Art & Design,Home & Design,Celebrities,Visual ArtJAN 13, 2023

I Paint Portraits Of Popular Figures On Vinyl Records, Here Are 29 Of Them (New Pics)

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When streaming came to the forefront, music fans flocked to vinyl records as a throwback to when the act of buying music was an event. Vinyl Art is my interpretation of bringing back the tangible feeling of collecting music.

Having started painting my portraits on vinyl records for sale in 2006, before the renewed interest, it's been cool to be involved as newcomers to collecting get excited. As a collector first, I remember digging through the record store bins and how fun it was to find grails and to discover new music.

When I came up with the idea in the '90s, I used beat second or third copies of my favorite albums donated to the local library, used sales or independent record stores. Now I do my best to find similarly worn ones online from small sellers. The best is when customers send me a damaged copy to paint.

Check out my previous article here.

#1 The Beatles

47points

My journey as an artist probably started when I was 6 years old. By that age, I began taking art classes. As a teenager, I came up with the idea for my vinyl art and the rest is history.

I like the tangibility of vinyl, the memories. I remember what the cabinet smelled like with my dad’s records, the sound of the shrink-wrap crinkling, the feel of the record in your hand as you flip it from one side to the other. I care about the tangible, about our culture, so my work serves to pay homage, to say thank you to those musicians and photographers from which I draw inspiration.

#2 Audrey Hepburn

39points

#3 John Lennon

38points

The actual painting takes several hours, but I ask for a month for custom pieces because of the whole process. Starting is always difficult for me. Looking at that beat-up record and deciding to start putting paint on it. The most enjoyable part of the creative process is the meditative flow of the painting, losing myself in the work.

#4 Prince

36points

#5 David Bowie

36points

For me, painting sort of turns into meditation. I don't think about each dab of the brush. I don't think about each moment of the music playing. It's very peaceful. While words are dear to me, I think that means that my passion lies in music and art. Funny how what I ended up doing every day combines both. It makes me feel really lucky.

#6 Chris Cornell

35points

#7 Jim Morrison

33points

I also feel lucky to have gotten to work on some cool installations more recently. The TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff 1 and the Hard Rock Hotel Dublin projects are very cool. I'd love to see them in person someday. Selling custom pieces worldwide continues to be very satisfying as I love working directly with customers to come up with pieces they'll love to hang or give as a gift to a music lover in their family.