Painters Online Logo

Login/register

Studio

In This Section

All This Time - music to paint to - What do you listen to when you paint?

Posted on

By Richard Bruce
Latest News
Latest Blog Entries
Latest Reviews

All This Time - music to paint to - What do you listen to when you paint?

What do you listen to when you paint? Does it affect your mood. colours, brush strokes, subject matter?

One to learn, one to teach which way the cold wind blows. And fussing and flapping in priestly black like a murder of crows. Sting, All This Time As important to my work is the music I listen to when creating it. As a youth with a record player, 2ps blue tacked to the head to stop it jumping, then a saisho music centre brought in Dixons Bootle, sitting in the bay window of my bedroom, at an old kitchen table, being able to turn left to change the music without leaving my seat was VERY important. To be able to flip the second record of Seconds Out by Genesis was as important as what I was drawing, painting, sketching, building. I saved up and brought a Saisho music centre with, rock n roll, a continuous tape deck, no stopping every 30-45 minutes to turn the thing over, the occasional tape chewed. I know what I like (in your wardrobe), still my favourite track - well Blackbird by the Beatles is now, but i was younger then and hadn't discovered Macca's genius despite being born in the same city, my Anfield born 'Toffee' mother kept that to herself - my brother preferring Bogs in Newcastle or something about wetting a wall AC/DC were a favourite, Back in Black, Whitesnake, can you guess then this was? Younger reader can search google for things like records. Im saddened that most have my students have never even purchased a - CD. My wife is a jeweller, so, Radio 4 is her company at her bench. Nowadays, I favour shuffle on my i-pod, or a You tube play list. Being 50, Elbow, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Nickel Creek, Crowded House, Gomez, still Genesis feature heavily. Music sorted, to the brushes it is. Bizarrely when out sketching, i treasure the silence, listening to the world around me. what do you listen to?
Content continues after advertisements
Comments

Login or register to add a comment

Today’s painting was helped listening to Three Sides Live by Genesis. Took me back to my teenage window and Seconds Out. Mrs Bruce loves the picture, choice of music, not so much.

Maybe I should get a record player, dust off Seconds Out, source an old Formica table, put it in the bay window and see what flows. It was fun seeing a film of Roald Dhal’s writing space, complete with flask and ciggies...

Soothing classical when I want to concentrate and loud pop when I feel energetic. I can never ever paint in silence.

All sorts of things - Mozart when I want to get started, it sort of unblocks something in my head; and anything from Bruckner to Jethro Tull when actually painting. Or Free. Or Beethoven. Or even the Spin Doctors..... I have wide tastes.... John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Satie - depends so much on what I'm up to at the time.

MY friend Gary would approve of Rush, i was more Bsck in Black. A late comer to the genius of Ray Charles and after time in France, Django, I finally understood Floyd listen to Wish You Were Here.

As I'm older than you I love sixties music and often listen to 'Gold' on the radio. Old type rhythm and blues not your R&B of today's music which is nothing like the original and 'Motown' and of course 'The Beatles' and stuff like that. Music while you work is great but my taste is quite eclectic as I like Adele and Elton John and the Eagles and also musicals such as Les Mis. All very different but great.

Can't beat a good dollop of prog. Lots of Rush, Queen and Led Zep. I like Joe Bonamassa too, and Muse; and every now and then some Rammstein comes up on the iPod. I play guitar for a living, so maybe my listening choices aren't too surprising :-)

Latest News
Latest Blog Entries
Latest Reviews