Rick Allen Of Def Leppard Paints 'Legends' Series of Rock Icons

Rick Allen, the drummer of Def Leppard, has been honouring the musicians who have influenced, inspired and encouraged him to be innovative throughout his career with original paintings. And they’re DAMN good. Who knew Rick was so multi-talented.

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Rick Allen has been expressing himself through painting recently, and his style is not only super cool, but it captures the spirit of the artist he’s portraying really well. Apparently Rick took up the paint brush before he ever took up the drum sticks. Rick has said that painting this series to him, “…was a study at how you’re really not painting the person’s face, you’re painting how the light bounces off of the person. If you look closely at some of the pieces, they make no sense when you look at them up close. When you stand back and you start to view it from a distance, it’s almost like your mind fills in the blanks and it creates the illusion of reality.” Radical. What’s your favourite piece?

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A post shared by Rick Allen (@rickallenlive)

Rick Allen shared his method and process a few years ago in an interview, saying: “I take a photograph I really like of the person, and I’ll poster-ize it and sketch the poster-ization onto the canvas, and that’s when I can come up with my whites, blacks and grays. After I do the under painting, I’ll start to choose colors. When I do the ‘Legends’, I normally listen to the music of the artist I’m painting.” Who do you think Rick Allen should paint next?

Rick Allen Of Def Leppard Paints 'Legends' Series of Rock Icons

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