Beach Boys Fan Art from an English Mind....

[Chloepaintings]

Hello lovely Beach Boys media consumers.

I'm Chloe, I used to post 'here' years ago, 2003, just pre the announcement of the Smile concerts, when I was younger and full of quasi-religious fervour for things Brian and things 1966. I think I started a thread called 'Smile as a revelation'.

Some of you have seen my BBs fan art elsewhere, I daresay, but I thought it might be worth posting it again for anyone who's interested. A lot of the paintings here are from around 2003. Some of the drawings are newer. Clicking on the various images will take you to a number of different places on the internet where they live.


     
     


     
     


     
     


     
     


     
     


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Recently I went a bit nuts with Dennis, as it were. I don't plan on extreme caricature being my goal with the neo-BeachBoys phase, but the process helps one get a grasp of the faces.


     
     

Just for a kinda change of pace, here's Nelson Bragg. He had this picture as his myspace avatar recently. Click it to find it in his myspace photo album.


     
     

Some more of the older ethereal ones...


     
     


     
     


     
     

I'll leave it at that for now. There are a few more.

Some of these are still for sale, if anyone's wondering. Though I would rather like to put the best ones in a show sometime.

Anyone who wants to can add me on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chloepaintings

or facebook, even:  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=684077814

Thank you all for looking!

[rasmus skotte]

What luck to see Chloe's fantastic Beach Boys-artwork online! I'm finishing an esoteric SMiLE-essay where Chloe's painting, the 5'th one from top (also known as "Light The Lamp" from its presentation in Open Sky # seven, 2004) will play an all important part.
Thanks Chloe and keep up the good work!

[Chloepaintings]

Heavens! I'm glad I chose today to post now... thank you!

[phirnis]

I like the sixth one in particular - such a great drawing style!

[Chloepaintings]

Thank you, Phirnis... unfortunately a muddy cat sat on that drawing. But I shall persevere until I have a much more confident grasp of all the fundamental Beach Boy shapes. The fantasy is to be able to draw them from memory, from every angle and in every era. But some kind of compromise towards that goal would do.

And going back to Rasmus' comment... I had no idea that my painting had taken on a folk-name. That's really something. On the subject of that painting, I am currently working on finishing a second version of it that was begun in early 2004. I have VERY nearly finished that. It has more ultramarine and red.

[mikeyj]

Wow, some really cool artwork there. I like the last one the best

[phirnis]

Thank you, Phirnis... unfortunately a muddy cat sat on that drawing.

Never mind. Just make sure you have everyone believe that it happened on purpose and that it's an integral part of the art.

[Chloepaintings]

Well, yes, the drawing you're seeing there is the post-dirtcat version so it's not too bad. It gives it character.

NB. The one with Brian Carl and Al next to the tree ('The Beach Boys in Thorncombe Woods') is currently owned by Darian Sahanaja.


     
     

[Wirestone]

Just stunning work. I love the drawing of Brian. And your work so well used on the cover of the Box o Clox CD.

[Shady]

The First , last three and the pet sounds one are absolutely fantastic,

The rest are very unique and wonderfull.

You got quite an eye Chloe.

[Chloepaintings]

Thank you very much... You're very kind.

I don't know quite what to make of the old ones. There is certainly a lot of 'feeling' in them.

Actually I've got two eyes, thankfully, but only one functioning ear. I could give Brian my good ear as long as I got to keep both my eyes. He wouldn't have to donate me an eye, because then I'd have three and that's frankly too many.


     
     

[Shady]

Ha I've only realised how stupid 'quite an eye' sound now 

[Chloepaintings]

No it's alright, an eye is a thing you can have. You can have a good eye like you can have a good ear. That was a nice compliment. 

I'm never sure whether to mention this, but I think I've already gone and mentioned it in the past on the internet... When Brian saw the ladder one, 'Light the Lamp' or 'Heaven Ladder' as it's more mundanely called... and I mean saw it in real life, holding it in his hands... which was all a little bit much for me.... He was immediately interested in buying it. which I hope means, he liked it. He then realised that it was his face in the moon, and got a little self-conscious abut it. But I hope that his attraction to the painting was something to do with the fact that it was, in a sense, made for him.


     
     

[SG7]

I always loved the one painting you did with Brian with the car and the beach setting. If I had enough money, I would buy a copy, but I am a poor college student

[Chloepaintings]

Thank you... well, I might put some drawings up on Etsy that'll be pretty reasonable.

Funnily enough, TODAY I finished this remake of the Moon painting. It's perhaps less obviously attractive, less spacious compositionally. It's quite texturally varied. What do you reckon?


     
     

[carl r]

a couple of questions, if you'll allow 

Is Carl and the harp anything to do with God Only Knows, by any chance?

