“Definitely expect more U2 art,” I said ten months ago. Yeah, okay.
Academic writing has wrung my brain dry and I fear I’ve forgotten how to formulate normal and sound thoughts (was a good chunk of my total page count over this past year about or somehow inspired by U2’s discography? Well, yes. That’s a whole other can of worms though), BUT I’m trying to revisit this fixation of mine from a visual art angle once again.
(WIP) c. 1986-87ish (probably) Bono. Dimensions: gargantuan.
I don’t usually post wips but this Bono portrait has been sitting on my floor dormant since January and that needs to change. Maybe I’ll actually finish it if I show the masses. He’s about the size of my own face. He’s practically sentient.
Am I satisfied with the proportions yet? Ehh. But we’ll get there. I think I’m more so focused on the emotional subtleties with this one, and it’s my hope that the movement of color (the sort of aggravated coexistence of color as opposed to the impression of a blended surface) will invoke that. It has been interesting to approach drawing Bono particularly from the TJT era/TJT-adjacent eras in this way.
For those who are curious, I’m using soft oil pastels, which historically is one of my favorite mediums next to oil paint. The pastels I own are quite chunky, and I recall that five months ago, this was a nice exercise in accepting that I cannot dictate every fine detail in a portrait, because that’s an entire human being on paper.
And here’s a better look at the details for my fellow U2 enjoyers. The contour of his nose is very satisfying in this one. No chin unfortunately, though I think the hand makes up for it.
