An Original Painting of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant
“With the dove and the Newcastle Brown Ale he’s drinking, it’s so British and so Robert.”
Neal Preston | Led Zeppelin’s Tour Photographer
“For me, Robert Plant’s voice and harmonica playing is like the emotional lightning rod of it all.”
Amber Bahm | Artist
“Everything still turns to gold” – Led Zeppelin / Robert Plant Original Painting
CAD$4,508.00
“Everything still turns to gold” Original painting of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant by artist Amber Bahm
- 10″ x 20″, 1.5″ depth gallery wrapped canvas
- Acrylic and gold leaf
- 75% satin, 25% matte varnish
This painting is based on a photograph by Neal Preston. He was Led Zeppelin’s tour photographer in 1973 when he captured a photo of a dove landing on Robert Plant’s hand. From the Artist:
I love Led Zeppelin,
I started listening to them when I was about 16. And according to Spotify I continue to be a Top fan, 18 years after I started burning their music onto CDs. At that age, music was how I worked through emotions I didn’t really have language for yet. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was developing a real love for blues. And Led Zeppelin’s sound is so deeply rooted in American blues. Obviously every member of that band was integral but for me, Robert Plant’s voice and harmonica playing is like the emotional lightning rod of it all. And I really love how much credit and respect he gives to the artists who influenced him. You hear it every time he talks about music. And he’s still making music and rippin’ on the harmonica at 77 years old.I came across this photo of Robert Plant by Led Zeppelin’s tour photographer, Neal Preston. I knew right away that I wanted to paint it. His wild hair, the signature 70’s outfit, the soft bokeh background. And then this juxtaposition of a cigarette and beer in one hand and a dove held tenderly in the other – just epic. This photo is from a concert in San Francisco in 1973. Neal tells a story about how, at the end of Stairway to Heaven they released six white doves. One of them did a low pass over the audience and then flew back towards the stage. Robert stuck out his hand and the dove landed on it. It wasn’t staged or a trained bird, and it stayed there for maybe five seconds. Long enough for Neal to capture this iconic image.
1 in stock
Most of this portrait was painted with an airbrush and one colour. I used different erasing techniques and tools for the texture. I knew I wanted to do something different for the dove. And pulling from some Stairway to Heaven lyrics – all that glitters is gold – I covered the dove in gold leaf. I didn’t love how that turned out so I carefully removed the first attempt and tried again with a different adhesive and leaf. At first, I thought I’d leave most of the gold visible and just loosely paint the dove over top – very abstract. But the overpowering warmth of the leaf didn’t really fit with the cool tone of the rest of the painting. I ended up covering most of the leaf with brushed-on layers of transparent paint, with a little bit of airbrushing at the end to soften it. You could say the gold leaf is totally covered and kind of wasted. But especially in person, you can see the glow of the leaf from underneath.
It catches the light in a way that paint alone never could. There’s a warmth and depth that shifts as you move around the piece. Almost like the dove is lit from within. It’s subtle, not flashy, but once you notice it, you feel it. This quiet luminosity. It adds a sense of life and presence that can’t be replicated in a photo.
Presented on a 1.5″ deep gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges, this piece arrives ready to hang and would also be stunning displayed in a floating frame.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.