Last week's Periscope studio sketch challenge was "favorite Musicians". I didn't have time to participate in the challenge, in fact it would seem that no one had time to participate since there were no entries for the week, but it got me remembering this drawing I did of Lou Reed back in 2002.
I'm a big Velvet Underground fan. I got a best of cd in 1999 that I liked a lot, but in 2001 I got the box set and that's when I really fell in love. Around the time that I did this piece I was listening to them a lot. It was a pretty lonely time for me and listening to the VU was like hanging out with a good friend. There were times, in the middle of the night when the world outside my apartment was asleep and the light on my drafting table seemed like the only light in a sea of dark, where it felt like Lou Reed was singing just to me across time and through my headphones.
When I did this piece I had just bought my first set of Radiograph pins and I was so amazed with how fine I could now draw lines. This drawing was done in a 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 sketchbook.
Here's another musician piece from that same sketchbook done around that same time.
That's it.
As my two year old daughter would say- "Catch you on the flippy, alligator."
Very cool post, Dustin.
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of the other side of the coin - I like & appreciate The VU, but have absorbed & dissected Elvis' work to a much greater degree.
Razor-sharp phrasing & dark wit.
His body of work over the years has certainly become staggering.
That drawing is a nice reminder of the "Angry Elvis" years. You captured it really well, even back then.
Were you ever into Iggy & The Stooges?
It almost feels as if there's a 3rd party missing from this page.
And Lennon....His work sticks to my mind like peanut butter.
Fascinating, extremely complex artist.
So much visceral pain in his work. It came through in his lyrics, his voice, his compositional arrangements.
I read a massive Lennon biography last year just to fill in some blanks about the man, & there are parts of it that stay with me every day.
Thanks for posting this.
Frank J
I don't think I'm totally being fare to Elvis Costello. I do count myself as a big fan. That is, I'm a big fan of everything from My Aim Is True to Trust. I remember listening to Imperial Bedroom once and it didn't grab me. I should maybe go back and listen to it. I did happen to get Brutal Youth at some point and liked it pretty well, though not as much as that early stuff. I'm definitely an "angry Elvis" fan. But Elvis Costello has always been a big deal to me, especially in high school.
ReplyDeleteI guess there was an element of timing with me getting into the Velvet Underground that makes it mean so much. I was in my early 20's and trying to figure out who I was. The VU helped me figure that out and has somehow become a part of me- adult me. Costello is also a part of me but not a part that I think as much about anymore... If that makes sense.
John Lennon... I don't even know what to say about him. When I was young I was a huge Beatles fan, then at the age of nineteen the John Lennon anthology came out and it had a big impact on me, much in the same way the VU would have a few years later. I feel about John Lennon the way I think a lot of people do, like he's a father figure or something. The first time I went to Strawberry fields in New York, where that "imagine" thing is on the ground I stared to cry a little. Right there in front of the Dakota, I was surprised with how emotional I got. When I think of John Lennon, I think of the song by Daniel Johnston, "I Love you John". I read a biography and I also remember reading, what was it, the Playboy interview thing. Learning about him in conjunction with getting into his post Beatles music was all part of the same experience for me.
I didn't get into Iggy and the Stooges till a few years ago. I've only picked up The Stooges and Fun House. I do like them pretty well. I should get their other albums. I actually feel like I'm still digesting the first 2. Fun House, in particular, is amazing to me.
As far as what you mentioned in your comment on my last post, about musical influence on me, that could be a cool topic for a post. I think musics influence on me creatively will be easier to talk about when I've started to do stories that are my own.