The Art of Music
Paul McCartney has been interested in art since childhood, but only began painting in the Eighties. He says his style is akin to that of Willem De Kooning. This is "Big Mountain Face," the painting featured on the cover of his book of collected works.
-
Bob Dylan
"Train Tracks"
-
John Lennon
This John Lennon sketch, seen here in 2004, was one of several to be seized by the police as evidence against the London-based gallery that showed his work (they were slapped with indecency charges) in the Seventies.
-
Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia's "Birdland," completed in 1965, pays homage the jazz musician Charlie Parker.
-
David Bowie
David Bowie has always had a passion for art, and in 2000 he launched a Web site to promote emerging artists. This work by Bowie, "Portrait of J.O.," was completed in 1976 around the time he began painting.
-
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett goes by the alias Anthony Benedetto in the art world. His work consists mainly of traditional landscapes and still lives in either oil paint or watercolor. "Central Park" was completed in 1998 and is now a part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
-
Jim Morrison
When Jackson Pollock was helping abstract expressionism take the world by storm, a young Jim Morrison was making his own artwork inspired by the movement, as seen in this pen drawing done by the future Doors frontman, circa 1954.
-
Patti Smith
Patti Smith holds her camera in front of a display of her photographs in Glasgow on April 19, 2006. Smith has been exhibiting her drawings and photographs since the late Seventies.
-
Pete Doherty
Troubled British rocker Pete Doherty opened an exhibition of his drawings titled "Bloodworks" on May 15, 2007 in London. The show includes a series of drawings done either in his blood or spattered with his blood.
-
Grace Slick
Grace Slick's work offstage is inspired by rock contemporaries like Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Jerry Garcia. This portrait of Morrison by the Jefferson Airplane frontwoman is titled "Sacrifice to Morpheus" and is described by Slick as her interpretation of Morrison's experimentation with drugs.
-
Dee Dee Ramone
Known for wielding a bass in the Ramones, Dee Dee Ramone was also adept at handling a paint brush. "Goop" from 2001 is representative of Dee Dee's graffiti and cartoon inspired style.
-
Mika
Mika poses with some of his artwork on display at the the Blink Gallery on July 11, 2007 in London. Mika admits his drawings and paintings are directly connected to his music, "When I write songs, I draw sketches to go with them. It's a visual world to step into and to have fun and to play with."
-
Brian Eno
Brian Eno received a degree from the Winchester School of Art in 1969, and he's currently working on a project called 77 Million Paintings, a light installation that projects a constantly evolving painting created by overlapping images.
-
Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart is known for his work with the Magic Band, but Don Van Vliet is also an accomplished painter. This 1984 work is titled "Boat and Blue Bodagress."
-
Ronnie Wood
Before starting his music career with the Rolling Stones, Ronnie Wood attended Ealing Art College in London. Wood has continued painting and drawing, and "Conversation Piece," like much of his work, is centered around the Stones.