Painting (1980) by Wayne Coyne

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: a color reproduction of an early painting by Wayne Coyne, singer of the Flaming Lips! Do click on the image for a larger version.

I blogged about a black and white reproduction of this painting in a book I'm reading, and an Art Boobs reader ("KILLER blog, by the way -- one of my favorite subjects!") kindly supplied me with the above color reproduction.

From wikipedia: Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips.

Wayne Coyne was born on January 13, 1961, the fifth of six children of Thomas and Dolores Coyne. Relatively uninterested in school, Coyne preferred music, painting, and football to his assignments. His brothers, and other friends played in a backyard football team named the "Fearless Freaks." He continued making art for many years, and designed many of the early graphics for The Flaming Lips himself (in recent times, he has also provided the artwork for both Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and At War with the Mystics).

Coyne worked as a fry cook at a Long John Silver's restaurant for 11 years, and was awarded a special badge to honor his service. Although he had been toying with an acoustic guitar since he was fourteen, it was this job which enabled him to purchase an electric guitar, a Les Paul, which he did after eight months of employment. Wayne was a senior in high school at the time.

Coyne formed the Flaming Lips in 1983 with brother Mark singing lead and Michael Ivins on bass guitar. Mark later left the band, and Wayne assumed vocal duties.

During large-crowd festival performances, Wayne makes his entrance by descending from space in a bubble, and floating across the audience to the stage. Coyne has also been known to pour fake blood down his face via a hidden tube during live shows, usually during the track "The Spark that Bled" which features lyrics about cutting yourself on the head without realizing it.

This painting is reproduced in black and white at page 12 of "Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips" by Jim Derogatis: