For love or money

Desire 9x12 pastel, copyright 2001
SOLD!

Stepping outside my comfort zone again, this time for a friend.  I've never painted a musical instrument before and the various textures were challenging: the wood grain of the body of the guitar; the plastic (?) and painted gold leaf on the pick guard; and in particular the gold colored metal knobs.  Those knobs were the toughest part, they took hours and hours and were erased who knows how many times.  In the end I had to ignore the reference photo and all its extraneous information and just work from instinct.

A little bit more information about the subject is required, as this is not just any guitar.  Those of you old enough may recall the song Desire by the Irish band U2, dating to 1988.  This guitar (a Gibson ES-295, so I am told) was played by The Edge during the recording of that song.  A few years ago it was sold at an auction to benefit Music Rising, a charity that raises money to replace instruments for musicians, churches and schools in New Orleans that were lost during Hurricane Katrina, a charity in which The Edge is heavily involved.  It was won by a friend of a friend.  That friend took the reference photo, which I used with her permission.  It had such dramatic lighting, I couldn't pass it up.  And I know she will appreciate the effort as only a serious fan a could.

Bono

Bono 12x9 pastel on pastel primer coated watercolor paper

Portraits scare me a bit, I'll admit that right off the bat.  Faces are particularly challanging to me, it takes so little to get them completely wrong.  And with portraits there is the added difficulty of not just making it look like someone, but making it look like someone specific.  I decided I needed a little practice, so I started this one late last year.  It didn't look right and I couldn't figure out why, so I set it aside.  Late this winter I pulled it out again and with fresh eyes made a lot of corrections.  I think it's a pretty close likeness - the nice thing about chosing a celebrity instead of someone I know is that I don't think Bono will be calling me up to complain that I made his nose too long!

I decided to post this particular one today as details of his back surgery have been released, along with the news that many tour dates this summer have been postponed - I was going to see U2 twice this summer.  I wish him a speedy recovery, and hope to see them next year.

Plectrums and Lemons

Plectrums, for those who don't know, are guitar picks.  Their presence in this painting is due to a conversation with a friend.  Another friend sent me few to use as reference when I got stuck trying to figure out how to make them look like something other than blobs of blue paint.  Sometimes a painting is a cooperative effort!   I love how the picks add an unexpected bit of whimsey to an otherwise straight forward still life.  They are also an excellent excuse to use my favorite blues.