Lou Reed: New York musician oil painting portrait

Portraits
Written By Lynne Dickens
Oil painting of Lou Reed, alla prima

Cordell Garfield, Lou Reed, 2019, portrait in oils

My latest oil painting portrait, and this time it’s Lou Reed, New York musician and founder member of the legendary Velvet Underground. Best known in the UK for ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ (see below) and the BBC charity single ‘Perfect Day’ (also below).

Lou Reed was a big influence on Bowie as well as a few of the bands who came out of the 70s punk explosion. He had a track record of drugs and alcohol abuse although cleaned himself up in later years. Irascible and an absolute pain for rock journalists, Lou sung a lot about New York and its misfits. His songs touched on no-go subjects junkies, transvestites, rent boys, bisexuality and were often no holds barred and provocative.

I chose this image which was probably around 1974 as it sums up Reed at his peak. This was on the back of his success with ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ in 1972. This was the Glam Rock period and Lou was all shades and leathers. He didn’t quite fit in with his British contemporaries (think Sweet, Slade, Glitter Band, etc), being more street and savvy. Bowie (obviously), Roxy Music and Iggy Pop were the closest to him in spirit at this time.

I really enjoyed painting this one, and it’s only a small oil painting (12 x 10 inches). The pose is great, not sure if the two fingers were a deliberate set up but it works and fits Reed’s punk image. It really is a picture of its time, not long before punk/new wave hit the streets. For the painting aficionados out there, I worked quickly, ‘alla prima’ with a fairly limited palette.

Top Lou Reed song? Difficult to choose but here are some links to a small selection of some more well known tracks:

Hope you enjoy listening to these tracks as much as I do!

Lynne Dickens

Spot On Creative is a Northants-based creative team who have the hard-earned skills, expertise and industry knowledge that only come from having worked for years in advertising. It’s all managed by Lynne Dickens who has over 20 years’ experience in marketing communications, and ten years in website design and build, and creative team project management.

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