U2 Speed Painting Film Festival—By Kelly

Before YouTube’s algorithm killed my channel, Kelly Eddington Watercolors, I managed to post a handful of videos that showed my U2 painting process. These paintings took around several hours to create, but I sped them way up so they’re more entertaining than literally watching paint dry, and here they are from most recent to earliest.

I'm concentrating on Edge's guitar here, which is an Ed O'Brien sustainer Stratocaster (thanks for the tip, @alison_2u on Twitter!). The cartoon that features the painting is Episode -07, Coping Strategies For A Spoiled Fandom, and it’s also the current “hero image” of Achtoonbaby.com. The guitar took about 90 minutes to finish. The reference photo is from my friend Inchy (@iinchicore on IG), who kindly gave me permission to paint it. Thanks a lot, Inchy!

I was shaky about this Bono portrait for almost the entire painting process, but once I untaped the painting from my board and looked at it, I shivered. He looks so much like his father here. You can find this painting in Episode -08, U2 For The Price Of One. Stay tuned to the end of the video to see Actual Bono looking at a quick, cartoony painting I made of him. !!!!!

I worked on this watercolor for over four hours, so to edit it down to a manageable length, I had to speed it up quite a bit (40x!). My reference photo is from Peter Hutchins (@peterhutchins on IG), used with permission. Thanks a lot, Peter! Thanks also to my AtU2 pals Sherry Lawrence, Mason Merritt, and U2 concert fixture Vid (@mysteriousdays on Twitter) for sending me the video, and Ye Olde Bonoe Himselfe for doing the thing that happens at the end. I am still highly amazed by all of it. While I would love to meet Bono myself, seeing him acknowledge this trifle of a cartoon meant the world to me.

This painting was a quickie—two and a half hours from start to finish. The main reason for the quickness: I'm using just a few colors and am relying on masking fluid to preserve the white parts. It can be seen in Episode -12, The U2 Instagram Experience. I have searched far and wide for the photographer responsible for my reference photo, but I have had no luck. Please let me know if you have any information! As far as I can tell, it's a press photo from 1987 that was used in French music magazine.

Finally, just for fun (and because PJ and I have a special appreciation for it) here’s me demonstrating how to paint a nose. Bono’s nose. This is a detail of a press photo from 2011. Please let me know if you can identify the photographer. This one was made for my channel and isn’t part of a cartoon.