action is the full gamut of military action by us. That’s it, sir.”Despite only being president for 2.5 years, JFK defied his chiefs of staff and negotiated directly with Khrushchev to find a peaceful solution. A potential catastrophic disaster was averted through a teeny bit of bravery & courage.
SOLD
I have another original painting of JFK hanging in my house (it's lighter than this). If you're interested, please message me:
70cm x 70cm. Acrylic on museum grade paper
1:1. Original by Sam Barnett
malala's
portrait of resolve
Why portraits of resolve?
Because every path is hard
Taliban forbade girls going to schoolMalala spoke out for girls and their right to be educatedAged 15, Malala was shot in the face by the TalibanAged 17, youngest winner of Nobel Peace PrizeMalala raises the Malala fund ( $100m+), enabling & supporting girls to learn
84cm x 119cm. Acrylic on museum grade paper
1:1. Original by Sam Barnett*
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH's
portrait of resolve
Why resolve?
Because every path is hard
Rejected from the first job he applied for at the BBCTold by BBC boss: Your teeth are too big & you shouldn’t be used as an interviewer on cameraOvercame shyness & anxiety about public speakingOnly person to ever win BAFTAs in black and white, colour and 3D TV
84cm x 119cm. Acrylic on museum grade paper
1:1. Original by Sam Barnett*
Lincoln's
portrait of resolve
Why portraits of resolve?
Because every path is hard
1832-Lost job
1832-Defeated for state legislature
1833-Failed in business
1835-Fiance died
1836-Had nervous breakdown
1838-Defeated:Speaker
1843-Defeated: running for Congress
1846-Elected: Congress
1848-Lost renomination
1854-Defeated: US Senate
1856-Defeated: running for VP of US
1858-Defeated for US Senate
1860-Elected: President
Each 70cm x 70cm. Acrylic on museum grade paper
1:1. Original by Sam Barnett*
Ozlem Tureci's
portrait of resolve
Why portraits of resolve?
Because every path is hard
1967 - Born to Turkish migrants who moved to Germany2001 - Co-founded Ganymed to fight cancer cells without harming healthy cells2008 - Co-founded BioNtech2016 - Ganymed sold for $1.4bn2019 - BioNtech goes public. Valued at $21bn2020 - BioNtech creates the world’s first approved COVID vaccine - one of the great medical breakthroughs of our time.
Each 70cm x 70cm. Acrylic on museum grade paper
1:1. Original by Sam Barnett*