John's Artwork | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

I don’t think there is a thread for people to discuss John’s art. If there is, please merge.

I have two volumes of John’s ink drawings, and periodically I sit and take them in. Many of them were done during the 1975-1980 period when John was absent from the music scene. I like to think they reveal something of John’s character during that time.

Many of the drawings are peaceful and meditative, others are humorous and more reminiscent of the grotesque figures from In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works.

There is some discussion in these books about how difficult it is to take John seriously as an artist because his music overshadows his art. But he was, of course, an artist first.

I really appreciate the simplicity of his drawings. They have a distinctive style and the lines are very flowing. I also like how he leaves our imagination to fill in parts of the picture. The pictures have a very spontaneous, spur of the moment, unfinished aspect, much like his approach to recording music. I think in John’s mind, there were many ideas waiting to come forth, and he didn’t have patience to see them all to fruition. I can definitely relate to that.

I do think that appreciating John’s art for its own sake reveals some aspects to his personality that we might overlook otherwise. I think that maybe during his Dakota years he was very introspective but also playful.

Does anyone else have insights to share?