Bob Dylan In America or Dylan:The Other Zimm
SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
I've come to really enjoy doing portraits. Like all the things I enjoy the most they present just the right amount of challenge- difficulty to capture the subject's likeness is usually the crux of the struggle, though essence is often missing even after likeness is nailed down. Sometimes changing a pose of a setting will give the drawing life anew. In portraiture I find that one must stay light on their feet and not fall in love with any mark he makes- it's not there until it's there.
So far I've yet to do a portrait of any of my favorite performers. Dylan is one whose contribution to popular music and culture I fully understand and embrace, but I've never been able to foster an appreciation for his vocal affect. In fact, I find it so singularly grating it's kept me from delving into his canon altogether. Despite my personal feelings about his work I was excited to receive this commission simply because the man has a great face and the comic absurdity of his late-career costumes appeals to my sense of humor. Still, I had no interest in (nor was I hired to produce) a caricature. I wanted my portrayal to be as reverent as I could muster regardless of my own impressions of the man and his music.
So far I've yet to do a portrait of any of my favorite performers. Dylan is one whose contribution to popular music and culture I fully understand and embrace, but I've never been able to foster an appreciation for his vocal affect. In fact, I find it so singularly grating it's kept me from delving into his canon altogether. Despite my personal feelings about his work I was excited to receive this commission simply because the man has a great face and the comic absurdity of his late-career costumes appeals to my sense of humor. Still, I had no interest in (nor was I hired to produce) a caricature. I wanted my portrayal to be as reverent as I could muster regardless of my own impressions of the man and his music.
This portrait for The Christian Science Monitor, a review of BOB DYLAN IN AMERICA by Sean Wilentz.
AD John Kehe and I hoped to evoke a New Orleans streetscape here, a nod to Dylan's fondness for music that is uniquely American.
AD John Kehe and I hoped to evoke a New Orleans streetscape here, a nod to Dylan's fondness for music that is uniquely American.
© 2024 Steve Wacksman