Stallone was at first hesitant to publicly exhibit his paintings

December 28, 2023 5:03 AM

Many an actor has held a brush over the years, from Sylvester Stallone to Lucy Liu. Viggo Mortensen also paints, when he isn't writing poetry or taking photographs. Billy Dee Williams, a painter for decades, has work in the National Portrait Gallery. Count Jemima Kirke in, too, though she may be known even more for her art than her acting. What's that, you say? John Lithgow and Mark Gatiss paint? Once you expand the lens to "celebrities," of course, the list expands.

Bonus artistic exuberance from writers who art.

posted by cupcakeninja (26 comments total)

Among cross-over creatives, cf also Mervyn Peake - though you can argue whether he's more an painter/illustrator who wrote or vice versa.
posted by BWA at 5:16 AM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

Gene Wilder was an accomplished watercolorist.
posted by kinnakeet at 5:21 AM on December 28, 2023

Hearing that Sylvester Stallone was afraid to share his paintings makes me much more confident about never showing mine to anyone ever.
posted by MrVisible at 6:02 AM on December 28, 2023 [7 favorites]

Good to see Alasdair Gray mentioned in the first writers who art link.
posted by fregoli at 6:32 AM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

If you're writing an article to show that someone is an accomplished watercolorist, "show don't tell" is a pretty important rule to follow! But that article about Gene Wilder is illustrated with a bunch of random unrelated artwork by OTHER ARTISTS, including, inexplicably, a Van Gogh self portrait. And exactly one (1) by Gene Wilder, lol!
posted by MiraK at 6:39 AM on December 28, 2023 [8 favorites]

Pierce Brosnan, too.
posted by hellopanda at 6:56 AM on December 28, 2023

Viggo Mortensen also makes music. Sometimes with Buckethead. I have one of the early collabs. It's very..avant garde.
posted by Gorgik at 7:07 AM on December 28, 2023

Martin Mull as well
posted by Ayn Marx at 7:33 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

In a recent BBC This Cultural Life podcast John Wilson interviews Werner Herzog. Notable for Herzog repeatedly, politely, telling interviewer that they have it all wrong. Herzog, in his own estimation, is primarily a poet.
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:34 AM on December 28, 2023 [4 favorites]

Ooh, I was very excited when I saw that Herzog interview link! But then I discovered it wasn't that John Wilson.

Oh well.
posted by heyitsgogi at 8:43 AM on December 28, 2023

The Tony's (Bennett & Curtis) were quite well known for their painting.
posted by fairmettle at 9:07 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

I seem to recall that the great Joni Mitchell considers herself more a painter than a musician.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 9:37 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

W.
posted by chavenet at 9:56 AM on December 28, 2023

Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver) painter
posted by robbyrobs at 10:00 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

I like Lucy Liu’s work! It’s unexpected! Billy Dee Williams’ art, however, is exactly what you would want and expect a portrait of Billy Dee Williams to be.

Not long ago, I picked up a coffee-table book of Queen Victoria’s art. She was talented, and it was interesting to see her use her skills as a teenager, making flattering self-portraits and drawing the brooding handsome gentlemen at court. Like a lot of upper-class women, she used it all her life because there weren’t any cameras and no other way to capture scenery or family members. She could do nice portraits, but since she was queen, no one pressed her to practice techniques or develop an eye, and her larger pieces remained stiff.
posted by Countess Elena at 10:24 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

captain beefheart's paintings aren't bad; i've called him "the only contemporary artist influenced by elephant art"
posted by graywyvern at 10:37 AM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

John Mellencamp should be added to the list; he had an exhibition here in Augusta, GA in 2015 and I have to say that I like his artwork better than his music. (Not that his music is bad; I’m just not a huge fan of most of it.)
posted by TedW at 10:52 AM on December 28, 2023

Also, a different kind of painting, but Jimmy Carl Black and Arthur Brown owned a house painting business in Austin, Texas in the 1980s called “Men of Color”.
posted by TedW at 11:10 AM on December 28, 2023

Clive Barker is also a prolific painter
posted by supermedusa at 11:16 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Clive Barker is also a prolific painter

"To prove you are not a spambot, write Clive Barker in the box"
posted by chavenet at 11:26 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

There's Martin Mull.
posted by brachiopod at 12:20 PM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

W.

There was actually a FPP a decade ago about Dubya's artistic endeavors. It stands out in my mind because my sole contribution to the thread is definitely in the running for my personal favorite Metafilter comment that I have made:

I don't know, I guess I could see the "Oh look, these pictures show he's so sad" thing, but frankly, I picture him sitting there in the tub thinking "Heh heh heh! Lookit my feet! It's almost like they got little toes on 'em! Heh heh heh! I should bomb Namibia."

posted by Flunkie at 12:27 PM on December 28, 2023 [4 favorites]

I wonder if the successful talented folk do this because acting/ singing/etc. might well seem not terribly important to them. Maybe even ephemeral or silly. Whole being a painter has some gravitas to it. Or else it could be another outlet for very creative folk. I didn't see anything that knocked me out, or was museum worthy, in my humble opinion...There was some technical skills present though. I also didn't look at every single example.
posted by Czjewel at 1:00 PM on December 28, 2023

Tippi Hedren sketch; Jimmy Stewart watercolor; Kim Novak
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:02 PM on December 28, 2023

There's some interesting stuff linked here. Martin Mull is good at everything, but especially at photorealistic painting (maybe painting/collage?) that shouts "Hey, I got an MFA from RISD!"
posted by pracowity at 2:34 PM on December 28, 2023

Thomas "Biff Tannen" Wilson also.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 10:10 PM on December 28, 2023