Bill Kreutzmann

Because it was so hot today, I went for a simple three value posterised portrait in the trippy colour scheme. It didn’t push my boundaries or challenge me much but that was the whole point. Today’s subject was Bill Kreutzmann, drummer in the Grateful Dead, sometimes in his own and sometimes as part of a drumming duo with Micky Hart.

I followed my usual process for paintings like this. In the first, trippy, wash I did my usual thing and made sure to paint yellow at the top of the face, red in the cheeks and blue or green at the bottom. But today I was also careful to go over the drums in yellow: one in transparent yellow and one in Indian. Apart from that, the first wash was pretty random. And within the second, French ultramarine wash, I tried to draw out more of a likeness by putting down some extra darks that were nothing my value plan and I tried to soften the blue edges in places, even creating a midtone in the middle of the largest drum.

This one definitely has something about it. It feels a bit rougher and looser than my other trippy posterised paintings as if it’s losing itself and drifting away with the music. Just like Bill is. I’m sure that when I ask the AI about this photo it will tell me this one was more about capturing the essence of the character rather than a literal likeness. But I think the likeness is there too. And I like the colours in the drums and the face: those smart decisions in the first wash definitely paid off. Bill’s up for sale, with the price to be found here.