Am I wrong in thinking he looks like (a younger) Murray Wilson here?

On a similar note, the sketches of a younger Brian kind of look more like the older Brian than I would find obvious at that time. Not a bad thing, cleverly done. I like them. How did you get to meet Brian anyway?

[Chloepaintings]

Hi Carl R...

Carl and the harp wasn't consciously directly to do with God Only knows. I wish I could remember exactly its origins. I did a have a sort of quasi visionary dream about God Only Knows though, that involved some heaven, so it was all there in the mix. I was also quite taken with illustrations of ancient musical instruments at the time.

I didn't intentionally make him look like young Murry. I guess sometimes in drawings and paintings underlying family 'structures' can be visible. When you're dealing with the shapes of people without their particular presence and soul distracting from the pure mathematics of form.

And that's interesting about the young Brian sketches looking like older Brian. I hadn't seen that, but you may be right. Perhaps I have tended to make young Brian look a little 'delicate' or vulnerable or something... I've been reading Look Listen Vibrate Smile again, and remembering that 1966 Brian... he had quite a robust sort of a... powerful air about him at that time. I mean, Brian is physically robust, that's part of why he's alive. But at that particular time, though from a girl's point of view he was heartbreakingly cute, on a deeper level there was something kinda strong and sure about the way he looked. At the height of his powers, as it were. Untouchable and impossible. There's more to looks that just shapes... but I have to try and channel the 'more' back into the shapes...

[Chloepaintings]

Sorry, to expand on that....I guess despite having looked at a lot of images of young Brian, I have only actually met/seen recent Brian, and meeting or seeing a person leaves a more powerful impression than a picture does. Especially a person of the calibre of a Brian.

I met him the first time September last year. Sort of had dinner with the band in Bournemouth. I was acquainted with Darian, who was/is interested in my work. I took the painting to show Darian, not even expecting necessarily to meet Brian. But Darian felt he wanted to show Brian, who was eating ribs and guacamole at the time. So that was that. Melinda was there too, I think ultimately, she was less put off by the brian being the moon part of it, she seemed to quite like the picture.

[carl r]

I hope you're not offended, but it really reminds me of Sendak's "Where The Wild Things Are" -- it would be really cool to have the beach boys as characters in a children's book like this with Hawaii/surf/monster/americana themes. You might want to suggest it. Oh, and I volunteer help with the words 

[Chloepaintings]

I'm not at all offended to be compared to Sendak. That's high praise.

It's a nice idea... who to suggest it to?

I've always felt the Beach Boys music deserves some better visual art/work/interpretation/presentation than they generally got... not that there haven't been some goodies here and there. But whatever a visual equivalent of Smile would be... Smile's quite a tangible comparison, because of it being more intellectual and expansive... I wouldn't know how to paint Pet Sounds and Brian's private thoughts about various women and stuff.

Mike has great visual potential as a character in a Grimm's fairy tale typa setting... 

[carl r]

Narratives of a type already exist, Mount Vernon and Fairway springs to mind as more clear-cut - and do-able - than the Smile segments. I'd actually say there's more narrative on smiley smile or Friends than smile.

[Wirestone]

Chloe -- The remake is remarkable.

And a great story about Brian and the band. Although I sympathize with him a bit -- it might be odd to see yourself in a moon. :-)

[Chloepaintings]

Carl: I guess I was thinking more about 'imagery' than narratives as such... I was getting my hippy brain on. I think I think of Smile as being dense with 'vertical' meaning, evoking visions etc. I'm not very good at thinking in linear narratives straight off.

Claymcc: Thank you about the remake, I'm still getting used to it being finished. I'm so glad you like it.

I understand Brian's reaction too. Before he saw the moon part, his first words were in fact 'How much does she want for it?' Which kind of blew my mind, as they say. And it seemed very sweet and considerate and on the ball of him, somehow. I also enjoyed his disparaging of Nelson's shirt. He enquired whether Nelson was serious about wearing that particular shirt onstage. It was all rather excellent.

[BiG GRiN]

FANTASTIC!
you're art work is totally amazing, you're really talented Chloe;
The Beach Boys is a great inspiration for any kind of arts, and listening to their music, take minds and souls in
a high level of spirituality, and I think it's a big influence for songwriters and painters.
We can find so much inspiration into the musical and creative work of Brian Wilson.

[rasmus skotte]

Dear Chloe
I personally love the new 'Heaven Ladder' just as much as the old one. But for the purpose of my esoteric essay, I'll have to stick with the original, where Brian in my book represents 'that lucky old sun'/son. But if that's the sun, where does that other light originate from? - you may very well ask. That's where the esoteric readings could enter. In the new version though, it's obvious that Brian is like the "ol' lazy mister moon (want a getaway)"