Bob Dylan’s “Drawn Blank Series”

For over five decades, Bob Dylan has impacted the political, philosophical, musical and artistic world. The performer has sold more than 110 million albums on his way to becoming one of the most accomplished songwriters in history. Most notably he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, multiple Grammys and Golden Globes, and has also published three books of drawings and paintings.

In 2013 Dylan released the “Drawn Blank Series,” categorized as “revisionist” art.

Most images contained in this series were created between 1989 and 1992 while Dylan traveled and spent time at home. They came to life on both canvas and paper coupled, primarily, with pencil, some charcoal and a bit of penmanship. The Drawn Blank Series was a nomenclature created when his originals were shown, uncolored, briefly in 2007. After the showing, the sketches were picked up by a German museum in 2008. Dylan was asked to put color to them, a request which he obliged.

Many of the images were scanned into a computer and printed out on larger paper in order to accommodate the desired size and texture appropriate for paints. The re-designing process was described by a German newspaper journalist Tobias Ruther; “(Dylan) performed new versions of his old songs in order to give a fresh interpretation – he’s now continuing on deckle-edged paper.”

The lyricist and activist calls his art something “very near and dear to me.”

The pieces in Drawn Blank Series are hailed as a revealing part of the “Blowin’ in the Wind” composer’s creative talent outlet. Just like his folk music received criticism, Dylan’s art has had its’ fair share of denunciation. In the same breath, he is hailed as one of Time’s 100 Most Important People of the Century, Rolling Stone’s top “100 Greatest Singers,” and his art “relaxes and refocuses a restless mind.”

Dylan’s iconic stature has implications financially for serious fans. This series is typically priced between $2,500 for a limited edition print to $400,000 for originals. You can read more about the Drawn Blank Series on BobDylan.com.

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