The Red Hot Chili Peppers were among the first members inducted into The Charcoal Club.
Hi all,
I usually publish this newsletter once a month, on a Wednesday, but I swear I’ve got a good reason for switching things up…
In short: I’m competing in an online art contest presented by Johnny Depp, and you can help me win — and bring me a massive leap closer to achieving my dream — by clicking this link and voting for me.
You can vote for free every once every 24 hours until Thursday, May 14th at 7 pm PT, or donate to The Art of Elysium for $1 per vote whenever and as often as you’d like.
The longer version:
If you’ve been following my journey — whether via this newsletter, on social media or IRL — you probably know that writing about and posting photos of concerts and festivals isn’t the end of the road of the live music experience for me. In some cases, it’s just the beginning.
Since August 2023, I’ve been turning some my own photos (as well as a handful from my photographer friends) into hand-drawn, white-on-black charcoal portraits of my favorite musicians. I call this project The Charcoal Club, and I dedicate a section of every 2 Much Live Music newsletter to it.
In this case, The Charcoal Club is the subject of the newsletter, and rightly so.
From James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem to Neil Young and a variety of artists in between, I’ve had the privilege of combining a beloved childhood activity (art) with my favorite adult hobby (live music photography) to bring some of my photos to life in a whole new way.
All while reviving a long-dormant skill and, potentially (hopefully), charting an exciting course for my life.
James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem: the inaugural member of The Charcoal Club.
When I was a eight years old, my parents enrolled me in semi-private art lessons with the wonderful Linda Wehrli. She taught me how to create fine art using a wide array of media and tools, from pen-and-ink and pastel to oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and more.
At the age of nine, I made my first art sale.
The subject: a musician — in this case, a piano player.
The medium: white pastel on black paper.
Nine-year-old me making my first art sale.
By the time I reached high school, I’d stopped going to lessons with Linda. I would doodle on my notes in class from time to time, but didn’t engage in any serious art projects.
That is, until my senior year, when I was prompted to do so in a studio art class. Even though I enjoyed the process and the results, I still didn’t take the plunge fully back into making art.
A semester abroad in Rome — surrounded by the art and architecture of Antiquity into the Renaissance at every turn — sparked my artistic curiosity, though that didn’t last long, either.
It wasn’t until more than a decade later that, with some encouragement from friends, I figured I’d (finally) try my hand at making art again.
What would my subject matter be? The catalog of artists I’d photographed as a music journalist seemed like a solid choice.
As for the style and medium…I was unemployed at the time, and I wasn’t sure which skills (if any) I still had, so I decided that a budget option would be best to start. A set of white charcoal pencils, a roll of black paper, some gummy erasers, a pencil sharpener and some blending tools — I could make that work.
It didn’t hurt that the combination of subject and medium brought me back to my artistic roots.
Drawing Regina Spektor on piano completed my artistic “hero’s journey.”
Since then, I’ve completed more than 20 performance portraits based on original photography. I’ve had the privilege of showcasing my work in an art gallery (shoutout to the DOMA Arts Complex near downtown Los Angeles) and at the Beverly Hills Art Show, with another stint at Beverly Gardens Park coming up on May 16-17. It’s now my dream to make fine art more than just a fun hobby or a helpful “side hustle.”
Now, I have an opportunity to do just that, thanks to Johnny Depp Presents The People’s Artist.
Here’s what at stake:
An appearance in Artforum Magazine
An opportunity to display work at The Art of Elysium’s Salon in L.A.
$25,000 in prize money
Any one of those things would make a colossal difference in my pursuit of an artistic dream. All of them together could truly transform my situation much sooner than I’d ever imagined possible.
(Maybe not that soon, in the grand scheme of things, but still…)
To make that happen, I’ll need your support, as well as however many helping hands you can recruit to the task.
It’s a simple one, really:
Click/tap the purple “Vote” button.
Cast your vote(s).
You can vote for free once every 24 hours, until the polls close at 7 pm PT on May 14. Or, you can submit as many votes as you want, as often as you want, with a donation of $1 per vote to The Art of Elysium, with proceeds supporting the gallery’s mission to “use art as a catalyst to help people triumph over difficult life challenges.”
Whatever you can do to support — whether that’s casting free votes, donating for more votes, or roping your own friends and family into this effort — would mean the world to me.
And could change my world entirely.
My sincerest gratitude,
Josh
My most recently completed piece: a family portrait for my friends Fil and Carolina.
